How Villagers Are Risking Their Lives To Get a Pot of Water In Telangana.
Telangana: With temperatures soaring in Telangana, water scarcity has affected villagers even before peak summers.
The situation especially in places like Chandraghad in Mahabubnagar district is so acute that the villagers are lowering themselves into wells with the help of ropes tied to nearby trees in order to collect water.
Water crisis in large parts of Telangana is not a new phenomenon.
Currently though, out of 67 municipalities, only 14 are getting a regular supply of water.
Rest are either getting water on alternate days or even once in three to four days, said reports.
As temperatures continue to remain over 40 degrees and with the Met department predicting a harsh summer, the situation is likely to worsen in coming days.
While the Telangana government has promised concrete measures to deal with drinking water problems, Chandraghad locals claim that despite repeated requests to Sarpanch and government officials, the authorities have made no efforts to ensure water supply for the village.
While talking to News18, locals said that they were facing problems to even get water to drink and cook food, let aside for other activities.
Their lives are so harshly affected that the children do not go to schools due to lack of water.

Govt urged to tackle threat of water scarcity.
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is facing shortage of water while scarcity is increasing with a fast pace therefore government should take steps to tackle the threat, a business leader said on Tuesday.
Continued fall in availability of water is taking toll on masses, industry and agriculture but policymakers seems indifferent, said Atif Ikram Sheikh, former president ICCI in a statement issued here.
He said water scarcity is a bigger threat to our security than militancy as the country may run dry by 2025 resulting in violent conflicts in the country.
He said country may face drought-like situation in the near future if immediate and urgent steps were not taken that include containing wastage of water.
He said it is very alarming that our capacity to preserve water has shrunk over the years while we have world’s fourth highest rate of water use.
He said IMF has already declared Pakistan as the third most water-stressed country in the world while the economic impact of the water crisis would be immense.
He said there is not sufficient awareness among the masses and policymakers of the impending water crisis in Pakistan.
The surpluses of water in summer create floods, inflicting major damages to the infrastructure while shortages in Rabi season take toll on agriculture, he added.
He said Pakistan is rapidly becoming a water-scarce country but there is little awareness of this looming disaster and its repercussions on social and economic fronts.

This invention can turn seawater into drinking water.
(Web Desk) – Researchers have created a ‘graphene sieve’ that removes salt from seawater, providing clean drinking water for millions of people who struggle to access adequate clean water sources.
Graphene is the world’s thinnest material, a layer of pure carbon that is incredibly strong.
A team at Manchester University in the UK made an oxidized membrane with tiny holes.
Water can flow through it freely but salt can’t.
Professor Rahul Nair, at The University of Manchester said: “Realisation of scalable membranes with uniform pore size down to atomic scale is a significant step forward and will open new possibilities for improving the efficiency of desalination technology.
“This is the first clear-cut experiment in this regime.
We also demonstrate that there are realistic possibilities to scale up the described approach and mass produce graphene-based membranes with required sieve sizes.” It is hoped the technology will revolutionize water filtration as current desalination is extremely energy intensive and expensive.
Cheap seawater filtration would provide safe drinking water for millions of people.
It is hoped that graphene-oxide membrane systems can be built on smaller scales making this technology accessible to countries which do not have the financial infrastructure to fund large plants without compromising the yield of fresh water produced.

Making every drop of water count.
Compared to Thailand and Singapore, which charge about RM1.09 and RM6.50 per cubic meter of water respectively for domestic use, our water prices are cheaper by at least 36%.
Nevertheless, not every Malaysian appreciates the cheaper price and uses water prudently.
We only need 100 to 120 litres of water per person per day to meet our basic needs.
Activities in the bathroom make up half of the total water consumed in a typical household.
Washing laundry accounts for one-fifth of overall household water consumption.
Running tap water can waste four to six litres of water per minute.
Use a glass of water for rinsing teeth.
We only need 40 to 50 litres of water per shower.
Consolidating washes will save not only water but also energy.

Revival of ponds demanded.
BALANGIR: Residents of the town under the banner of Karanga Kataa Suraksha Samiti have demanded the renovation of traditional water bodies.
Balangir, which was known as the town of ponds not long ago, now faces acute water scarcity, thanks to the State Government’s neglect of the water harvesting structures that once catered to people’s needs round-the-year.
The town has a glorious past of having traditional water bodies which were called Bandh, Sagar, Kataa and Chahalaa.
Though there was a provision of police vigil to protect the pond from misuse of water, later it was stopped.
Similarly, Laxmizor Dam, Maharani Sagar, Pratap Sagar, Ranibandh, Karanga Kataa, Narsingh Bandh, Geet Sarobar and Ghikundi pond served as lifeline for people of the town.
Now, water from none of the ponds is suitable for human use, they alleged.
Meanwhile, several parts of the town including Tikrapara, Malpara, Rameswar Nagar, Talpalipara, Radharanipara, College Chowk, Shantipara, Sudpara, Railway Station Road and Mahalaxmi Nagar have been affected by water scarcity.
Executive Officer of Balangir Municipality Basudev Satpathy said though the civic body had sanctioned fund for renovation of water bodies last year, it was found insufficient.
Steps are being taken to arrange funds for revival of ponds in the town, he added.

Cauvery water to be available for Bengaluru until June 15.
BENGALURU: Allaying fears of drinking water scarcity in the backdrop of drought, Karnataka water resources minister MB Patil said on Monday that the city had enough Cauvery water to meet drinking water needs until June 15.
Krishna Raja Sagar (4.438 tmc) and Kabini (0.295 tmc), the main sources of drinking water for Bengaluru, have a live storage of 4.7 tmc of water.
The city needs about 4.14 tmc of water to meet drinking water needs for the next 60 days.
"With this storage, we can provide drinking water for Bengaluru until June 15.
We hope the pre-monsoon showers in May and arrival of monsoon in early June would help us tide over the crisis," Patil said, speaking to reporters after a meeting with officials of Water Resources department and the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB).
The presently available water in KRS, Kabini, Harangi, Hemavathi, Almatti, Narayanapura, Hidkal, Hipparagi, Tungabhadra and Malaprabha reservoirs would be drawn only for drinking water purposes, Patil said, and appealed to farmers to co-operate with the district administration in this regard as water would not be released for agriculture.
Elaborating on meeting the water needs of Bengaluru, the minister said, “BWSSB needs daily discharge of 600 cusecs from the reservoirs.
However, taking into account the transit losses, evaporation and syphoning of water en-route, water resources department has assured daily discharge of 800 cusecs.
This will enable us to meet the drinking water needs of Bengaluru until June 15 with present storage”.

Pipe borne water scarcity worsen in Calabar as residents resort to boreholes as alternative.
Some residents of Calabar have expressed worry over the lack of pipe borne water in the city in recent months, saying that they have resorted to boreholes as an alternative.
They called on the Cross River Water Board Limited to restore the supply of pipe borne water in the city without delay.
“It is well over two months that we had pipe borne water last and it is a terrible situation.
Udoh said that most of the residents had now been compelled to fetch water from private boreholes but expressed fears over the safety of water from such a source.
According to Mr Edem Ekpenyong, sinking of private boreholes has become the order of the day in Calabar.
“Calabar has actually changed.
Some people now sink boreholes anyhow in their premises.
“This is not the Calabar that we were used to,” he said.
“Some of the problem we have are natural, but we have started pumping water and very soon the situation will normalise,” he added.

UNESCO & EU launching the second module of Capacity Building Support for the National Water Sector of Iraq [EN/AR].
Erbil,10 April 2017- In the framework of joint efforts towards supporting the Iraqi government in overcoming the devastating impact of water shortage, UNESCO and the European Union (EU) have initiated the Capacity Building project component under phase II of the water sector flagship-intervention "Advanced Survey of Hydrogeological Resources in Iraq" (ASHRI-2), a pioneering initiative aiming to improve national capacities in the exploration, administration and integrated management of groundwater resources, and to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of public planning, as well as informed policy making in the National Water Sector.
Since its launch in November 2013, ASHRI-2 has delivered critical data, information and knowledge management tools on the groundwater conditions in Iraq.
Based on internationally applied Best Practices, ASHRI-2 has deployed state-of-the-art methodologies and techniques in geo-scientific assessment, cartography and IT-based documentation supporting strategic groundwater resources’ management.
"Acquiring a full understanding of the water shortage in Iraq is the first step towards effectively addressing its deep social and economic impacts", stated the Director of UNESCO Iraq Office, Louise Haxthausen.
Adhering to internationally recognized and applied best practices, the project will substantially contribute to informed decision-making, and thus sustainable use of national groundwater resources.
At the same time, the outcome of ASHRI-2 can be key to open doors for trans-boundary management of shared water resources to address water governance, adaptive capacity towards climate change induced water scarcity ", added Mrs. Haxthausen.
EU Ambassador to Iraq Patrick Simonnet, said: "this project illustrates very well the importance of effectively managing water resources in Iraq.
Water is key in this region, and we should not lose track of its future, ensuring a sound and sustainable management of water and land resources.
We are confident that UNESCO, in cooperation with the Iraqi authorities, will bridge the gaps at this critical time and provide all the necessary tools to face the challenges of water shortages – not only for Iraq, but beyond.” Through a EU contribution of five million Euros, "ASHRI-2" has validated and updated essential data and information on Iraq’s groundwater resources, improving the government’s management capabilities in this field.

Tanzania: Water Scarcity Threatens Horticulture Industry.
Speaking to the ‘Sunday News’ yesterday, they said the declining water levels also threaten the country’s future food security prospects and calls for immediate action to manage the resource well.
Mr Paul said that when it comes to water scarcity in the past three years; some areas of the country have at times faced acute water shortages.
"As a result, some farm-ers lost crops due to drought.
During heavy rains – infra-structure was destroyed by floods," he explained.
Procedures and processes for sustainable management and development of water in Tanzania are stipulated in the 2009 Water Resources Management Act.
Horticulture though is gradually becoming the main activity in these remote areas, where approximately 300,000 farmers are in dire need of water to irrigate their crops; there is no specific legislation to govern the rural water sub-sector.
"This has resulted into uncontrolled use of water that is not only inhibiting horticultural productivity, but also fuelling conflicts, most-ly compounded by rights to access the resource in Arusha, Kilimanjaro and Tanga regions," Mr Paul explains in his paper presented at a one-day water stakeholders’ dia-logue meeting held in Arusha.
TAHA Chief Executive Officer, Jacqueline Mkindi said the Fifth Phase Government’s industrialisa-tion policy was a blessing to horticultural farmers whose local market will be expanded as a result of crops processing plants to be put up at their disposal.
She said the industry, which currently employs about 2.5 million horticul-tural farmers, 60 per cent of them being women, will attract 10 million farmers in five year-time as a result of TAHA’s five-year strategy.

The people in her state will suffer if the Teesta water has to be shared with Bangladesh as the river has already become dry, the chief minister reasoned.
Not only Bangladesh, even we are too facing irrigation problems,” news18.com reports.
Mamata said she had no ill intention of not sharing water with Bangladesh and proposed that the two countries set up a joint river commission to ascertain the level of water flowing through the Torsa River and the quantum of water that can be shared, reports the Times of India.
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