Water Conservation & Key Elements of Water Management Framework (Critical Anaysis)

India is the world’s 13th most water-stressed country. Both surface water and groundwater in India are highly exploited. 600 million people face high-to-extreme water stress. 70% of our water is contaminated and India is currently ranked 120 among 122 countries in the water quality index.

Given the possibilities of acute shortage in future and widening of the gap between supply and demand, conservation of water becomes really important:-

• Conserving would ensure availability of water for future generations for their sustenance activities like drinking, cooking, producing electricity, farming, industrial uses etc. 
• Conserving water minimizes the effects of water shortages and helps build better drought resilience, the frequency of which may increase as a result of climate change. 
• It would also help meet the rising demand for water owing to rapid urbanization, industrialization and increasing population. 
• Utilizing our water usages efficiently also reduces the energy required to process and deliver it to homes, businesses, farms etc. which, in turn, helps to reduce pollution and conserve fuel resources. 
• The oceans, streams and lakes are the lifeblood of so many local ecosystems, therefore conserving them would protect these ecosystems and be key for the survival of some endangered species.  

In light of this, there is a need to work upon a comprehensive water management framework, key elements of which include: 

• Prevention of water pollution: Legislative provisions such as the Water Act, and Environment Protection Act must be implemented effectively and people should be made aware of the impact of pollutants from agricultural activities, domestic and industrial discharges.  
• Recycle and Reuse of Water: Used water such as reclaimed waste-water could be an attractive option for recycling activities like gardening in houses, cooling in industries and fire-fighting to reduce their water cost.  
• Water efficiency: Agriculture and industries need to move towards achieving “water positive status” by adopting methods, which utilizes less water than the existing methods. For example, drip and sprinkler irrigation in agriculture etc. 
• Watershed Management: Surface and groundwater resources could be effectively conserved and managed by preventing runoff; storage and recharge of groundwater through various methods like percolation tanks, recharge wells, etc. 
• Promoting Rainwater Harvesting: It is a low cost and eco-friendly technique for preserving water. Besides increasing water availability, it would also check the declining groundwater table, improve the quality of groundwater etc. In this context traditional rainwater harvesting systems should also be popularized such as Kunds, Tankas etc. 
• Partnering with other key stakeholders: Private sector and people should also shoulder a part of the water management responsibility.  
• Each corporate must give equal importance to water management as part of its sustainability plan.  
• Civil society organizations, NGOs should also be included while drafting and implementing water conservation plans.

 

In this context, the government needs to take various steps such as offering incentives to farmers for choosing water efficient crops, charging commercial rates for electricity to prevent misuse of water, tax incentives to large residential blocks, commercial complexes etc. for innovation in improving water usage efficiency etc.

Depletion of Mangroves & Their Importance in Maintaining Coastal Ecology (Critical Analysis)

P.C.- Google

Mangroves are salt-tolerant vegetation that grows in intertidal regions of rivers and estuaries. They are referred to as ‘tidal forests’ and belong to the category of ‘tropical wetland rainforest ecosystem’.

Mangrove forests occupy around 2,00,000 square kilometres across the globe in tropical regions of 30 countries. India has a total mangrove cover of 4,482 sq km. However, more than 35% of the world’s mangroves are already depleted.

Causes of Depletion :

• Clearing: Large tracts of mangrove forests have been cleared to make room for agricultural land, human settlements, industrial areas, shrimp aquaculture etc. As a result, mangroves get depleted to the tune of 2-8 percent annually.
• Overharvesting: They are also overexploited for firewood, construction wood and pulp production, charcoal production, and animal fodder.
• Damming of rivers: Dams built over the river courses reduce the amount of water and sediments reaching mangrove forests, altering their salinity level.
• Destruction of coral reefs: Coral reefs provide the first barrier against currents and strong waves. When they are destroyed, even stronger-than-normal waves reaching the coast can wash away the fine sediment in which the mangroves grow.
• Pollution: Mangroves also face severe threats due to fertilizers, pesticides, discharge of domestic sewage and industrial effluents carried down by the river systems.
• Climate change: Unusually low rainfall and very high sea surface and air temperatures caused severe threats to the survival of mangrove forests.

Importance of mangroves in maintaining coastal ecology :

• Mangroves are among the most productive terrestrial ecosystems and are a natural, renewable resource. For instance, Sundarbans in the Gangetic delta supports around 30 plant species of mangroves.
• Mangroves provide ecological niches for a wide variety of organisms. They serve as breeding, feeding and nursery grounds for fisheries and provide timber and wood for fuel.
• Mangrove forests act as water filters and purifiers as well. When water from rivers and floodplains flow into the ocean, mangroves filter a lot of sediments, hence protecting the coastal ecology including coral reefs.
• Mangroves act as shock absorbers. They reduce high tides and waves and protect shorelines from erosion and also minimise disasters due to cyclones and tsunami.

Given their importance, strict enforcement of the coastal regulation measures, scientific management practices and participation of the local community in conservation and management are essential for the conservation and sustainable management of the precious mangrove forests.

अंडमान सागर में प्रवाल विरंजन (समीक्षा)

Satellite image of the Andaman Sea showing the green algae and silt deposits due to the Irrawaddy River in its northern part

P.C.- Wikipedia

भारतीय प्राणि सर्वेक्षण (ZSI) के वैज्ञानिकों ने बताया है कि अंडमान सागर के कुल तटीय क्षेत्रों के 83.6% तक बड़े पैमाने पर प्रवाल या मूंगे का नुकसान हो रहा है। 

प्रमुख बिंदु

• वैज्ञानिकों के अनुसार प्रवालों की सर्वाधिक क्षति दक्षिण अंडमान के क्षेत्र में लगभग 91.5% तक हुई है। जेड.एस.आई. के अनुसार वर्ष 2016 में अल नीनो की घटना एवं समुद्र की सतह के तापमान में वृद्धि के कारण व्यापक स्तर पर प्रवाल विरंजन की स्थिति उत्पन्न हुई है।अध्ययन से ज्ञात हुआ है कि वर्ष 2016 में अंडमान सागर में विरंजन के कारण कुल 23.58% जीवों का नुकसान हुआ था।

अल नीनो

• अल नीनो एक जलवायु संबंधी स्थिति है जो मध्य और पूर्वी उष्णकटिबंधीय प्रशांत महासागर में समुद्र की सतह के गर्म होने या समुद्र की सतह के औसत से ऊपर के तापमान को दर्शाता है। इसका समुद्र के तापमान, समुद्री धाराओं की गति और ताकत और तटीय मत्स्य पालन के स्वास्थ्य पर भी प्रभाव पड़ता है।

प्रवाल या मूंगे की चट्टान

• समुद्री पारिस्थितिकी तंत्र में मूंगे की चट्टानों की कॉलोनियां होती हैं जो कैल्शियम कार्बोनेट से निर्मित होती हैं।ये स्वस्थ समुद्री पारिस्थितिकी तंत्र के लिये अत्यंत महत्वपूर्ण हैं। ये 25% समुद्री प्रजातियों के लिये भोजन और आश्रय प्रदान करते हैं। इसके अलावा, प्रवाल तूफान और कटाव से समुद्र तट की भी रक्षा करते हैं।

प्रवालों पर संकट

• अंतर्राष्ट्रीय प्रकृति संरक्षण संघ की रिपोर्ट के मुताबिक पश्चिमी हिंद महासागर में प्रवाल भित्तियाँ 50 वर्षों के भीतर समाप्त हो सकती है।हवाई मनोआ विश्वविद्यालय के वैज्ञानिकों ने बताया है कि दुनिया के मौजूदा प्रवाल भित्तियों में से लगभग 70 से 90% का अगले 20 वर्षों में लुप्त होने का अनुमान है।

प्रवाल विरंजन

• सामान्यत: प्रवाल चमकीले और रंगीन होते हैं। प्रवाल विरंजन तब होता है जब मूंगे अपने जीवंत रंग खो देते हैं और सफेद हो जाते हैं। सूक्ष्म शैवाल, जिसे जोक्सांथेला कहा जाता हैं। जोक्सांथेला सहजीविता के लाभप्रद संबंध में प्रवाल के भीतर रहते हैं, एक दूसरे को जीवित रहने में मदद करते हैं।जलवायु परिवर्तन मुख्य रूप से प्रवाल विरंजन का एक प्रमुख कारण है। महासागरीय जल के तापमान में वृद्धि से प्रवाल शैवाल को बाहर निकाल देते हैं।प्रवाल विरंजन के कुछ अन्य कारणों में सागरीय प्रदूषण, अवसाद जमाव में वृद्धि, पराबैंगनी विकिरण स्तर में वृद्धि आदि शामिल है।