#Protect the precious- Water-the elixir of life #sustainability

It was summer of 2007 when my dad came to visit us in UK for the first time. He thoroughly enjoyed the bustling streets of London, the architectural wonders of Oxford and Cambridge, the serene landscapes of the Scottish Highlands, the cobbled streets of Edinburgh and the ancient ruins of Bath. He was fascinated by the British Countryside. One day, whilst travelling along one of the motorways, he observed “British people love their nature, and it shows! Their villages, homes, countryside, everything seems to be in harmony with nature. See, even these ponds / lakes are naturally set along this road in a very disciplined way”. I corrected him clarifying, that these were not natural ponds, but were parts of Sustainable Urban Drainage System (SUDS) (retention ponds or detention ponds) and those were manmade elements.

It aroused his curiosity and wanted to know it further. I still remember how attentively he was listening to me.? He used to look intently every time we pass such ponds, until he left the country. Clearly, he strived to understand this better. I tried to explain how SUDS offers a paradigm shift in the way we manage surface drainage. Rather than considering storm water as a problem to be swiftly disposed of (as in traditional drainage system design), SUDS emphasizes its potential as a valuable resource, to be managed and utilized within the landscape. It aims to mimic the natural water cycle by utilising a combination of natural hydrological processes and engineered solutions in a decentralised system (offline system) to reduce the storm water runoff volume, velocity, and pollutant load runoff. This benefits not only to reduce flood risk but also improve water quality and enhance the overall resilience of urban areas that help achieve multiple benefits for the environment, society, and economy. The traditional drainage systems, including concrete channels, pipes and culverts are struggling to cope with the increased volume and intensity of storm water runoff. As a result, we are witnessing more frequent and severe flooding, erosion, pollution causing damage to the lives and livelihoods.

He understood it and urged for this to be constructed in India as well in current times, (although ancient Indian civilisations had very sophisticated water conservation system in place e.g. Baodis, Kalyanis etc). We need it desperately now as we are an agriculturist country and farmers are suffering miserably due to water scarcity and rain unpredictably. Despite being one of the most water rich countries in the world, in terms of total renewable water resources, India is facing significant challenges when it comes to water availability and distribution due to rapid urbanisation, climate change and industrialisation.

Few years later, he reminded me of those ponds again and was keen to understand technical aspects of its design and construction. I think I tried my best as below however I am not sure how much he had understood at the time. ?

Civil engineers love their levels, contours and calculators. Water flows from high point to low point where it is the last opportunity to collect, store and conserve water before letting it flow at discharge point, although this should be done all along its travel route wherever possible. Every drop of water is valuable and as far as possible it should contribute to recharge the ground water levels. We design any infrastructure to balance cut and fill such that it should “fit” it in the natural landscape smoothly/ softly and become inherent part of that landscape consistent with its localised natural beauty. Depending on the meteorological, topographical, soil conditions and land availability, the key principle is to slow down the runoff significantly (based on contours) to let water follow natural processes (such as infiltration, filtration, and evapotranspiration) to help improve ground water levels. This is a very practical and proactive solution for our perennial challenge of flooding in monsoon and water scarcity in summer. At that point of time, I was quite immersed in project deliveries of few large-scale SUDs projects back-to-back and totally forgot about that conversation.

Later after few months, I was impressed beyond words when I heard that he attended the water training camp for Satyamev Jayate Water Cup run by Mr Aamir Khan team. He used to wait outside the government officer’s cabin for hours to get the contours for his village at the age of 70 years. He led by example. He drew few options of a pond with powdered chalk and quietly started working with one of his nephews. He was determinate to transform his barren village to a water enriched village. He questioned himself, “what is the use of my existence if I can’t help my village to resolve water challenges? How long can they depend on tankers and bought water?” No wonder all villagers joined him eventually, after initial phase of scepticism.

I was elated when they won the highly acclaimed Satyamev Jayate Water cup for it at certain level. I called him to congratulate him. Ecstatic, he narrated, “It was a tear-jerking experience to see my community working hard until 2-3 am to build these ponds, lakes, check dams and compound bunds with a dream to make their brown land, greenfield literally. I had already won my prize when I saw replacement of despair in their eyes by strong desire to live to produce better yield in their farm because of increased water levels (approximately 100-200%). It was heartening to see young farmers decided to work harder for water (which is life) instead of taking the tragic path of suicides. They worked the entirety of two summer seasons to build these SUDs features.”

When it rained for the first time in monsoon, all the villagers danced in the rain and played, splashed water on each other and their tears of happiness got lost in the surface run off which have percolated in their own ground to grow new dreams of water as a source of resilience, vitality, and beauty.

Few months later, he sent me an aerial video that showed lakes, ponds and swales full of water. ?Looking at the grand green evolution, I tipped my hat in reverence to their sheer determination and resilience to be stronger than their challenges, developing greener lakes with locally available material in a scorching summer heat. Grateful to all those who contributed to this great cause including private organisations, government institutions and officers, political support, charities and monetary support from our generous community.

What this community could achieve is much bigger than what they had dreamt of initially, due to the collective efforts in synergy. It is an exemplary community work which will be an inspiration for the generations to come. They demonstrated that water management is not only a technical challenge; it is a moral imperative and shared responsibility to safeguard this invaluable resource for future generations. It requires an action from each key stakeholders, nonetheless, community determination, political willpower, and visionary leadership in shaping our world for better. Each one of us has the power to make difference, to become stewards of this precious resource and guardians of the future.

• Please note that the opinions, views expressed in above newsletter are solely of the author and does not relate to any organisation or organisations or voluntary institutions for whatsoever reason.