The monsoons this year although came earlier for relief but could not sustain.
So far it has rained scanty in all western ghats and now there are declarations from the Municipal Corporation that the water storage in lakes and other reservoirs is to sustain for 100 - 150 days.
This is very panic situation and already BMC (Bombay Municipal Corporation) has started the water cut off of 15%. So the water will come alternate days and soon thrice a week.
Now every one is dependent on rain god. They say only if it rains very heavy for about 10-15 days the situation can be overcome.
Dear nature, please do not delay us to please... rain heavily....
Wishing that you will get rain soon Viraj. Must be pretty awful to only have water every now and then. I can imagine you must be filling every container with water when it becomes available?
Drought is certainly quite traumatic to go through. Very hard. South Africa suffers from drought quite often and this reminds me of an interesting story of the Rain Queen. Her subjects had faith in that she had magical powers to control the clouds and rain fall by her Kingdom (Wikipedia):
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| The Modjadji or Rain Queen is the hereditary queen of Balobedu, the people of the Limpopo Province of South Africa. The succession to the position of Rain Queen is matrilineal, meaning that the Queen's eldest daughter is the heir, and that males are not entitled to inherit the throne at all. The Rain Queen is believed to have special powers, including the ability to control the clouds and rainfall. |
More details at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rain_Queen I know how it is. We haven't had rain here on Catalina Island in California for about 2 months. Our water supplies are still holding up however. It must be rough not having at least drinking water. I will pray for rain for you.
Don't pray too much. You will have floods like last year!
I know how that is. Back home in Florida, my area had water shortages, even though we had plenty of water sources. All the water was being sold from our county to Tampa and Miami though, so we had to do without in order to make the county's budget balance.
I find it so amazing. Vancouver in Canada which has much more water than the Middle East. In the Middle East a small 500ml bottle of water costs 25 cents. In Vancouver it is 1.69 dollars, and depending where you purchase it, as the same brand can vary between 1.69 to 1.89, and that is excluding taxes, as there are taxes and levies payable on plastic water bottles. The other phenomenon that has baffled me is that petrol is much more expensive in Canada than in the States. How come? Canada has its own supplies and exports oil to the US.
yeah, maybe it has something to do with climate change, because here, in australia, we have been having a drought for many years, and my local dam has been pumped to other cities (stealing our water, GRRR) and now my local dam is running low, but WE are the ones who have to live with the water restrictions, not the other cities. stupid council.
Maybe taking out the salt from sea water is the solution to fresh water shortage.
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As we in water-rich countries take our daily showers, water the lawn or laze about in the pool, it's easy to forget that fresh water is a life-or-death issue in many parts of the world.
Of a population of roughly 6.1 billion, more than 1 billion lack access to potable water. The World Health Organization says that at any time, up to half of humanity has one of the six main diseases -- diarrhea, schistosomiasis, or trachoma, or infestation with ascaris, guinea worm, or hookworm -- associated with poor drinking water and inadequate sanitation. About 5 million people die each year from poor drinking water, poor sanitation, or a dirty home environment -- often resulting from water shortage
Parched places
One glance at the map tells you that water is shortest in equatorial countries, often where populations are rising. (Population data below from Population Reference Bureau).
China, with 1.26 billion people, is "the one area worrying most people most of the time," says Marq de Villiers, author of the recently published "Water " (see bibliography). In dry Northern China, he says, "the water table is dropping one meter per year due to overpumping, and the Chinese admit that 300 cities are running short. They are diverting water from agriculture and farmers are going out of business." Some Chinese rivers are so polluted with heavy metals that they can't be used for irrigation, he adds.
"They're disgraceful, unusable, industrial sewers," says de Villiers. As farmers go out of business, China will have to import more food.
In India, home to 1.002 billion people, key aquifers are being overpumped, and the soil is growing saltier through contamination with irrigation water. Irrigation was a key to increasing food production in India during the green revolution, and as the population surges toward a projected 1.363 billion in 2025, its crops will continue to depend on clean water and clean soil.
Israel (population 6.2 million), invented many water-conserving technologies, but water withdrawals still exceed resupply. Overpumping of aquifers along the coast is allowing seawater to pollute drinking water. Like neighboring Jordan, Israel is largely dependent on the Jordan River for fresh water.
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Source - http://whyfiles.org/131fresh_water/2.html
[MOD - quote tags and source added - Bikerman]What a nice map of the post above. very interesting indeed. Very interesting how physical scarcity correlates with absence of rivers.
