A full River

It is only during the monsoon rains, the Periyar rive is now full from side to side. During the rest of the year there is a running stream in the centre of the river bed. A river without water is an ugly sight and tells a lot about irresponsible human behaviour!

I lived at the bank of the same river for one year when I was a student at the Union Christian College in 1964, during which time the river looked full through out the year. During the monsoon the water level went up by about three feet or so.

Most of the rivers in the state of Kerala show a tendency towards decline in the level of running water. The water transport is on the decline. The water is polluted that river fish find the water toxic. The sand mining from  the river bed continues unbated, often clandestinely! There are times when the wells on the river plateau  run dry affecting the lives of people for irrigation and drinking water. 

I have a suspicion that we would be hit badly by scarcity of water. 

I did an experiment. While applying soap on the hands during washing of the hands, if I were to close the tap, I can manage washing hands with three to four litres of water. If I let the tap run during applying soap, the water used was 20 litres. Also, in most of the places the water is not recycled or harvested. 

I wonder whether we would practice saving water and preserve the water store of the earth! 

M.C.Mathew(text and photo).