Unit Water Shortage Instructor: of the World's big cities are now experiencing water scarcity or drought conditions. As many as million people already live in regions that experience severe water stress. According to a study in the journal ‘Science Advances’, nearly half of these people live in our country and with the rising population, this stress is going to mount. Moderator: I’m happy to introduce two eminent speakers Mr.
Ramesh, retired Chairman of Water Management Board and Mr.Joseph, founder of ‘The Drop’, an NGO. I now request Mr. Ramesh to throw some light on the topic and lead the discussion. Mr.Ramesh : Humanity is facing water crisis.
Either there is too much water in some places or there isn’t enough water in other places and we all know that this is being driven not only by climate changes 12th Communicative English Book.indb Listening Passages Page but also by economic growth, population and poor water management. Moderator: As mentioned by Mr.Ramesh, water management seems to be the crucial point when we talk about water crisis. I now request Mr. Joseph to make a few suggestions.
Mr.Joseph : Well, to tackle water crisis, a good water management strategy has to be adopted at all levels of planning, developing and distributing water for maximum usage. Say for example, in the field of agriculture, water intensive crops like rice and cotton should be grown in water rich regions and crops which need less water grown in other regions where there is less supply of water. Moderator: Yes, Mr. Ramesh, what have you got to say about this?
Mr.Ramesh: To minimize water crisis, the main option is to share water, not only in the trans-boundary river basins but also in the river basins within nations and states. Mr.Joseph: I would like to put forth the causes for this water scarcity. Shortfall of rain is the most important issue, that stems from deforestation. The absence of bunds and encroachments at the catchment areas also aggravate the water shortage issue.
Mr.Ramesh: But the good news is that there are always solutions to our problems. Our motto should be “The less water used, the more water saved.” This will go a long way, towards addressing the current crisis. But for the solutions to be effective they need to be implemented vigilantly. Moderator : Having discussed the status, causes and problems, let us also consider some practical solutions such as v do not keep taps running v only use what is needed resourcefully v practise sustainable home living v recycle used water v create awareness of the dire consequences of water resource abuse v get more involvement from people By now we are aware how critical our global water shortage is.
Now the panellists are open for questions from the audience.