Adapting to climate change through rain water harvesting

Tarun Bharat Sangh, an organisation constantly trying to conserve water and waterbodies is working with the government to create a new law, by the name 'River Rights'.

Sujauddin Darbar

India is currently taking pride in hailing itself as one of the fastest-growing economies, with industrialisation being on its top priority, India is developing its urban infrastructure by leaps and bounds. But everything comes with a price, while India may ostensibly be winning; it's taking a toll on its natural resources. A Niti Ayog report titled "Composite Water Management Index", released in June 2018, mentions that India is undergoing the worst water crisis in its history and nearly 600 million people are facing extreme water stress. Another report claimed that 21 cities, including Chennai,

Bengaluru and Hyderabad, may see a Red Day, in 2020. (Red Day is referred to the day when the city will not have any water of its own).

The true solution to the current water crisis is to save every drop of water that's left. "The amount of water you save is the amount of water you make", says Maulik Sisodia, the executive director of Tarun Bharat Sangh. Maulik Sisodia works alongside Rajendra Singh, aka 'Waterman of India', who is also the chairman of Tarun Bharat Sangh. They work towards rejuvenating the rivers of India by mobilising the indigenous communities to implement rainwater harvesting to preserve water. "With the advent of climate change, rainfalls have become more unpredictable than ever. We help farmers build rainwater harvesting systems to pre

give them strategies and ideas to prolong the life of the river, mostly they are about cutting down deforestation, growing specific species of plants that stimulate the health of the river, and set standards for controlled grazing. The second objective is to help them use water efficiently. Since most of it is used for irrigation, we equip them with water sprinklers to reduce water wastage. The final step is to instil the value of water into each and everyone."

"We run a campaign by the name of 'Jal Biradari', which means the water community. We have around 10,000 volunteers, who spread the importance of water in the country. We also conduct national training for students who are interested in learning about water politics, water economics and other subjects," shared Maulik Sisodia, an expert working with the government to create a new law, by the name of 'River Rights'. "Similar to Human Rights, River Rights will be fundamental rights that will lawfully protect our rivers," explained Maulik.

When asked about what we could do as individuals to save water, he expressed, "If you live in a flat or a bungalow with a slab on top, you can easily build a low-scale Rain Water Harvesting tank. Otherwise, the least one can do is cut back on the usage of plastic and always throw it where it's supposed to be thrown. When someone throws it out on the road, the wind carries it and accumulates it in or around a waterbody. The plastic then keeps dividing itself into smaller bits, eventually turning into a chunk that prevents rainwater from seeping into the ground. At times, the water also carries bits of plastic along

serve the water that can be used at their discretion, irrespective of the day of the year when it rains," said Maulik Sisodia.

Continuing the conversation further, he said, "We have so far created 12,000 water harvesting systems across eight rivers in India. We're currently working around the rivers in Rajasthan and Maharashtra."

Rainwater harvesting is just the face of Tarun Bharat Sangh. Besides this, their three main objectives are to educate indigenous communities about water management, efficient use of water and water literacy. He further explained, "Our process starts by building a water parliament, which consists of a set of representatives from different villages around a particular river. We give them the responsibility to discuss and decide on how they would preserve the river. We in initiating these campaigns, on the national and international level. With a deep sense of poignancy, Maulik explained why the rivers of India are aggravating day-by-day. He shared that pollution is the biggest cause of degradation of the rivers. In Hyderabad, most of the sewage drains into the Musi River and, every resident of Hyderabad is responsible for it. I couldn't help but realise that we're all equally responsible for it. The second cause is exploitation. We are drawing too much water and using it carelessly. Lastly, encroachment is rapidly destroying our rivers. Every time we find a water body to be dirty, instead of cleaning it, we decide to fully replace it with a five-star hotel, as the river alone can't fetch us any money, luxury apartments & hotels can."

Furthermore, Tarun Bharat Sangh is with it, which is then mixed into the borewell water that we use for our daily chores. We use the contaminated water and become the victims of the very own plastic that we litter." Sisodia also emphasised on the ramifications of our misuse of water. He said, "When the rivers will die, the societies will die along with them. If we continue destroying our rivers, we'll soon have no freshwater in the country. It will lead to tension between states and countries in the form of 'water-wars' and no judicial authority will ever be able to solve these disputes."

"As long as we don't change our perspective and step up to bring about a change, it's safe to say that our rivers are not in safe hands," he signed off.