THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:Summer is gradually moving towards its peak and so are the water woes in the city. With the looming water shortage, it becomes increasingly difficult to face the coming months, where mercury levels are expected to soar higher. Taking the impending threat to consideration and to mark World Water Day some forums in the city have started campaigns to protect the precious drops.
In connection with the World Water Day 2017, Centre for Environment and Development in association with Indian Society of Remote Sensing (ISRS), Indian Society of Geomatics (ISG) and Indian Meteorological Society (IMS) will be organising a one-day workshop on Water and Waste Water Management at Kanakakkunnu Palace on Wednesday. “There is no point in awareness programmes if it doesn’t lead to some remedial activities,” says Babu Ambatt, executive director,, Centre for Environment and Development.
The workshop will discuss the various aspects of the issue like water future of Kerala; technological options for reducing quantity of waste water, recycle and reuse options and community participation in addressing the problem. “World Water Day was started in 1993 to find measures to combat water crisis. When we come to 2017 the situation is very grave and in Kerala we are all set for a major water crisis this summer. At this point we are trying to intervene and come out with solutions,” he says.
Wastage of water and waste water management are another area they are focusing. “When we use one litre of water eighty percent of it is going as waste. We can use this waste water through recycling process. In a school like Cotton Hill each student uses 250 ml water every day which leads to more than 1000 litres of wastage per day,” he says. According to experts, with a simple recycling process this water can be used to cleaning and irrigation. “When we do that treated water can be used at some other place for drinking purpose. Water bottles and glasses distributed at functions are sometimes discarded after taking a sip or two. Like this every day you will come across several occasions where we can can stop water wastage,” he adds.