THE CRITICAL ROLE THAT WATER PLAYS IN DEVELOPMENT (PART ONE)

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THE CRITICAL ROLE THAT WATER PLAYS IN DEVELOPMENT (PART ONE)
by \| 03-11-2014 23:35 0
THE CRITICAL ROLE THAT WATER PLAYS IN DEVELOPMENT (PART ONE) Hello to all ambassadors and warm greetings from Cameroon. There is hardly any human activity that does not make use of water that is why I believe water is the basis for all development. The growing importance of the science of water has been ignited by humanity?s desire and pre-occupation in trying to match demand and supply of water. Water being a fundamental element of all life on earth and seems to be in short supply almost everywhere on earth. In most parts of the world especially were water is a critical factor in development, the dual impacts of agriculture and urbanization has permanently altered the global society. There has been a significant modification in the pattern of occurrence of water where ever there has been expansion in urbanization and irrigational agriculture. The critical role that water plays in development has been manifested in many parts of the world through numerous conflicts between states over water resources. About 15% of river flow is controlled by humankind demonstrating the Role Rivers play in development. It is this attempt to control rivers by various states that has contributed to numerous water related conflicts. Some authors believe that the next world war will fought over water resources. We are ten years in the 21^st century and the major preoccupations are: - Provision of sufficient water for the growing and increasingly demanding population - Impact of water development including hydrological development on the environment. - Anticipated problems especially in the relation to the unreliability of water resources. That is why we must advocate and be committed to sustainable and harnessing and management of water resources. Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE script>X-NONEscript> THE CRITICAL ROLE THAT WATER PLAYS IN DEVELOPMENT PART TWO I visited the South West Region of Cameroon, the town of legendary hospitality with interest to know how small communities are being compounded by wide range of threat to fresh water resources such as environmental change commonly linked to the activities which people carry out on the landscape. I then realized that one of the most important aspect of water is that despite the fact that water is available everywhere, the amount of fresh portable water is grossly insufficient in these small communities of the South West Region of Cameroon. Ironically, this region has the best drainage systems in the country since it is mountainous in nature. I further proceeded to some interior communities where agriculture has been a failure due to poor harnessing of water resources and uncertainty in rain fall. Despite poverty, youth unemployment and lack of roads, the major problem in these communities of the South West Region of Cameroon is lack of portable water. One of this communities in Limbe manage to have one catchment area constructed the Government in the 1990’s but today human settlement around this catchment and poor management has lead to underground water contamination. This is due to close proximity of toilets to the catchment and human activities. All these have lead to ground water contamination and subsequent catchment contamination. This situation is putting the lives of 50.000 Cameroon village inhabitants at risk. Thanks to initiatives such as Tunza Eco-generation which is representing the voices of these people and calling on the government to take action on this situation and if the government does not react on this water situation, the consequence can be devastating. I imagine an outbreak of Cholera and other water born disease of the country due to these poor sanitary conditions.

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13 Comments

says :
Thank you for sharing, AZIEH EDWIN AWAMBENG!
Posted 27-11-2014 08:52

says :
Water is the second essential element next to air. This should be properly cared and consumed. A proper community based information dissemination should be done. Nice report!
Posted 10-11-2014 17:58

says :
@Arushi Madan I totally appreciate your ideas of rain water harvest and installing more water treatment plants to ensure purity in water. Also awaking and training people basic steps for maintaining cleanliness and hygienic surrounding of environment resources may aid the needy people. Thank you for your suggestions
Posted 07-11-2014 20:26

says :
Water is fundamental basis of life. Contaminated water resources will surely have serious health effects to people residing there.
I just wish the government takes effective water management system so as to prevent the disaster like to occur.
Posted 07-11-2014 20:19

says :
Thanks for reporting. Sustainability of water is a global concern.
Posted 06-11-2014 18:49

Rohan Kapur says :
By highlighting such issues & petitions with the authorities you will definitely succeed in your mission.
Azieh, I feel it is our collective responsibility to make sure of judicious use of available water resources. as the Govt. can only provide with a policy & supply of limited potable water as the demand is much more than supply.
All the best.

Posted 06-11-2014 17:13

says :
@Arushi well said, I also agree on your view :)
Posted 05-11-2014 11:11

says :
Indeed, negligence on the significance of the water in our daily activities is one of the main reasons why the problem is ever growing. I agree with Christy that education is the key to finally let people realize the incovenient truth of the effects of our actions.
Posted 04-11-2014 23:44

says :
Thanks for the report Azieh. Water plays crucial role in every development, social, religious and economic process. Like you have said, its the base of life.
Agriculture is the first thing that gets seriously affected when we have to completely depend upon rainfall and there is no provision of Irrigation facilities.
Human health is always at stake whenever poor sanitation mingles with poor supply of drinking water.
Hope Cameroon gets out of problem through organized planning for urbanization, industrialization and agriculture development. Like Arushi has said, people ( as a responsible citizen) should use water judiciously.
Posted 04-11-2014 20:11

says :
Great comments from you guys @Christy and@ Arushi.i am encourage to research more and i represent TUNZA as the voices of this communities.thanks.
Posted 04-11-2014 17:49

Arushi Madan says :
Water shortage problems rise with increasing urbanisation and irresponsible consumption of water by industries. Agriculture and industrial development, though vital to Cameroons economic development and GDP, has the negative effect of reducing the existing water sources available for human consumption. It is therefore critical that people there use water judiciously /optimally and govts look into rainwater harvesting and installing more water treatment plants to ensure appropriate & clean water to all to meet the growing demand.
Posted 04-11-2014 16:46

says :
Yes, and water is the base of life. We can't stay alive more than 3 days without water.
And contaminated water resources will greatly threat numerous lives residing around the region.
We tend to neglect the importance of water management in spite of it's critical impact on our life. So anyone on this planet should be educated enough about the major water issues in order to secure their right to live safely and healthy.
Posted 04-11-2014 09:38