Column / Rural Concerns

MORPARIA’S PAGE E-mail: [email protected] Contents MARCH 2014 VOL.17/8 ○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○ THEME: Morparia’s page 2 Water A surfeit of water 5 V Gangadhar Managing editor A crisis brewing underground 6 Mrs. Sucharita R. Hegde Nitya Jacob Virtual view of a real problem 8 Editor Dr. Sudhirendar Sharma Anuradha Dhareshwar Reviving the Mithi River 10 Rishi Aggarwal Sub editor Lessons from Uttarakhand floods 12 Himanshu Thakkar Sonam Saigal Don’t they deserve clean drinking water? 15 Sonam Saigal Design 6 H. V. Shiv Shankar Basin management in Himalayan region of South Asia 17 Dr. Arvind Kumar Marketing Mahesh Kanojia Jharkhand shows the way 19 Sudhir Prasad and Kallol Saha OIOP Clubs Not just taps and pipes but women’s lives 21 Pamela Philipose Vaibhav Palkar Know India Better Subscription Saurashtra : The Wild Side 23 Akul Tripathi Nagesh Bangera Face to face: Justice Sujata Manohar 40 Advisory board 23 Features M V Kamath Youth Voice - Suman Barua 43 Sucharita Hegde An American in Madras 44 Justice S Radhakrishnan Shoma Chatterjee Venkat R Chary Cultural Kaleidoscope 46 Printed & Published by The glory of Nalanda 48 Mrs. Sucharita R. Hegde for B.M.N. Murthy One India One People Foundation, Book Review 50 Mahalaxmi Chambers, 4th floor, Columns 51 22, Bhulabhai Desai Road, Rural Concerns : Bharat Dogra Mumbai - 400 026 Economy: Anuradha Kalhan Tel: 022-2353 4400 Fax: 022-2351 7544 Young India 54 40 e-mail: [email protected] / Justice Sujata Manohar Great Indians 56 [email protected] Printed at: Graphtone (India) Pvt. Ltd. A1 /319, Shah & Nahar Industrial Estate. S. J. Marg, Lower Parel (W) Mumbai – 400 013 visit us at: Honorary Captain Suchitra Sen Prof. Ila Pathak www.oneindiaonepeople.com Umrao Singh VC www.facebook.com/oneindiaonepeoplefoundation oneindiaonepeople2020.blogspot.com LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Inspiring stories of aam aadmi crusaders India’s aam aadmi has been drawing a lot of attention in recent times. Your February 2014 issue on India`s Common Man was quite interesting, as it highlighted the selfless service of some of the ordinary men and women of India, who have dedicated their entire lives for the cause they believed in. These men and women have touched the lives of millions. The stories of Baba Amte, Rajendra Singh, Advocate Mehta and others are truly inspirational, especially for our youth, who are always in search of role models. Reading the thoughts of young people, their dreams, aspirations for our country in OIOP`s ‘Youth Voice’, makes Thoughts of OIOP founder one feel happy and believe that the youth of this country has I am ardent reader of One India One People. I think the the power to change things that are not right. They need to range of topics and the coverage is excellent. It has only be guided and encouraged by parents and teachers. Urvish improved since its inception. However, I have a suggestion. Mehta in his article ‘Learning by doing’ rightly says that the Since, this initiative was started by Late Shri Sadanand classrooms must transcend beyond the traditional scope of Shetty. May be you can have a one page write up about four walls. The lighthouse of such an education can guide a his life and his thoughts behind publishing this thought- million hearts and can mould many. Kudos to OIOP! Keep provoking magazine. It will inspire the young generation. up the good work. – Hemant Joshi, Retired government servant, – Niraja Jhala, Saibaba Complex, Goregaon(E), Mumbai Dadar, Mumbai Letters should be addressed to Mumbai - 400 026 22, Bhulabhai Desai Road, Mahalaxmi Chambers, 4th floor, Foundation, One India People The Editor, 022-2351 7544 e-mail: [email protected] / [email protected] www.oneindiaonepeople.com 022 - 2353 4400 Fax: Tel: 4 One India One People March 2014 SATIRE A surfeit of water Highlighting the role of water in entertainment and politics, V. Gangadhar says that the daily television soaps have not only added to the gallons of water in the country but also managed to make it to the Guinness Book of World Records. ATER, water everywhere, not a drop to drink’ Records by 6.67 million litres of water. Since the serial sang the poet S T Coleridge and one need not be never seemed to end as Anandi hopped from one danger Wsurprised because water has this kind of impact to another, it was predicted she may end up shedding the on most people, including poets and creative personalities. coveted figure of one billion litres of tears. Water has influenced producers and directors to make Viewers would have noted that so far three Anandis had outstanding and successful films. Mandakini was an unknown essayed the tear-jerker role. In the days to come there could starlet, till film maker Raj Kapoor made her sit under waterfall be many more, because of what is known as Tearingitisis, wearing nothing but a white saree and the result was there a physical ailment of soreness of eyes caused by excessive for everyone to see. Why, even Dawood Ibrahim after emotion and strain on the tear ducts caused by tear shedding watching the waterfall scene reportedly exclaimed, ‘Dawood which ultimately leads to tear weariness. At the rate at khush hua’! We can quote dozens of water-made films. Take which ‘Balika Vadhu’ is progressing and the Shakti Samanta’s ‘Aradhana’ which made rate of tear shedding involved, Mumbai’s a super star of Rajesh Khanna, pimples, Since the serial eye specialists predict that if and when the mannerisms and all! The director brought never seemed to serial ends, it would have used 26 different together a rain-drenched couple, Khanna Anandis, another Guinness Record. But that and Sharmila Tagore. He was reduced to a end as Anandi is not a cause to worry because producers towel, she draped herself in a wet saree and hopped from one of the serial have trained 30 Anandis, all even though a bright fire was burning on the danger to another, of whom properly trained by famous eye set, the water effect could not be controlled. it was predicted doctors. The result? Rajesh Khanna (Jr) and poor she may end up That is the role of water in our Sharmila shed gallons of tears which only entertainment industry. enhanced the water impact. shedding the The role of water in politics is no less. Television came much later but was coveted ﬁ gure of As the Aam Aadmi Party was likely to come quick to latch on to the water effect. Have a one billion litres of to power at the centre, Arvind Kejriwal look at the television serials, there is a fierce tears. was reported to be the only national leader competition among them as to which one who had made elaborate plans for the would generate maximum amount of water contingency. He had assembled a team (by way of tears). Not a regular viewer of such serials, I am under Medha Patkar for replacing the tear shedding heroines still impressed by the quantities of water shed by the TV as and when the need arose. To help Medha Patkar add a heroine, the victim of harassment by her husband and in- bit of glamour to the tear-jerker brigade, Kejriwal had kept laws. For the past three or four years, I had watched bits and ready Ms Shazia Ilmi to go around the pieces of ‘Balika Vadhu’ a serial supposed to be on the evils of AAP ‘dharna’ sites shouting the famous child marriage. But that stage had long disappeared. Heroine lines from Shakespeare, “If you have Anandi Singh is a saint, born for suffering whether she was any tears, prepare to shed them now”. an obedient daughter, loving wife, dutiful sarpanch, brave The result is certain to be overwhelming, fighter of women’s causes, upholder of women’s tradition, further establishing the importance of fierce protector of women’s rights and so on. In each role, water to Indians. she had to shed thousands of litres of tears and according to a recent survey, had beaten the Guinness Book of World The writer is a well-known satirist. One India One People March 2014 5 WATER A crisis brewing underground India is facing an unseen underground water crisis due to pollution, exploitation, mismanagement and political expediency. Instead of looking for quick-fix solutions, Nitya Jacob urges water bureaucrats to improve water supply systems that use surface water, minimise water losses due to leakage and improve water quality. HERE is a crisis brewing underground. It has to do In a good monsoon year, natural recharge rates are around with a colourless, odourless liquid called water. And five to six percent from rainfall and a similar amount from TIndia has been hit with a double whammy of shortages seasonal or perennial streams and rivers. Unfortunately the and pollution. Both are serious enough to start affecting inability of our water bureaucracy to supply enough water to livelihoods. India is headed for a groundwater emergency because farmers, cities and industries has forced people to turn to of changing lifestyles and exploding populations. Compounding groundwater. Aiding this is the easy availability of drills, motors this is increasing competition for water from cities and industry; and other equipment needed for a tubewell. The cost of drilling both are growing rapidly and need large volumes of fresh usable a well varies from ` 75,000 to `200,000 depending on the water to handle their pollution. The net result is India is a geology and depth, up from about ` 30,000 in the 1980s; in water stressed nation as the per capita availability of water is real terms the costs have fallen.

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