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WATER WISE

— Photo: M. Moorthy

Save it: The Cauvery in all its splendour at sunset.

The Sanskrit ‘Ka’ meaning water is the language root for both the Arkavathy and the Cauvery. It is important therefore for us to treat our rivers with respect. Each individual’s action counts…be it consuming less water, ensurin g wastewater treatment, managing garbage correctly and planting and taking care of trees and forests in the catchment of our rivers.

It rains on the land and rain is the primary source of water. The forests hold the water and release it slowly, ensuring that the soil does not run off and erode and also choke up water bodies. The rivers run from the waters they receive from the surface of the land, but very importantly from the waters that they receive from the base flows below the ground and which appear as springs or feed the channels directly. We take the water from the rivers for our use but we need to return it in the same quality at which we took it.

How would it be if every city were to release its wastewater upstream and draw its fresh water requirement downstream of the release point of wastewater? Would we be more ecologically responsible?

It is time for all of us to ensure that the precious resource called water is well understood, distributed equally to all and taken care of as a precious gift of nature. For that we need to become water literate. And water literacy — knowing where the water we use comes from and taking responsibility for its wise use and release back to nature after use — is the first step towards water wisdom.

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