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‘Native wisdom & technology can make U’khand a model state of living sustainably with nature’

THE PIONEER TALK

Using a combination of native wisdom and technology can make Uttarakhand a leading mountain state exemplifying how to live sustainably with nature. The founder and CEO of Smaart Water, Ravi Mariwala said this in an online interaction with The Pioneer on Saturday.

Referring to development he said, “If you want economic development, it will be sustainable only if you are able to respect the environment and manage it very well. I am personally not happy with denotification of an elephant reserve- biodiversity needs to be preserved, it is one of the things attracting people to Uttarakhand. From a purely economic point of view, look at cost benefit analysis and see if we can manage with something that is existing in a better way, milk the assets already on the ground. More airports and traffic mean more carbon emissions when we are looking at reducing carbon emissions. Uttarakhand thrives on tourism so having ecologically friendly ways of getting there is extremely important. Emissions are landing up on the Himalaya, melting the ice and glaciers much faster so increasing emissions is not good in the long run as that is the watershed on which 400 million people depend. We have to define development- whether it is airports and concrete cities. We have enough science to provide simulations to see how such development will affect us in a few decades.”

Regarding what Uttarakhand should do, he stressed on the need for increasing forest cover with endemic trees. It is good that the State is getting away from pine forests and going back to endemic trees. Apart from this, there is considerable road construction going on but focus should be laid on construction in a sustainable manner to prevent landslides and use of proper engineering methods. It is a difficult terrain and national security is also an aspect but it shouldn’t be done indiscriminately. Construction along water bodies should also be restricted as events of flooding will be more rampant and extreme due to climate change. This needs to be addressed very systematically. Providing very easy access to everything raises the chance of destruction so regulating access helps in managing areas better, he added, while stressing on the need to create a culture of eco friendly tourism.

He further said, “Water quality in Uttarakhand is quite good but there should be some kind of water filtration to remove biological impurities. Managing human waste water is very desirous and there are many ways in which one can work to clean such sewage water which can be cleaned and be used to recharge the groundwater. There is a lot of native wisdom residing in states like Uttarakhand which should be used to ensure water flow to agriculture. Uttarakhand also has hydro electricity- Tehri dam being a classic example, though I am not a big proponent of very large dams; smaller dams are useful in recharging ground water. One can evaluate solutions like Bhutan has done to provide hydro electricity throughout the year without fluctuations while maintaining environmental flow of rivers.”

Sharing his views on the State government’s plan to provide tap water in every home by 2022, he said that it is a great initiative. Uttarakhand goes through a number of climatic changes throughout the year so tap water at home is good as it allows personal hygiene and drinking water which is very favourable. He stressed that the source of water flowing in the taps should be clearly addressed. He cautioned that most government schemes fail as there is no way as to how they are going to be keeping up the scheme to make the whole process of water flowing in the taps sustainable from the technological and economic points of view. Schemes should be thought through from beginning to the end, he stressed.

Opining on whether there is a need to change how water resources are viewed he said, “We have ample water but we should make a target of saving two to three per cent of water from agriculture and divert it for potable or industrial use as that would augment our growth agenda. Our agricultural productivity with respect to water is quite poor because we do not price water so there is no incentive for any behavioural change. Pricing brings certain discipline and avenues to invest in modern technologies. Ninety five per cent of irrigation is through flood irrigation though micro and drip irrigation has been very successful for a variety of crops. Israel is a good example of innovative use of water with 97 per cent water recycle rate.”

Mariwala said that though he is not currently working on any project in Uttarakhand, he would like to work on some aspects. “It would be great if we can create local awareness through groups of water technicians going from village to village checking water quality and raising awareness. It would be good to make Uttarakhand plastic water bottle free. It would be exciting to have water filling stations at every couple of kilometres. Very nice models can come up to maintain sustainability, employment, health and a positive experience. On technologies suitable for a state like Uttarakhand as the quality of water is generally very good with main contamination being from biological parameters, I think ultra filtration would be very good as it removes dirt and biological contaminants without changing salt composition like RO and the recovery is greater than 96 per cent. It would be the easiest way and quite low cost. Secondly, sustainable resources like banj (oak) trees should be used to create water resources. NEERI, Nagpur has developed  phytoremediation technology- we are one of the licensees. It is a natural way using plants and bacteria to clean sewage water. Using it can create a workforce which can work in villages generating employment without using electricity to clean sewage water. Gravity and slopes can be used cleverly to transport water which can be used for agriculture and recharged into the ground.”

Sunday, 06 December 2020 | PNS | Dehradun

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