Our culture teaches us to pay the utmost respect to the nature. We have been involved in a camaraderie with the nature for millions of years. We as a civilization have grown out of river banks and we consider rivers as mothers.
But now our rivers are depleting at tremendous rate. Most of our perennial rivers have become seasonal . Most of major rivers in the Indian peninsula does not touch the ocean for the most part of the year. 25% of India is turning into desert. By 2030, we will only have 50% of the water we need, we will have a population of 1.5 billion and 50% of them would not be able to access water to fulfill their daily needs.
The most popular argument we get to hear is that we should stop water from flowing into the ocean because the water gets wasted. It is not true because it is how the nature works. The water flows into the ocean to complete its cycle. The amount of monsoon we get is directly connected to the amount of the water that flows into the ocean. Suppose we stop all the water from flowing into the ocean, the marine water would percolate into the land and increase the salinity of the groundwater, which would decrease the fertility of the land. We have seen it in several parts of Gujarat and in other coastal regions of India.
It is the time to take necessary action otherwise we will loose one third of the total land to the ocean. To stop this from happening we must rejuvenate our rivers. To break the back of the problem, we have to plant trees alongside the rivers. The tree roots make the soil porous and help rivers to retain water for a long period. Approximately one kilometers of land should be used to plant trees on both sides of the rivers. If it's government land then forest and if it's agricultural land then organic fruit tree cultivation.
This would increse the farmer's income upto 400% but it would take some time. In this period, the government have to provide assistances like subsidies and all. This is the best gift we could give to the next generation. You can do your share by planting as much trees as you can or you could just donate to those who are doing their bit for this cause. One such organization is ISHA Foundation, their Rally for Rivers campaign is all about saving the rivers, one should visit their site to know more about this problem.
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