Sonakshi Gupta
At present, the need of the hour is not only the development of water resources, but also their efficient management in a sustainable manner. India’s population consist 70 % of youth population, currently and same may be the case with other developing countries. In case of developed countries who are aging fast, youth are in minority. About 30% of people in India live in cities that are expected to have double population by the year 2050. With that expected growth in population and economy as well as changing lifestyles the pressure on already strained water resources is increasing. However, growing population, urbanization and industrialization has led to considerable increase in demand of water for various purposes e.g., irrigation, domestic needs, industrial requirements etc. This scenario poses a sense of responsibility amongst the youth in the developed as well as developing country for managing the water resources towards the goals of sustainability and self-reliance. It is important to ensure that the exertion made towards sustainable development including water management prioritize the needs of communities towards a meaningful growth.
Education and youth empowerment works in collaboration to create more dynamic processes inside International bodies, Governments, Industries, and civil society, thus guaranteeing the development of communities inclined towards sustainable water management. Although development of irrigation has resulted in increase in agricultural production, it has also caused adverse effect in the form of water logging leading to soil salinity. State water council of India under state government can be the best possible organization for water management. Expert panel on climate change should be set up in every state. Dam safety committee in India should manage the proper distribution of water among the region. Apprehending and predicting the sources of contaminants, developing technologies to clean up the sources, and understanding the consequences of water quality degradation for aquatic ecosystems and human use of waterways. Many Information Systems can be setup such as Land Use Cadastre, State Water Resources Monitoring System and many more.
State food and drought information and Warning System can be used as best part of information signal to maintain undrought condition in the state like Gujarat and Rajasthan. Many action planes like Implementing river basin planes, Strengthen water resources management in universities and training establishments have been set up by India water department for proper use of water.
The World Health Organization estimated that 97 million Indians lack access to safe water today, second only to China. As a result, the World Bank evaluates, that 21% of communicable diseases in India are related to unsafe water. Without change, the problem may get worse as India is projected to grow significantly in the coming decades and overtake China by 2028 to become the world’s most populous country. Poor maintenance of water bodies encourages water loss through seepage resulting in low water use efficiency of 25-40 % against the target of 65%. Hence, proper lining of water retaining structures should be taken up. The Water Quality is being monitored by several agencies in the country. The Central Water Commission and Surface Water Agencies in respective states while developing water resources through various projects are mainly concerned with the requirements for irrigation and drinking water in terms of quantity and to some extent quality. It is important to involve youth in water management projects in order to get new ideas for conserving water by capturing their imagination and their way of thinking. It is important to make sure that the action made towards sustainable development prioritizes the demands of communities. Education and youth together can create more dynamic processes inside Government, Industries and civil societies in order to guarantee the development of communities depending upon sustainable water management.
Youth can play a vital role for managing the water resources around the world by acting as stakeholders, policy makers and taking up responsibilities and revolutionizing the sustainable water management. By teaming up with other stakeholders and convincing them for using and promoting their ideas for water management. Wastewater is a resource that can be used productively. Grey water can be reused for irrigation, urban agriculture and industrial processes, treated or untreated depending on the purpose of its use and its legislation, nutrients in wastewater (grey and black) can be used for energy production and fertilizer production. Effective water governance with an IUWM perspective encompasses many aspects with the main following key elements that are adopting a new mind set, a holistic and cross sectoral approach linking urban water management with overall urban planning; adjusting some of the policy and legislation concerning the use of water and reuse of waste water, analyzing aspects of centralized and decentralized management, assessing the economic and financial impact of adopting an IUWM approach, building the capacity of technical and managerial staff, and sharing information with the public and users..By this the youth will act as a catalyst to bring about the change which we need because youth immense the potential to mobilize the masses and can act as a link between two generations. With the active participation of youth and with their interest unsustainable water management, the whole point of starting these projects of conserving water can be successful. Necessary measures in the form of rain water harvesting and ground water recharge and proper management through appropriate legislative measures have been initiated. The government of India and an incredible interest of youth, many plans has been activated such as State Water Resources Management Strategy and River Basin Plans. The National Water Resources Council needs to play a greater role in integrating policy and program on a continuous basis. This could be done by providing the Council with a core expert body with an Adviser at its helm, so that executive action on the basis of its recommendations is monitored. There are many areas of sustainable growth where active participation of youth is required. By indulging today’s youth in water management projects and ideas we can capture their imagination for future advancement.
The amount of potential that today’s growing youth have, they can spread awareness among the people about how to manage water resources. Youth can use social platforms and other channels for communication for active participation of people in water management. The power of youth can bring a change by protesting against pollution spreading industries and changing some policies which can help government to take some initiatives for water management. Better understanding is required of water management, from the river basin down to the field level. The good news is that there is strong political will in the country to improve water management. Already the government has initiated a few program, like 100 smart cities, the National Mission to Clean Ganga and the Total Sanitation Programme.
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