Dear Readers,
Climate change is the real deal. It is happening now and we need to act on it if we want our future generations to live the kind of life we have been through. I have been keeping updates on the Indian water crisis. The crisis is a siren on how climate change is quickly turning into an international emergency. The plight of Chennai and 21 other Indian cities is our worst dreams coming true.
There are areas where piped water hasn't reached in over five months. People rely on water tankers, sometimes waiting for them at night. The delayed monsoon is not doing much for the environment either. Who am I to complain though, I am just as much to blame as every one else on this planet currently.
It is not only India. Residents of Attawapiskat, Canada are going through something similar. Trying to pass through life on contaminated water is just as bad, if not more, than not receiving water at all. Eabametoong First Nation declares State of Emergency. High levels of contamination have been detected in their remote water distribution system as well. The most vulnerable categories, children and the elderly have been consuming the water and face major health risks now.
Meanwhile, in Chennai, people are paying twice as much for water from tankers. While that works for the middle and upper-middle class, the effect of lack of water has on the people is limitless. Statistics show, inadequate water and sanitation kills approximately 800,000 people across the globe each year. The number is high and could have been avoided if only we knew better to respect Mother Earth.
While climate change and global warming is an international crisis, the effects are local and minute in size. Which is why, it is up to the local governments to come up with solutions. While Prime Minister Narendra Modi is on his way to achieve his promise of piped water for all Indians by 2024, the road is long and rather bumpy.
As mentioned in an article in The New York Times, with 90 per cent of the country's precious freshwater going to agriculture, India could also support established conservation practices. The country is after all urbanising at an unbelievable pace and in it lies its issues and opportunities.
India needs answers at a small scale and maybe, just maybe, it is time we accepted climate change as our present truth.
