Call for political unity on water conservation before World Environment Day

Ahead of World Environment Day WED on June 5 a group of environmental organisations has called upon all political parties to set aside their differences and focus on water protection conservation harvesting and enhancing the green cover to protect the landldquolsquoLand Restoration Desertification and Drought Resiliencersquo is the theme for WEDrdquo NatConnect Foundation pointed out in an open letter to politicians emphasising that water conservation is the first step toward achieving this goalldquoThe action must begin from the top and ensure that the message of JalNahinKalNahin flows from parliament to panchayatsrdquo said NatConnect director B N Kumar The Alliance for Rivers in India AFR Watchdog Foundation Kharghar Hill and Wetlands and Save Belapur Hills have joined the drive HarvestWaterToConserveLandldquoSadly our politicians do not realise the importance of hills that help us in rainfall and holding waterrdquo Kumar saidldquoWe need good officers and firm decisionmakersrdquo said Indorebased Sanjay Gupta Cofounder of AFRldquoRainwater harvesting is a critical measure in combating water scarcity and by capturing and storing rainwater we can reduce dependence on depleting groundwater sourcesrdquo stated Godfrey Pimenta of Watchdog FoundationldquoPolitical ideologies may have separated politicians during the recently concluded elections but environmental issues could unite them postresults Regarding Mumbai the entire metropolitan region should be treated as one comprehensive unit for environmental protection beginning with water conservationrdquo Pimenta addedIn this context Kumar highlighted the lift irrigation project successfully executed by the Karnataka Government which pumps water about 70 km from Bengalurursquos sewage treatment plants STP to Kolar This STP water is then pumped into Kolar lakes helping recharge groundwater tables and providing water for irrigationldquoThe state government is now planning to extend this scheme to all its major cities and recycle used water for irrigationrdquo Kumar saidMumbai collects over 1700 million liters per day MLD Navi Mumbai about 450 MLD and Kalyan Dombivli Municipal Corporation about 210 MLD Most of the treated water is currently drained into the sea which is a waste NatConnect suggested that the Maharashtra government take the first step towards the effective use of every drop of waterldquoThe Mumbai Metropolitan Region MMR has 18 urban areas including nine municipal corporations and urban development must focus on the effective use of recycled water Similarly India has over 310 cities and 5100 towns all of which need to take water conservation and recycling seriously This involvement should flow from the prime minister and the chief ministers down to their ministers MPs MLAs zilla parishad members and finally the panchayat sarpanch and membersrdquo Kumar saidConcurring with this idea Godfrey Pimenta director of Watchdog Foundation said ldquoOur focus must extend to crucial initiatives such as rainwater harvesting expanding greenery and ensuring the sustainable management of our natural resources including space air earth and hillsrdquoldquoIncreasing urban greenery not only enhances the aesthetic value of our cities but also contributes significantly to air purification temperature regulation and biodiversityrdquo Pimenta saidldquoLand conservation must also be related to hill protection Hills must be strengthened with green cover and we should not allow encroachments and hill cutting at any costrdquo said Himanshu Katkar of Save Belapur Hills forumJyoti Nadkarni of Kharghar Hill and Wetland questioned the need for themes to remind us of our actions and responsibility for the planet ldquoIt is time to act on checking land degradation and soil erosion because ldquoOur land is our future We are solely responsible for its conservation rdquoJune 5World Environment Day