Pics: Joshwa D'Souza
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (JD)
Mangaluru, Jun 25: "If a drop of water per second flows away then it accounts to 50 litres per day and hence there is need to conserve water by not letting water leakage happen," stated Sri Padre, veteran irrigation expert and editor of Adike Pathrike.
Sri Padre was addressing a rain water harvesting programme ‘Come let's catch the rain', at the Bishop Jatthanna auditorium of Karnataka Christian Educational Society (KACES), Balmatta on June 25.
"One acre of land receives 1.4 crore litres of water a year. We do no not need any ADB loans for water management. If we understand our responsibility and ensure that at least half the rain water is absorbed, then our responsibility is done. When we dig small hills, the mud gets washed away and gets accumulated in the water sources in the form of silt which is the biggest crime we do commit. This silt also reduces the depth of the water resources and if water gets a red colour then it is an alarming situation," Sri Padre added.
"As per UNO, a man can handle his day-to-day activities with less than 100 litres of water. Here water is wasted for no reason. Food is cooked with 50 litres of water here and a woman in Rajasthan manages her household with the same quantity for the whole day," Sri Padre continued.
"Remember the water scarcity faced by the city in 2016 and it is noteworthy that it was worse than the 1983 famine. We are just going on drawing water from the earth but not refilling it. The only water source we have is rain. The earth is like a vessel that holds water. Unfortunately if we had used the amount spent on drilling borewells for the conservation of flowing water, we would not have faced the situation we faced last summer," Sri Padre opined.
"We should conserve open wells. They are like an elephant. They are of use even when dead. I urge everyone to contribute to the conservation of water." Sri Padre concluded.
Principal of KACES Dr Honey Cabral, secretary of Mangaluru senior citizens association K Ramesh Rao, architect Ashok Mendonca and others were present.