There is nothing more important to living beings today than air and water. Nonetheless, every country, from the United States to Africa, Europe to Australia, is having difficulty obtaining water for its daily needs. We’ve reached a point when identifying countries that are unlikely to have a water catastrophe is simple. We have heard and learnt the importance of water in our lives. Water makes up about 70% of our planet, and it’s easy to think that it will always be plenty. On the other hand, freshwater is in short supply. We drink it, bathe in it, and water our farmland with it. Only 3% of the world’s water is freshwater, and two-thirds of that is frozen glaciers or otherwise unfit for human use.
Many of the water supplies that keep ecosystems healthy while supporting an ever-increasing human population are now in jeopardy. Agriculture uses more water than any other source and wastes a significant portion of it due to inefficiencies. Climate change is changing weather and water patterns throughout the world, resulting in water shortages and droughts in some areas and floods in others. Climate change is the result of all the activities we do without considering nature. Melting ice glaciers, weather changes, dropping of temperature to minus, irregular rain, extinction of birds and animals, severe storms, scarcity of water and so many more such situations are rising.
However, the most prevalent of all is the scarcity of water supply all over the world. Today, 771 million people – or one in every ten – do not have access to safe drinking water, and 1.7 billion people – or one in every four – do not have access to a toilet. The water problem is a public health emergency. Nearly one million people die each year as a result of water crisis, sanitation, and hygiene-related diseases, which might be avoided if everyone had access to clean water and sanitation.
Every two minutes, a toddler dies as a result of a water-related illness. Access to clean water and sanitation improves health and helps to avoid the spread of infectious diseases. According to the data, 3.6 billion people in 2018 had insufficient access to water for at least one month every year. This is predicted to increase to more than five billion people by 2050. Every country has different types of water difficulties and will need to prioritise diverse activities to achieve long-term water management, such as treating wastewater, delivering safe drinking water, strengthening water management legislation, and investing in critical infrastructure.
I am sure all of us at some point in life, come across a situation when you were so thirsty you thought you would faint, but couldn’t find any nearby. Think about this and multiply that feeling a hundred times and feel that every day for just a month. That is what billions of people go through on an everyday basis. To access water they have to walk miles in the scorching sun and then haul that water back home. We quite often do not realize the value of water unless there is a water cut in our locality. That’s when it strikes how will we survive the day? In reality, some people go through this every day for their entire life.
There are so many simple yet effective steps we can take to avoid such dire situations. What if we have a bath without a shower for three days a week, or if we close the running taps while brushing, how about taking water enough to quench thirst but not waste it? I am well aware of how simple this sounds today and may be difficult to execute for some people. But why not start one step at a time.
Of course, the United Nations and many countries have taken acts on their levels. Various study investigations show that a tiny bit of correct assistance and attention can effectively fix the worldwide situation. Air and water are the most essential components of life. And at the rate we’re going, we’ll soon be out of both of them. Because the water crisis we’ve always heard about has arrived, it’s past time we focused on the environment before worrying about ourselves. Nature-based infrastructure, which combines ecosystems such as forests and wetlands with traditional infrastructure such as pipes and pumps, has significant benefits in terms of both quantity and quality of water.
The solutions to the world’s water crisis are readily available; what’s missing is the money (from public and private sectors) and political representatives will need to implement them. It’s past time for water solutions to be viewed as an opportunity rather than a burden. To leave a greener, healthier and stable environment for after generations we need to act now. The clock is ticking and we have snoozed a lot already, time to get our plans in action.
Written by- Jinal S Mehta
Edited by- Isha Mehrotra