Safeguarding freshwater is the key to human survival
Madhav Gadgil, [email protected]
(NAPSIPAG Disaster Research Group (NDRG) and Institute of Social Sciences (ISS) Delhi sponsored lecture on World Habitat Day, 4th October 2022.)
India’s educated middle classes harbour many misconceptions about protecting the environment, conservation of nature and conservation of habitats. They focus on forest habitats and flagship species like tigers, elephants or rhinoceros. But it is the freshwater habitats and its biodiversity that are far more threatened and far more critical to human health, nutrition and security of life and livelihoods. These are today threatened by pollution and meddling with the flow and substratum of freshwaters. Polluted water is responsible for many gastrointestinal diseases especially diarrhoea, a major cause of infant mortality, skin diseases and in case of arsenic, nitrate, chromium pollution that is widespread in Indian waters for cancer. Aquatic habitats are significant sources of fish, crabs, shrimp, cockles, mussels, and snails that are widely consumed and have been a cheaply available source of high-quality protein that includes all of the essential amino acids for human health, B vitamins, Vitamin D and Vitamin A as well as iron, zinc, magnesium, copper, iodine, and other trace minerals. A large number of people obtain their livelihoods that are now threatened by pollution and interference in aquatic habitats from fishing and aquaculture. Meddling with water flow regime has led to floods and landslides that have caused huge economic losses as well as deaths including from whole villages being buried under rubble. The better off urban classes are aware of air pollution that hits them and information about air pollution levels is difficult to obfuscate. However, they are shielded from all such effects related to water and are indifferent to the plight of the weaker sections especially in rural India. The pollution control boards are regretfully engaged in suppressing all evidence of urban sewage related as well as industrial water pollution and there is no proper information available on these issues at all. The pertinent acts remain on paper and are never implemented. This picture must change in the interest of long term survival of people of India both those who are well off and those who are not so fortunate.
