Let’s see how much we can Save…
Not many years ago, our mother used to get-up at 4:30 in the morning to check if water has come. We all have seen our elders rushing to close the tap to prevent water being wasted. The intentions were never to assess how much water is left, rather the intentions were to save as much as we can. During those days water was not as scarce as today, but still, the wise-souls knew some day this most used and needed natural resource will be scarce.
They saved water for their generations and we are wasting it as if we our children will explore another water body outside the earth.
Whoever has storage tank and is dependent on municipal water will not waste it, since he knows, water will come only once or twice a day. At some places, where water comes just 3 times a week, the essence of water conservation is even higher. And places where water is dependent on only rains, they are the masters of water conservation.
Are we learning the message through hard ways ? A wise man said – WATER SAVED IS WATER PRODUCED… The world is running out of drinkable water. “Water-water everywhere but not a drop to drink”, will become reality if we still do not take concrete steps.
India’s average annual per capita availability of water has come down to 70% (2011) as per the research. Seven years more have passed since then.
India receives rainfall of about 4000 BCM (Billion Cubic Meter) every year. But the utilizable water is only 1125 BCM which comprises 690 BCM of surface water and 435 BCM of ground water.
There are more than 27 million wells and borewells are in India, with 50 % borewells running continuously, pumping out 435 BCM of groundwater each year. Through rains, less than 100 BCM of groundwater is recharged naturally. Thus ground water levels are depleting. Deepening of borewells will only increase water scarcity and irrigation electricity cost.
We are proud of Hindustan Zinc for Water Conservation Projects. At many locations we are collecting rain water and reutilizing them for various purposes. Importantly, this water harvesting has reduced our footprints in water usage and we are counted amongst the few mining companies globally for our water conservation initiatives. Our Sewage Treatment Plant in Udaipur has emerged as a model for water conservation. We are extracting water from the sewage and using in our plants, thus releasing fresh water – an example of Water Saved is Water Produced.
Before the water is mined like a precious metal, let us see how much we can save. A bird needs just a drop, but travels many miles to have that one drop. It can be humans tomorrow.. think about it..
“Manthan”, an initiative by Hindustan Zinc, is a series of stories to bring awareness about various concerns like air pollution, water pollution, plastic pollution, noise pollution, climate change, road safety and wildlife protection.