Jun 15, 2009 | Uncategorized |
Jyoti Sharma, President FORCE posted this in Water Wisdom on June 15th, 2009
A couple of day’s back I received a very interesting little note from Mr. Kishore Nath, who lives in Canada and appears to be very water conscious. He stated and then asked, “We can educate the masses but not the rich. As one becomes rich, one wastes water to have tub baths, washes cars, washes white bed sheets and linen more frequently, builds big lawn and waters them. Please advise how to address the rich and corrupt?”
I am posting here the reply that I have sent to him because I think Mr. Nath has brought up a very interesting topic.
Sometime back, FORCE carried out a survey on water consumption patterns in different socio-economic areas within Delhi. The study covered samples from urban poor (slum cluster); urban village; middle class DDA flats; rich individual houses. We found that the average water consumption of a slum household having 5-6 members was 300 liters per day; of urban village with 5 members was 500 liters per day; of middle class DDA with average 4 members was 1000 liters /day; of rich houses with 3-4 members was 1500 liters per day. And the funny thing was – each section was equally dissatisfied with the supply!
It would at first glance seem that the richer you are, the more wasteful you become. However, let’s not condemn the middle class / rich as being more “consciously” wasteful than the poor. The basic amount of water that we use for cooking / drinking is more or less the same – approx 40 liters per person. It’s just that as income increases, the dwelling unit size and lifestyle improvement adds to the average water consumption per household. A jhuggi (house in a slum) will need barely 25-30 liters of water to keep itself and its surroundings clean but a 500 sq meter house in Greater Kailash in a dry dusty area like Delhi, needs 1000 liters for the same purpose. A poor man who goes to a community toilet for open defecation (which should be totally eradicated) uses 5-7 liters of water as against a rich person who uses 13-15 liters of water each time he uses the toilet. Rich or poor, we all like to live it up within our means.
There’s lots we can do to save water. Like follow the 5 Rs to become Water Wise:
‘R‘educe water wastage – through adoption of water saving products (aerator taps, dual flush cisterns, small head showers, auto switch off motors), water wise practices (swabbing floors / vehicles instead of washing, plugging leaks, withdrawing only as much water as we need).
‘R‘euse Used Water – using the same water twice or more before finally throwing it in a drain – wash vegetables and use same water for your kitchen garden, use last rinse water from washing machine for swabbing floors etc.
‘R‘echarge Groundwater – Rainwater Harvesting
‘R‘ecycle waste water – The only way we can actually ‘Generate’ water i.e. add to naturally available supply.
And MOST IMPORTANT ‘R’ESPECT water – We have forgotten this totally. We treat it like a commodity – to be used and abused but never revered. It is time perhaps to revive traditions that taught us to respect water.
In terms of water wastage, it is sad but each segment seems to waste as much as is possible within their circumstances! The rich over-water their lawns, allow water overflows, wash roads / gates / vehicles unnecessarily etc while the poor throw away unused water of the day before, or leave community taps running or waste water madly when filling up from tankers. Both are equally callous – the rich think nothing before over-extracting groundwater, throwing chemical contaminants in open areas which then leach into groundwater or littering water bodies / green areas with plastics.
The poor too direct their sewage into storm water drains, throw garbage into drains, defecate in the open even if there is a community toilet available…..the list of the unthinking devastation we do to water and environment is endless! The only exceptions are traditional village societies which are dependent upon internal catchment generated water sources such as ponds / shallow dug wells.
All the above sounds suspiciously like criticism of rich and poor alike – but I do not really think they are to blame. No-one is consciously ‘bad’. Our problem is simply that we have forgotten to value water – today it’s just something that flows out of a tap – we’ve forgotten to worship it, love it and care for it. When was the last time you felt the joy of getting happily drenched in the rain or experienced the wonder of God’s immense power when you saw thunder and lightening in black heavy monsoon clouds? Has it ever struck you that all religions treat water as the ultimate purifier – baptism is in water, a Hindu Pooja begins and ends with purification with water…..
Therefore, to sum up – change will start when we remind people to love and respect water as a gift from God and when we educate them about products / practices that can help them conserve water WITHOUT significantly impacting their lifestyle / standards of hygiene.
Can I also invite you to join us as a ‘JAL RAKSHAK’ – a community of Water Saviors that we are creating? This community will enable others to learn more about and actually implement water conservation methods.
Jun 2, 2009 | Uncategorized |
Jyoti Sharma, President FORCE posted this in Events, Jal Rakshak on June 2nd, 2009
To celebrate World Environment Day, Forum For Organized Resource Conservation and Enhancement (FORCE) – an NGO dedicated to the cause of Water Conservation- is organizing a One day workshop on June 6, 2009 from 9.30 a.m. to 5.30 p.m. at Institute of Social Sciences, 8, Nelson Mandela Marg. The workshop is titled:
COMMUNITY LEADERS IN RAINWATER HARVESTING
JAL RAKSHAKS TO CHART THE WAY FORWARD
The Workshop is being supported by Coca-Cola India. The agenda of this interactive workshop will be
1) Knowledge sharing with experts and Community leaders on Rainwater Harvesting Experiences
2) Capacity Building for Rainwater harvesting maintenance and ensuring its sustainability
And, perhaps most important,
3) Creating a JAL RAKSHAK FORUM which will act as a nucleus group to broad base adoption of Water Wise behaviours, practices and implementation of innovative water conservation solutions in their areas. This Forum will organize mass awareness activities, cultural programs and interaction with government bodies for water conservation. We hope that it will become a pressure group for mass adoption of Water Wise behaviours by all stakeholders and for policy change in the government.
A Directory of ‘JAL RAKSHAKS’ who participate in this workshop – printed and electronic – will be compiled and presented to the Chief Minister, and relevant administrative bodies and to all JAL RAKSHAKs. This directory will be a ready reference for government and citizens for taking advice on water related issues.
As a Community Leader, who has already done Rainwater Harvesting in his / her area, you have already proven that you are a JAL RAKSHAK. Let’s all, join hands to form a unified forum and be the fountainhead of a Water Conservation movement.
I request you to join us for this interactive workshop so that we can learn more from each other and jointly decide on the way forward for the JAL RAKSHAK FORUM.
PROGRAM SCHEDULE
| 9.30- 10.00 a.m. | Registration |
| 10.00 – 10.30 a.m. | Inauguration with Kalash Ceremony and Welcome of Chief Guest, Special Invitees |
| 10.30 – 11.15 a.m. | Presentations by experts on various aspects of Rainwater Harvesting |
| 11.15 – 11.45 a.m. | Magic Show on Water |
| 11.45 a.m. – 12 noon | Tea |
| 12.00 – 12.45 p.m | Training on Maintenance and precautions for RWH with Case studies |
| 12.45 p.m. – 2 p.m. | Experience Sharing and round table discussion with community leaders |
| Discussion with Community Leaders on building Sustainability into Maintenance of RWH |
| Summarising of learnings and conclusions. RWH protocol |
| 2.00 – 2.45 p.m | Lunch |
| 2.45 p.m. – 3.00 p.m. | Introducing the concept of the JAL RAKSHAK FORUM |
| 3.00 p.m. – 3.45 p.m. | Defining the Caring for Water – Rainwater Harvesting, Protection of Water Bodies, the 5 ‘R’s of water |
| 3.45 – 4.00 p.m. | Tea |
| 4.00 – 5.10 p.m. | Creation of a ‘Delhi Jal Rakshak Forum’ – Charting the Agenda, Selection of Core Co-ordination Committee and Action Plan for The Way Forward |
| Enrolment and Presentation of JAL RAKSHAK badges |
| 5.10 – 5.30 p.m | Summing up, valedictory and Vote of Thanks |
Apr 3, 2009 | Uncategorized |
Jyoti Sharma, President FORCE posted this in
Water Management on
April 3rd, 2009Water is a life sustaining resource but one that is limited in Quantity.
Its distribution is inequitable and so is its usage.
However there is a tremendous scope in economizing on its consumption while at the same time bolstering its locally available supply.
We believe the route to doing so is through mass movements that support local bodies in water conservation and influence the government to adopt more water friendly policies.
We realize that for any sustainable change in basic resource usage patterns, the involvement of all sectors of the society is important.
Citizens, Government and Business must join hands together to achieve the common objective of a better life for all – for us and the generations to come.
Mar 5, 2009 | Water Management |
The U.N. World Water Development Report ranks India 133rd among 180 countries for water availability. India almost hits rock bottom when it comes to water quality. Falling water tables, India’s unpredictable monsoon rains and its huge and growing population have created a severe water crisis in the country.
Water Conflicts, at all levels, are on the rise – both in numbers and intensity. Countries, regions and States are adopting increasingly belligerent stances to lay claim over water resources – static or transient- in their areas. User groups accuse each other of stealing their water – it’s agriculture vs. industry vs. energy vs. domestic use. All users, however, have no compunctions joining hands to snatch water from its natural abode – it’s All vs. the Environment! On top of that, pollution and global warming add their bit to speeding up our fast drop to water scarcity.
Where will it all end?
A looming crisis brings out either the worst or the best of people. If people decide to put in their best – can success be far behind? Being a die-hard optimist – I believe the latter. And that’s the guiding sentiment with which we, at FORCE, work.
It’s time now, to revive the Gandhian philosophy of living simply, in tune with nature with each community planning for self sufficiency and sustainability. Greed must be replaced with need based consumption, each one must think for the other, saving for self must not be at the cost of sharing with those in need.
This requires a basic change in attitudes – something that is easier said than done! As a starter, we could start with a simple three point agenda. First – Reduce our demand for fresh water by adopting water conservation practices; second – increase its locally available supply by adopting rainwater harvesting and water recycling. The third agenda, perhaps most important task is – to stop playing blame games. Let’s not waste time and energy on blaming each other for inefficiency and callousness. Instead let’s just focus on doing whatever little we can to alleviate this crisis.
With this attitude, FORCE has been working towards creating Water Secure communities – in the National Capital Region of Delhi and now in Mumbai. As a first step, we’d like to see the NCR ‘Water Secure’ by 2015.
The route we have adopted for doing so is through a mass movement that supports local bodies in water conservation and influences the government to adopt more water friendly policies. For this, we’ve adopted a Partnership approach because sustainable change cannot happen without the involvement of all sectors of society. We are getting the citizens, government, business and technical experts to jointly work for a better life for all. We offer end-to-end support to citizen groups interested in adopting water conservation practices.
We believe that seamless knowledge integration – from principles of business management, to practices from many hundred years back, to advances in science & technology – is the quickest, most effective route to creating a Water Secure society.
I look forward to having you as a partner on this road to Water Security for all.
Aao, Jal Sanchay Karein, Boond Boond Dharti Bharein…
Water Security Program
