Make Nature Our Friend

Our water reservoirs are running dry and residents are unable to access the water they need. Portable or drinking water is becoming scarce by the day. One of the big and important reason is that we are not sensitive towards conserving the water that we get. Just look around and we will see how insensitive we are when it comes to water. Our memories about scarcity of water are the shortest. We cry when there is no water but forget immediately once we get. Have we not:

• Left half drunk water in our glasses, specially at restaurants
• Seen pipe leakages, specially at construction sites
• Leaking water tankers
• Leaking taps or taps not closed properly
• Full opening of taps when the same work can be done with slower force of water
• Keeping taps open while brushing of teeth or shaving

and many other such examples of us being extremely insensitive.

Counter argument, promoting water conservation, watershed development, rain water harvesting, tree planting and all the other fancy terms, which we have been listening and also actioning to preserve and conserve our environment and water. Many corporate houses, big and small are taking these up as CSR activities and trying to promote / save the environment.

Every year, many Indian states face drought situations, even when we have good rainfall,

why? We all have read about the ground water levels of 21 Indian states will run dry by next year. One of the report states that about two hundred thousand (Two Lakhs) Indians die every year because they don’t have a safe water supply, and as many as 600 million people face “high to extreme” water stress. Federal government’s think tank NITI Aayog’s initiative where one of their agenda is to conserve our environment and are helping corporates or associations with these conservation activities.

Yes, it is good that corporates and individuals are being sensitive towards our environment and trying to do their bit and Government is trying to help promote these initiatives. But I have few questions:

• Why is this NOT our Government’s job too. I don’t come across where the government has taken up the initiative like planting of trees or rain water harvesting. Wouldn’t that be on a much larger scale and more cost effective and definitely much more effective.

• Why does government, in the name of development, allow or give permission to cutting of trees and plants and deforestations.

• Why is government not putting a law in place and be strict in implementing that if, for whatever reason, a tree is cut, at least two trees need to be planted and that too in the closest vicinity possible of the cut tree.

• Why is the government hell bend on constructing concrete roads (with pathetic raw materials), which prevents water from seeping in the ground, further depleting the ground water levels? Why can’t these roads be porous or why can’t they dig deep holes in these concrete roads for the same water to flow in the ground, hence conserving water and increasing the ground water levels.

I am not against what people or corporations or associations are doing to preserve our nature or trying to bring balance in our nature again. But this has to be a combined effort of people and government. Also, very important is that civilians too need to be sensitive towards these efforts being put in. If one cannot contribute, they should at least not cause damage to our environment.

I believe we need to start from grass-root levels by educating our children. When I say ‘our

children’, I don’t mean just our biological children, but all children, related as well as non-related. And this education is not theory, which is being taught by reading books, but practical’s. At schools and at home, there must be dedicated time every day or alternate day just like in school we have Games Period, there needs to be a period for children to be with nature… befriend nature. Similarly, a habit must be inculcated amongst all adults to maintain healthy nature habits, like maintaining personal gardens, or common gardens, helping befriending city animals, preserving and optimal usage of water, etc.

It is time for us adults to re-live our childhood, where we spent maximum time with nature and became stronger physically, emotionally and internal immunity. Let us practice and teach our younger generation that nature and mother earth have remedies for lots of illness and wounds. We need to embrace them, just like how we did when as children. We played in mud, climbed trees, ate fruits directly from trees, got injured but did not stop playing because we applied mud or leaf to cover that bruise or to stop that bleeding or max we just washed with plain water and continued to play. There are so many such things, which we did but have stopped our children from doing the same. No, this article is not to open up a debate on whether that was right or wrong, but it is about befriending nature. If nature becomes our friend, then we as their friends, would protect them from all those who would try to harm them, and obviously we ourselves would not do anything to harm this friend of ours.

Let us start with this small contribution towards our nature and it is the simplest of all… make nature our friend.