Water is Life! Don’t Bottle it!
Today, March 22 is World Water Day. Water is humanity’s elixir of life.
It is a fact that in today’s world there are over 660 million people living without safe drinking water. Women, men and children have to stand in long queues, spending many hours, or trek to distant sources for a pot of f water.
Will everyone have access to safe drinking water even by 2030? In fact, one of the Sustainable Development goals includes this target. It is a multi-billion dollar question.
It is said ‘water is a key issue in the fight to eradicate extreme poverty.’ But, are not water sources controlled by multinational companies with their soft drinks and bottled water business? This multi-billion dollar business pushed by industrial magnates and supported by politicians and ruling parties is making the lives of ordinary people parched and dry. Don’t they control our lives, our economy and our way of living? They tell you what to drink and how much to drink!
In India we had safe drinking water freely available to travellers at railway stations, bus stands and in public places. Villagers had safe clean water from their wells. But, today, those sources are dry. We are forced to buy bottled water for a substantial price. The common man’s purchasing power or financial capacity is not sufficient to let him buy bottled water. But, he is forced to buy bottled water because his life is dictated by the business cum politician lobby.
The irony is that in India the red card holders with BPL status (Below Poverty Line) are supplied with one rupee per kilo rice while they have to dish out Rs. 20 for a litre of bottled water!
When the UN General assembly officially designated March 22 as World Water Day, its good intention was that every person on earth will have sufficient water for his/her needs. How long will humanity have to trek to reach that goal! Mother earth is going dry and parched. Deforestation, man-made pollution, industries, quarries, mines, etc. are heating up the atmosphere. Water level goes down.
The poor have to go miles to find a water source. While the rich have it in abundance. Those who control people’s lives thrive!