WATER CRISIS: NOT JUST METEOROLOGY BUT MISMANAGEMENT
Quotes Related To Water Crisis and Mismanagement of Water Resource
“The water crisis is not (or not mainly) one of availability; it is, in the Indian context, at any rate, a crisis of gross mismanagement, and globally, a crisis of rapacity.” Ramaswamy R. Iyer
“We are widely perceived to be in the midst of a “world water crisis.” This crisis is commonly believed to be one of scarcity – that the world is running out of water. But in fact, the “crisis” is mainly one of mismanagement, not absolute scarcity. Freshwater ecosystems worldwide have been dammed, drained and pumped dry to supply inefficient and inequitable irrigation schemes, leaky water mains and wasteful overconsumption.” International Rivers Network
“Nearly 600 million Indians faced high to extreme water stress and about 2,00,000 people died every year due to inadequate access to safe water. Twenty-one cities, including Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai and Hyderabad will run out of groundwater by 2020, affecting 100 million people, the study noted. If matters are to continue, there will be a 6% loss in the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 2050. Moreover, critical groundwater resources, which accounted for 40% of India’s water supply, are being depleted at unsustainable rates and up to 70% of India’s water supply is contaminated.” Niti Aayog, Composite Water Development Index.
“Water crisis is one of the largest global risk in terms of potential impact.”- Global Risks Report 2016, World Economic Forum
“Some 2.2 billion people around the world do not have safely managed drinking water services, 4.2 billion people do not have safely managed sanitation services, and 3 billion lack basic handwashing facilities. Gaps in access to water supply and sanitation, growing populations, more water-intensive patterns of growth, increasing rainfall variability, and pollution are combining in many places to make water one of the greatest risks to economic progress, poverty eradication and sustainable development.” World Bank
Anecdote
Every morning for the past two months, N. Thangaraj has set out from his home at 4 a.m., carrying plastic pots, ready to jostle through crowds, to collect a few litres of water to meet the need of his family of four in Chennai. Chennai, India’s sixth biggest city, has run almost entirely out of water. The city has not had rain in nearly 200 days and the Central Water Commission has reported a 41% rainfall deficit in Tamil Nadu. After a weak northeast monsoon, the city’s four main reservoirs — Red Hills, Chembarambakkam, Cholavaram and Poondi that contribute 60% of the city’s requirements — have shrunk and dried up. What little water the city has now comes from dwindling aquifers and tankers — some of which ferry water from agricultural wells or quarries several kilometres away from the city. The problem is not just meteorological, but administrative: gross mismanagement of water resources and unplanned urbanisation has brought on this crisis.
Chennai has always had enough water — let’s not forget that just a few years ago, Chennai was in the throes of a flood and had to release excess water from the reservoirs.
During the floods in Chennai in December 2015, the encroachment of wetlands was widely cited as a key issue. Vanishing catchment areas had resulted in floods. Three-and-a-half years later, no formal mechanism has been put in place to check whether wetlands are being desilted and restored. Chennai can’t depend on a few reservoirs to supply water to a growing, water-starved population. There is need of a decentralised system that stores and supplies water. Reservoirs should be regularly desilted, to create more storage areas by making use of existing ponds and tanks and creeks. Every lake must have a treatment plant. Government needs to manage the water channels that bring water into these — instead, it has built over them and allowed construction over them. This shows the condition of “day zero” in Chennai is not only because of meteorological factors but also because of gross mismanagement of water resource.
General Introduction
While water is a renewable resource, it is at the same time a finite resource. Over the years, increasing population, growing industrialization, expanding agriculture and rising standards of living have pushed up the demand for water. The precipitation in form of rainfall or snowfall is the main source of fresh water for the subcontinent. But the there is a lot of variation in spatial and temporal distribution of rainfall. This leads to frequent floods and droughts in India. The matter being made worse by the climate change. Despite this variability, India is not a water poor country, but efficiency of water use is one of the lowest and level of water wastage is one of the highest in the world. In India it is the mismanagement of water resource that has been responsible for water crisis. Various reasons ranging from public ignorance to administrative apathy to politicization of the issue are responsible for this crisis.
Water Crisis and Meteorological Reasons
India has only about 4 per cent of the world’s renewable water resources but is home to nearly 18 per cent of the world’s population. It receives an average annual precipitation of 4,000 billion cubic metres (BCM) which is the principle source of fresh water in the country. This is also responsible for recharge of ground water table. However, this rain is not uniform in time or geography.
The average rainfall in India is around 125 cm. But there is seasonal concentration of rain. The South-west monsoon constituted 75% of the total rainfall (June to September), 13% of it by north-east monsoon (October to December), 10% of it by pre monsoon cyclonic rainfall (mainly in April and May and 2% of it by western disturbances (December to February). Further, there are intra-seasonal and inter-seasonal variations in rainfall. Intra-seasonal rainfall variations are due to monsoon breaks and western disturbance. Inter-seasonal variations are result of complex interaction between ocean and atmosphere in form of ENSO, MJ oscillations and IOD.
Also, there are spatial variations. The western coast and North-Eastern India receive over about 400 cm of rainfall annually. However, it is less than 60 cm in western Rajasthan and adjoining parts of Gujarat, Haryana and Punjab. Rainfall is equally low in the interior of the Deccan plateau, and east of the Sahyadris. A third area of low precipitation is around Leh in Jammu and Kashmir. The rest of the country receives moderate rainfall. Snowfall is restricted to the Himalayan region. Owing to the nature of monsoons, the annual rainfall is highly variable from year to year. Variability is high in the regions of low rainfall such as parts of Rajasthan, Gujarat and the leeward side of the Western Ghats. Coromandel coast receives rain during the months of retreating monsoon (October to December). The variability depends upon distance from the ocean, topographic features and local atmospheric conditions.
The precipitation pattern also determines the regime of large rivers. Other than rains, the melting of snow over the Himalayas after winter season feeds the northern rivers to varying degrees. The southern rivers, however, experience more flow variability over the year.
The result of this meteorological precipitation variations is that India experiences both floods and droughts periodically. Nearly a third of the country’s geographical area is drought-prone whereas 12 per cent of the area is prone to floods. This causes water crisis in one or other form in different parts of country.
This year, India is facing one of its major and most serious water crisis. After two consecutive years of weak monsoons, 330 million people — a quarter of the country’s population — are affected by a severe drought. With nearly 50 per cent of India grappling with drought-like conditions, the situation has been particularly grim this year in western and southern states . The southwest monsoon, which usually drenches India from June to September, has come ten days late this year, bringing 30 percent less rain than normal for the month of June. In the north, Delhi has thus far seen almost no rain, while in southern India reservoir levels in southern India are running dangerously low. Once the wettest place on Earth, Cherrapunji, a town in northeastern India, has faced a drought each winter for the past few years. Kerala, a state in the southwest, flooded devastatingly in 2018, but saw its wells run dry soon after. Chennai, a growing south-Indian metropolis, was inundated by rains in 2015—but this summer, waiting for the monsoon, its 11 million residents have watched its four reservoirs run dry.
The effect of global warming further intensifies temporal and spatial variations in precipitation, melting of snow and water availability.
Water Crisis- Global Warming and Changing Precipitation Pattern In India
With the rise in global temperature, rainfall will increasingly become more erratic and frequency of extremes like cyclones, cloud bursts, droughts and floods will increase. Changes in temperature, precipitation and other climatic variables are likely to influence the amount and distribution of runoff in Indian rivers. Himalayan rivers are lifeline for millions of people in northers plain. The runoff of the Himalayan rivers is expected to be highly vulnerable to climate change because warmer climate will increase the melting of snow and ice and will have a direct impact on water resources affecting the drinking water, irrigation, hydropower generation and other uses of water.
With an economy closely linked to its natural resource base and climatically sensitive sectors such as agriculture, water and forestry, India may face a major threat because of the projected change in climate. Changes in the amount, patterns and intensity of rainfall would affect stream flow and the demand for water. High flood levels can cause substantial damage to key economic sectors: agriculture, infrastructure and housing. Although, climate change will result in water crisis for people of all socio-economic status, the rural and urban poor will be the hardest hit
Water Crisis- Mismanagement of Water Resource
The World Bank has accepted 1000 m3/per capita/year as a general indicator of water. Below 1000 m3/per capita/year, water supply begins to hamper health, economic development and human well-being. At less than 500 m3 / per capita/ year, water supply becomes a primary constraint to life and countries experience absolute scarcity. In India, the total available water is sufficient for a population of 1650 million (1500 m3 / per capita/ year) if managed properly.
As per 2011 Census, only 30.8% of the total rural households and 70.6% of the total urban households were reported getting piped water supply. Further only 44% had access to basic sanitation, or 65% in urban areas and 34% in rural areas. The local government institutions in
charge of operating and maintaining the infrastructure are weak and lack the financial resources to carry out their functions. In addition, only two Indian cities have continuous water supply and according to an estimate from 2018 about 8% of Indians still lack access to improved sanitation facilities. A study by Water Aid estimated as many as 10 million Indians, or 5 percent of Indians living in urban areas, live without adequate sanitation. India comes in first place globally for having the greatest number of urban-dwelling inhabitants living without sanitation. India tops the urban sanitation crisis, has the largest amount of urban dwellers without sanitation, and the most open defecators (urban) with over 5 million people.
Whereas in rural areas, which accounts for 72% of India’s population lives, only 84% have access to safe water (piped or unpiped) and only 34% for sanitation. As for rural water supply, the curious fact is that despite six decades of planning and more than two decade of ‘Drinking Water Missions’, targets for covering ‘uncovered villages’ are repeatedly achieved, but the numbers grow larger rather than smaller. What this conundrum means is that some ‘covered’ villages are lapsing back into the uncovered category, and that newer villages are being added to this class. A significant aspect of the scarcity of water in rural areas is of course that the burden of bringing water from distant sources falls on women, including girl children. The numbers themselves presents a grim picture of management of water resource in country.
Water Crisis- Agriculture, Low Water Use Efficiency and Politicization
As per the Central Water Commission, 85.3% of the total water consumed was for agriculture. The country records only 38% water-use efficiency in the field of agriculture which is much lower than water use efficiency in USA and China. India ranks second in the world in farm output, and agriculture contributes 17% of the nation’s GDP. Still, irrigation systems in most states are centuries old. There is over-dependence on the monsoon. The irrigation infrastructure—canals, groundwater, well-based systems, tanks and rainwater harvesting—has seen substantial expansion over the years, but is clearly not enough.
Despite being the largest water consuming sector the laws to conserve water in the agriculture sector are absent. The Governments, both State and the Central, have traditionally spent taxpayers money generously for flood irrigation. Canal water for irrigation is good when available, but unreliable. The supply is generally not provided in the time or the quantities needed. The systems are in many cases in disarray because of poor maintenance and operation. The farmer is dependent on the irrigation bureaucracy which is a control structure and is not by orientation and training service-oriented. There are also serious equity issues in the operation of major/medium irrigation projects. The problem of tail-end farmers in the command getting very little water is well known. The system is also amenable to manipulation and distortion by the influence of the rich and the politically powerful.
A closer look at the cropping patterns in the Indian states reveals a frightening inefficiency that is causing most water related problems in India. According to an ICRIER study, the water guzzling crops like sugarcane and paddy are grown in states like Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh (UP) and Punjab, using up lakhs of litres of irrigation water per hectare. Despite the intensive water requirement, Maharashtra grows 22% of the total sugarcane output in the country, whereas Bihar grows only 4% of the total sugarcane output. In addition, nearly 100% of the sugarcane crop in Maharashtra is grown through irrigated water, while parts of the state are already facing severe water crisis. In fact, the state had to supply drinking water to Marathwada region (where 22% of state’s sugarcane is grown) using a 50 wagon train during the summer of 2016.
A similar story emerges when one looks at the other water guzzling crop, paddy. Punjab, which is the third largest producer of rice in India, grows paddy using nearly 100% irrigation cover. As a result, while Punjab tops the table in land productivity, it uses more than three times the water than Bihar and more than twice the amount of water than West Bengal, to produce one kg of rice. What is more alarming is that 80% of the water used for irrigating the paddy fields in Punjab is drawn from groundwater source. It is no wonder then, 76% of administrative blocks in Punjab face over-exploited groundwater situation. On the other hand, states like Assam, West Bengal, Bihar and Orissa, which have plenty of rainfall and are better placed to grow these water intensive crops, do not have sufficient incentives for farmers to grow these crops due to procurement and other market related inefficiencies.
A large part of agricultural land remains rainfed. Due to wrong crop choice there are frequent failures of crop. Crop failure sets in motion a cycle of deprivation. The crop failure in one year results in reduced ability of farmer to access credit for the next cropping season and access to good quality inputs like seeds, fertilizer etc. this also have a social impact where the reputation of farmers takes a hit. The water crisis can be so bad that hundreds of farmers commit suicide every year because of it.
Further, farmers are the largest vote bank in India which leads to politicization of water use in agriculture. Most states provide subsidised or free electricity to help farmers pump out water for irrigation. This has led to declining groundwater tables. It is estimated that Indian farmers use 2-4 times more water to produce a unit of a major food crop than in China or Brazil. With the fall in water table, there is an increase in the cost of pumping, salination, heavy metals, etc, raising questions about the cost of crop production and the quality of the produce.
The myopic approach in water resource management, public spending, shifting cropping pattern in favour of water intensive crops and free electricity are among the primary cause of present water crisis in agriculture sector. This water crisis poses a serious challenge to agriculture, with unmonitored water wastage causing a huge loss to farmers who face increased production cost and poverty in drought-prone areas.
Water Crisis- Unplanned Urbanization and Culture Of Wastage The urban population has increased from 17.3% in 1951 31.2% in 2011.The consistent increase in the rate of growth of India’s population has also led to the increase in demand for water. The growth of urban centers has been unplanned and haphIzard leading to large population living in slums. The water supply of 135litres per capita per day (LPCD)as a service level benchmark should be given for domestic water use in urban local bodies as per Central Public Health and Environmental Engineering Organisation (CPHEEO), however, currently an average water supply in urban local bodies is 69.25 LPCD. This indicates that there is a vast gap between the demand and supply of water in urban areas of India. The 69th NSSO survey estimates that a member of the household, typically a woman, spends on an average 30 minutes a day travelling and waiting to get water from outside the house , as many parts of India, including metro cities such as Bengaluru, Chennai, and Hyderabad are facing acute water crisis.
The general experience in most of our cities is one of a limited, intermittent, unreliable supply; poor water quality; an unresponsive administration. There is a grossly inequitable distribution of the available water over different areas and among different groups; an implicit subsidisation of the rich through low water rates; and an inadequate coverage of the poor by the public system, forcing them to buy water at much higher rates from private sources. Even the rich, while they
get more than adequate water from the public systems and at low prices, can have no confidence in the quality of the water. The result is a burgeoning and thoroughly unnecessary bottled water trade (that must necessarily draw raw water for processing from the water sources of the community and also cause problems through the disposal of the waste water generated by the processing).
The concept of water segregation is absent in Indian urban centers leading to wasteful use. The large quantities of precious and scarce fresh water is used for the disposal of human waste through flushing toilets. The sanitation facilities is absent for large numbers of people. People standing in long queue in front of water tankers have become a symbol of Indian cities. The enormous generation of waste of all kinds—domestic, municipal, industrial—is generated in urban areas. A very partial portion of such waste is treated; untreated and partially treated sewage and effluents is discharged into the rivers, turning them into sewers and contaminate aquifers. The poor management of water culminates into serious water crisis for Indian cities.
The inappropriate planning of land use and lack of measures for the conservation and management of water resources has made urban centers vulnerable to water related natural disasters. The urban floods have become a recurrent issue in our urban centres. The natural wetlands which act as sponge for excess water have been filled to make land available for expansion. Although laws exist to check this but it does not translate into action on grounds. The natural watersheds and flood plains have been destroyed and small streams which used to carry rainwater have disappeared. Although provision for compulsory rain water harvesting exists but its enforcement is a different matter.
Water Crisis- The Problem of Quality- Pollution
Water pollution seems to be getting out of hand. There are pollution control laws and institutions, but these have not been able to prevent the growing pollution and contamination of water sources and systems, which in effect makes much of the ‘available’ water resources unusable. On the one hand we are trying to augment supplies, and on the other we are destroying a part of the existing supply. We have reduced many of our rivers to sewers (e.g., the Yamuna), or turned the water into poison (e.g., the Palar in Tamil Nadu). There are also problems of fluoride content in groundwater in some places, and arsenic, earlier found in West Bengal (as in Bangladesh though not on the same scale) has now begun to appear in Bihar. The contamination of aquifers by industrial effluents and agricultural residues is also a matter for anxiety in many places.
Though the industrial use of water is very low when compared to agricultural use, the disposal of industrial effluents on land and/or on surface water bodies make water resources unsuitable for other uses. By avoiding cost of pollution abatement, which is a private cost, manufacturing units could transfer the cost to the society at large by not following prescribed standards for industrial effluent disposal. It results in pollution of ground and/ or surface water.
Water pollution is in fact as great a threat (if not greater) to security as the ‘scarcity’ about which alarm bells have been ringing. Pollution from both point and non-point sources make water resources unsuitable for drinking. Thus, environmental sustainability of safe sources of drinking water for future generations is at stake. People exposed to polluted drinking water are vulnerable to various water borne diseases. Costs associated with mortality and morbidity of water-borne diseases is high. Severe water crisis would imply, inter alia, more water borne diseases, low agricultural and industrial productivity, and drinking water shortage. Today, the water sector in India presents a dismal scenario when one looks at its quality, which reduces further availability of safe water. About 70 per cent of the surface water and ground water are contaminated.
Any commodity which is in short supply is likely to cause disputes and conflicts and water crisis is no exception. Water disputes are taking place at national and international level. Many of India’s river are international rivers example Ganga, Indus, Brahmaputra etc. making them a possible future cause of tension. In times of water crisis, region will face water refugees from one region to other within the country or between the countries. Most of the Indian rivers are interstate rivers. The demand of water has been rising in an accelerated rate due to rapid growth of population, agriculture development, urbanization, industrialization etc. These developments have led to several interstate river water dispute about sharing of water of these rivers. The water crisis can lead to other crisis ranging from disruption of the law and order to challenging the integrity of the nation as witnessed during Cauvery river water dispute.
CASE Study – CAPE TOWN
The immediate cause of the water crisis was the extreme drought from 2015-2017. The underlying causes were related to mismanagement of water resources. The City of Cape Town’s population has grown from 2.4 million residents in 1995 to an estimated 4.1 million by 2015, representing a 71 percent population increase in 20 years, whereas dam water storage only increased by 17 percent in the same period. The impact of population increases on water demand is also often underestimated. The available water started decreasing because of water pollution, industrialization and urbanization. This increase in long-run demand is exacerbated by strains on long-run supply of water, including invasive plant species and climate change. The spread of water-thirsty alien plants in crucial catchment areas have reduced water supply to the Theewaterskloof Dam by an estimated 30 million metric cube per annum. The meteorological and mismanagement of water led to “Day Zero” in late 2017 where the city ran out of water.
Averting the Impending Water Crisis
Looking at the current situation, there is a need for a paradigm shift. We urgently require a transition from this ‘supply-and-supply-more water’ provision to measures which lead towards improving water use efficiency, reducing leakages, recharging/restoring local waterbodies as well as applying for higher tariffs and ownership by various stakeholders.
A decentralised approach with a key focus on water conservation, source sustainability, storage and reuse wherever possible is the crying need of the time. It is important to understand that managing the water situation is not the job of only engineers but all stakeholders including hydrogeologists, economists, planners and most importantly, communities themselves. Emphasis on behavioural change is not getting enough attention because it is nuanced and complex. But locals, citizens, communities have a huge part to play. By keeping demand side under check whole community can contribute.
At the same time government has to facilitate effective water governance to manage the available water resources. There is need of State-specific water policies including an independent regulator with powers to regulate water use and pricing. Water access and prising should be depoliticized. A legislation for protection of water bodies and prevention of encroachment on water bodies can be enacted. Water management should shift to an integrated basin approach which takes a holistic view of water resources available including groundwater. Namami Gange launched with an objective of “Aviral and Nirmal Dhara” of the Ganga river, and to ensure its ecological and geological integrity can the beginning of this approach.
There is need to modify agricultural practices in India. More emphasis should be put on efficient micro irrigation techniques. Water should be priced as an economic good for respecting the
principle of demand and supply while also ensuring social justice. This will lead to reduced wastage and just use of water. Ground water should be used only as a buffer in case of droughts. The benchmarks for water footprint in the irrigation sector needs to be developed initially for the major crops i.e. wheat and rice and then for other crops for adoption at farm-level. New techniques and technologies for improving water use efficiency should be developed. The selection of crop should be according to agroclimatic conditions of the reason. Government can incentivise this through its MSP policy. Innovative policies are needed to increase water use efficiency in agriculture. For example- Government of Punjab, is implementing the Paani Bachao Paise Kamao pilot scheme for Direct Benefit Transfers through Electricity (DBTE) to agriculture consumers in six agriculture feeder areas, with the objective of saving groundwater by reducing the amount of time agricultural pumps remain turned on. Under the scheme, farmers get monetary incentives to save electricity.
Demand-side management could substantially reduce urban water use at a fraction of the cost of building new infrastructure. Demand-side management practices include encouraging households to install water-efficient fixtures and appliances and providing incentives for industry to reduce water waste. Progressive water pricing systems which charge higher rates as higher volumes of water are consumed can also reduce demand. Upgrading and improving urban distribution systems is also critical to reduce the vast amounts of water lost through leaks and theft. Alternative supply methods such as recycling wastewater and urban rainwater harvesting can add significantly to urban supplies without the need for costly new dam-and-pipeline projects. Israel can be a role model for India in reuse and recycling of water (Israel recycles more than 80% of its water).
India is blessed with an annual average rainfall of 1,100 mm, most of which falls in around 100 hours. This primary source of water must be captured either for direct use, or for recharge of groundwater aquifers and surface waterbodies. If rain is not managed well, it leads to flooding during the monsoon and water scarcity in the following months. The option is to capture the rain and create a ‘water bank’ for current and future use. To put rainwater back into the natural water cycle means to collect, clean, hold and release it, in accordance with the natural surroundings. Every region of India has had traditional water harvesting systems (like- Bawaris in rajasthan, Eri in Tamil Nadu, Pat in MP, Zing in Ladakh etc) suited to the region, which must be revived at scale. These models can be tested, replicated and modified if required to suit contemporary needs.
Repair, Renovation and Restoration (RRR) of existing water bodies, which are not in use, needs to be given high priority for water management particularly in drought-prone areas. In such areas, inventory of water bodies in the villages and nearby areas may be prepared and geo-mapped. These bodies should be restored and put in use for water storage which would also facilitate recharging of ground water. As against the surface water availability of 690 BCM, India’s present storage capacity stands at 303 BCM (44%) and will gain an additional storage capacity of about 33 to 37 BCM with the completion of on-going large dam projects. Further, India’s annual storage available per capita at 225 m3 compares poorly with that of Australia (4,733), Brazil (3,145), China (1,111), and Russia (6,103). There is need to create more water storage infrastructure. Creation of National Water Grid through interlinking of rivers can help address the water crisis.
To counter the risk of climate change India needs to take up mitigation and adaptation measures. It can be done by improving hydro-meteorological network for better monitoring, updating basin
wise water availability in the current situation and reviewing hydrological planning design, and operating standards in view of changed scenario. Land use change and management, Afforestation and reforestation can also help in reducing the impact of climate change on water crisis.
Case study- Community Managed Water Supply Programme: Bringing drinking water to the doorsteps of people in rural Gujarat
The state-led Water and Sanitation Management Organisation (WASMO) has successfully implemented a unique rural water supply programme to ensure adequate, quality drinking water supply at an affordable cost in all rural areas of Gujarat. WASMO adopted a unique cost-sharing model to connect rural areas of Gujarat to the water supply network. It facilitated the village communities in planning, designing, selecting the site and implementing the scheme under a community managed, demand-driven decentralised system. The community was encouraged to share the partial cost (10%) and look after the maintenance and operation of the scheme with the help of the money collected as water tariff from users. The government and WASMO provided continuous support in response to the requirements of the community. The government has worked to ensure improved services and satisfaction of the community. The programme has provided close to 76.84% households with tap water facility and collected water tariff from approximately 6,787 villages.
Conclusion
In September 2015, the UN adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development with 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Goal 6 is dedicated for ensuring access to water and sanitation for all. In the context of India, challenges for achieving this Goal are immense but possible, provided some steps are taken at the earliest. There is a true proverb in Hindi “Jal hai to Kal hai” which means if there is water then only our future is safe. However, man has been recklessly misusing this precious resource given by nature. It is time we realize that water cycle and the life cycle are one. Therefore, from today let us all pledge to not waste water but to conserve this priceless resource.
