Domestic violence,– violation of habitat

This article is part of the ring the bell, campaign www.bellbajao.org

Of course the site specifies domestic violence or violence against women. To me the flowing river and mother earth are also women.

• Floods at uttarkashi
• Delhi is flooded
• Mumbai stranded in rains

These are direct fall out us violating the water and land.

We are so busy without real estate investments, out buildings are trophies of development, but the price we pay is so enormous.

Earlier every new construction was heralded with sprouting of banana trees, today we have asbestos sheets. The building comes with the entire plot being submerged in concrete.

The more upmarket ones camouflaging the concrete with pools, and the indigenous flora being suppressed by the trees, grown in Dubai!! For god sake the desert flora is different from the flora in the cowbelt as it is different in the south.

Traditionally the rains get lapped up the earth, nourishing the soil, and settling in the deeper layers creating a water resource. Part of it of course flowed down to the river or sea.

Now with the concrete sealing the water has nowhere to go, it can only destroy everything that comes it way until it hits a channel to flow.  This is turn creates

• Lack of water-bed.
• Lack of deep water resource.
• Soil erosion
•  The increase in river bed.
• Post monsoon water problems.

What are the possible solutions?

Elaborate imported water harvesting project at Rajasthan has failed miserably, yet Rajasthan has healed part of its water-bed.  A village in Maharashtra has turned from arid lands to domestic exporter of onion, jowar and a local pulse. How did they achieve it?

The semi literate youth of the village, retrieved the ancient irrigation canals, and tidied the man-made water pools. They then systemically revived their farming.

Rajasthan revived its traditional water harvesting technique too.

Urban citizen’s action

• Reduce concrete pavements, after all the only thing it achieves is roadside vendors.
• Ensure all buildings allow for rainwater harvesting. That would require structural modification and water storing facility
• Recycle water to create a garden of indigenous plants, and vegetables.

To achieve this one would have to be part of the local administration. This does not involve politics it only needs you to participate in the proceedings once a month. This is our responsibility as citizens, before we begin to whine about politicians, politics, and corruption.