Freedom is a state of plenty, amnesty and rescue. Nature is born free but with the evolution of man, its society and occurring natural or manmade tribulations, the actual way of life on this Earth is in bondage.
Water is the elixir of life.
When a major part of the Earth’s landmass is occupied by water yet there is an ever prevailing condition of drought luring upon living organisms. Drought is a recurrent situation, specific of time and area that experiences low or lack of precipitation in the form of rain or snow. During this period, the groundwater level shrinks; the soil loses moisture, the rivers and streams in the area dry up, cultivation halts and crop damage starts, scarcity of potable water streams into the homes of men and eventually their livestock.
Unlike other natural wraths upon humanity, droughts do not hit regions with a warning. It is almost impossible to identify the beginning and the end of a drought in a region because symptoms of the disaster are confusing with the regular below-average or simply average precipitation in that region for weeks or months and there is no guarantee on how long wills this drought situation last. Thus, the toll on the suffering population is very high, these people have to travel miles to fetch drinking water as well as invest extra expense on buying vegetables from outside.
Water management is the only solution to sustainability in drought-prone areas.
Waiting for the rains to stock on water, and prepare for emergency assistance to the affected ones are not recommendable in case of randomly occurring droughts. The local government must manage a ledger to keep a check on the frequency of drought in the region and accordingly reduce the water demand per house by curtailing unnecessary domestic and industrial use. The fresh surface water and groundwater reservoirs must be secured from any disposal or filthy permeations and industrial permits. Rainwater harvesting must be facilitated on a high-maintenance level by the Union government while each house must institute their own manageable low-cost rainwater harvesting system for extra security to personal penalty. Moreover, nowadays Palmer index, a periodical survey on river water subsidence, regular check on the groundwater level, conservation of water at basin level, effective public notifications, maintenance of revenue for reliefs, etc. can benefit a water management planning. The government can address employments for the people dependent on agriculture of these areas along with the support from NGOs and District/Block committees for community camps. Unfortunately, drought is one of the most expensive and grave disasters to tackle and witness. A government assigned commission or agency must announce the onset of drought and their consequent alternations in water availability in a much-planned way to successfully mitigate this environmental discern.
India has institutionalized National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Fund under 2005 Disaster Management Act for drought-affected people.
Image Courtesy : EURACTIV
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