citizen journalism – Parwatisingari's Weblog

Waste Water and Water Waste

Waste Water… and Water Waste

This is blog is inspired by www.BlogAdda.com

But I have not written it over weekend, simply because I was researching and I needed to get my information right.

So lets start at the very beginning.. No we are not going to a place where water was common resource but to this event called the world water day. It’s on 22^nd of march, which means this article is almost a week late and most of us are probably already looking at 1^st April for the all fools day. this year the UN focuses on waste waters and the ways to reduce and reuse as over 80% of all the waste water from our homes, cities industries and agriculture flows back into nature polluting the environment and losing valuable nutrients and other recoverable materials.

The UN also has a goal 6 which is ensuring availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all by 2030. The target of this is is to halve the proportion of untreated waste water and increase water recycling and safe re-use of water.

Some facts from the UN

Globally over 50% of the water waste generated by the society flows back into ecosystem without being treated or reused.
8 billion People use a source of drinking water contaminated with faeces, putting them at risk contracting cholera, dysentery, typhoid and polio. Unsafe water, poor sanitation and hygiene cause around 842,000 deaths each year.(data courtesy WHO/UNICEF)

After all this not really relevant data, let’s look at waste water, how many of you saw sewage, kitchen flow etc. etc. the imagery of cattle bathing in the river, or clothes being washed in the river. Well cattle bathing in the river is their right I do not what gives us the right to deprive them, but that is another war, not the agenda here. clothes being washed at the river side is an issue because the detergents that are marketed so heavily subtly ridiculing the traditional washing aids, contaminate water. I doubt if the policy makers also thought of the real pollutants from urban sewage, trucks being washed at the water bodies, industrial waste etc. etc. Contamination also occurs right up to the groundwater through septic tanks.

The theme this year is about reusing waste water

The Water Resource Department,(WRD) has come up with a sequential water reactor, the first level of treatment allows the water to be used to flush the toilets and to be used in gardens, while the second level allows the water to become drinkable. Government provides assistance to bring this into action; somehow housing societies are rather reluctant to pick this one.

The area that WRD is supposed to work on, is creating awareness on rainwater harvesting and assisting people to do so. the government gives a subsidy of 50.000 – 2 lakhs, to individuals or societies to achieve this. Every panchayat has an officer appointed by the government to do this, yet the citizens are totally unaware of this.

Ground water act calls for all wells to be registered, so do the water tankers. – Details are found on the web of WRD, printed copy of this act is not available, and translation to quite a few vernacular language is also required. The job and funds for doing so is available to the information department. The PWD takes on the cleaning of the existing wells,

The government has allotted funds for de-silting, and cleaning existing wells. The wells need to be registered to avail this. The directorate of health, which is in charge of checking the water quality, has required equipment, and a designated officer but is absolutely clueless on how to use the equipment as no one has demanded that it be done, the resources undergo disuse atrophy.

Know the department involved in water saga,

Sewage and Infrastructural Development Corporation. Every state has one. In charge of the waste water treatment.
Water resource department — water supply, rainwater harvest education, registration of wells, and water transport trucks.
Directorate of Health Services water quality maintenance, and watch dog for waterborne diseases.
PWD water cleaning and de-silting and maintenance of ground water

The information I have handed is also incomplete, since time is a constrain. But amazes me is when we buy a television we check out the service etc. etc. we do not take the trouble of seeing where our tax money is going. Nor do we take the responsibility for any of this when we buy our flat.

http://www.indiawaterportal.org/articles/rooftop-rainwater-harvesting-gujarat-utthan

‘This post is a part of Write Over the Weekend, an initiative for Indian Bloggers by BlogAdda.

chalo-vote karo

India votes 2014,

And how would I inspire and mobilize the youth to vote in the 2014 election.

I remember Michael Fernandes the father of George Fernandes; he was a 6ft. plus man who was tortured during the emergency that he was on wheel chair. In that condition he went from school to school, particularly the high school and +2’s sharing with them a vision of India to come, and what each one of us could do to achieve it.

it made us feel responsible towards the society, and country.

That would be the ideal thing to do.

With GoaDesc. That is diligently working towards educating the educated irresponsible, about panchayat, good governance. Our step one would be,

Net work young adults create a vision board for their panchayat, state and country such that none of them get compromise. This should include
- What is missing in their home zone that is what would they like have in their home zone, I mean basic amenities and not malls and movie halls.
- Why do they think they don’t have it now?
- How do will they go about getting.
- Does the agenda of the current representative meet their local needs? If not who is the alternate.

Social media would be the greatest way to tackle this. When I say vision I do not mean stupid things like jobs for all, or computers for all, I want the kids to know this their country they have the power to create and destroy the man or the woman at the parliament is just their representative so they need to put someone who keeps their back safe.

Use radio mirchi or other FM my vision and plan of action to achieve it, again panchayat-state-country format.

Use TV channels where the representatives give a working plan and accountability.

The actual plan of action would be.

We chat—wassup blurbs on “my vision of the country that I would like to live in.” The winners will interact with the potential political representatives on social media, may be TV or youtube.
- What are the civic amenities my village needs, photographs would be welcome.
- What do I like the best of about my village and state.
- Next set of blurbs, — what has the representative done so far? Has it contributed to the village goal?

Elephants can remember.

TOI had runs and re-runs of women who claimed sexual abuse in retrospect. Or decided to share their disturbed dignity now that they are in a more secure place career wise. This disclosure is on a blogspace and the blog is accessed by TOI, to the whole gamut seems so ridiculous.

Okay, the power of the predator could be intimidating, hence the victim has not disclosed. There could also be a fear of ridicule, isolation or even the fear of not being believed. Overcoming that could probably allow the person to confront at a later stage.

The closure would then be one to one private. The person I am referring to I think is a Ms.Mrinal Sood does not want to disclose her tormentor’s name as she does not want to tarnish it!! cut the crap. Then either it happened in your imagination or you want some “phukat” publicity. Last possibility could be a threat to the tune of “okay buster, I can go viral on you anytime’.

Ladies its time we took a call. Companies and firms, are actually wondering if they should take on female staff. Though why a male junior is not at the risk of being harassed somehow seems so gender biased. Crying rape, immediately or in retrospect is something that a man would need to live in fear off.