Did you read the newspaper today?

Jyoti Sharma, President FORCE posted this in Jal Rakshak, Water Management on June 14th, 2010

Did you read the newspaper today?

There were 2 articles that caught my attention—one was the  shutting down of water supply from UP to Delhi by 10,000 protesters in Ghaziabad to force the government to accept their demand for reservation ( Complete Story )

The other was a ‘Water Donation’ drive by residents of different localities in NOIDA and Delhi. ( Pg 8, Delhi Times TOI June 14, 2010 ). Residents ‘donated’ atleast one litre of water each which was collected in a mini-tanker and distributed in nearby slums.

The first was a bolt of thunder—to jerk us out of our complacence. A rude assertion of Water as a political Force , a blackmailing device….exposing the extreme vulnerability of a powerful city to an odorless, colorless liquid.

FORCE has been espousing the Gandhian model of ‘ WATER SECURITY’  – where every locality, village, district , city , state & Nation is sustainably self-sufficient in its water requirements. Each must create its own unique formula of demand supply balance that minimizes its dependence on external sources of water. Hopefully today’s protest will galvanize us all into immediate action on this.

The second article was diametrically the opposite of the first. This was a group of well provided for citizens who empathized with the water needs of the not so fortunate. They saw water as a Gift of God to be VOLUNTARILY SHARED with all.

As its scarcity increases, water is becoming like Nuclear Power—in the right hands, it can be life giving; in the wrong, it can cause unparalleled misery. It is up to us now to decide the direction our lives will take.

Take Care …..Jal Rakshaks…….SAVE WATER, SHARE WATER