[FREE REPORT] Pond and Water Exploitation and Government Plansby CHARU SMITA | 09-03-2021 21:24 |
|---|
  The blue planet, Earth is labeled as unique, for it has an abundance of water, unlike any other planet known to human. 70% of the total area is shielded by water bodies. However, only a small percentage is accessible to our civilization. Ponds and Rivers are one of the main source of inland and drinkable water. However, a massive decrease in this statistics has been noted in the past few years. This is manly due to toxification and pollution. In India, specifically, Ponds and Rivers have been prone to both industrial and religious pollution, which is quite shocking, for rivers, such as Ganga, Yamuna, and Sarasvati, named after Hindu gods', have been considered as 'holy' and 'precious'. So why are these so called sacred bodies being mistreated? One of the main reason is the same fact, that these bodies are 'holy'. For Hindus believe that depositing a loved one's ashes in the river helps them to reach eternal peace or immersion of religious idols in the river after a festival teaches the society about impermanence. We fail to understand that the real God is our nature and rather than believing in old customs made merely for human satisfaction, we need to focus of our ecosystem. Traditional rituals are rarely pointed out, because it may lead to controversies. But it important for us to save, not only our future but our present. Religious pollution is only one side of the coin, the opposite frame of referance shows us how factors such as littering and industrial discharge has been prevalent since decades and is destroying our planet slowly and gradually. The government has introduced many projects in India to save rivers. One of them is the Ganga Action Plan (GPA) which was launched in 1986 and is still in action. Primary responsibility of the state should be concerned with setting up facilities for collection, transportation and treatment of sewage being generated and ensure that untreated sewage does not fall into the rivers, thereby polluting them. Recently, the National Green Tribunal, while hearing a case, said that more than 60 percent of the sewage generated by urban India is untreated and enters water bodies like rivers, resulting in pollution and making it unfit for human consumption. The tribunal called it an issue of serious concern and noted that compliance of environment norms is not satisfactory resulting in large scale deaths and diseases and serious damage to air, water and earth. Many professions also argue whether treated sewage should be released in water bodies or used in agricultural fields. The efforts of the state government in abatement of pollution in identified stretches of various rivers under the scheme of National River Conservation Plan (NRCP) has indeed made a difference. While government aid is important, every member of the country should also be educated to care for local ponds and observe the ecology and environment. The youth of the society may not be able to take action at the moment, but are indeed, the future of the country. Taking in account these factors, I visited the rural areas near my house. These areas have been occupied by rural people who are often not aware about hazardous situations and can unknowingly harm the ecosystem. The only pond in the area has been ambushed by Algal Bloom, a situation that harms the aquatic life in the pond. This was caused when the Algae present in the water was introduced to excess amount of nutrients. The Algae multiplied rapidly and took over the whole pond, reduced the oxygen count and hence killing the aquatic life. This is caused mostly because of industrial discharge or farming. In the area, however, no such means was present. So what caused this? It was mainly due to excessive amount of littering and land pollution. Other causes also include climate change, increase in surface temperature, introduction to toxins and lack of maintenance. How can Algal Bloom be removed? The measures aim at reducing the growth of fibrous algae by biological means and finally to stop it. The whole process takes about a couple of months. This period can be reduced by applying a course of treatment with an algae fighting product, however, rural funds may lack, also, using such products only fights the algae but that it does not remove the cause. To prevent algal Bloom, plants such as lotus or water like should be planted so as to reduce sunlight cover. CHARU SMITA |
