On August 2nd, 2013, I re-blogged an article ‘The greening of China’ in my blog titled ‘Optimistically green China‘. While China intends to go greener, another renewable energy, hydropower, cannot be overlooked. A study by Sean Gallagher, a Beijing-based British environmental photojournalist mentioned that ‘renewable energy has no negative consequences’ is a myth, busted in a guest post by him at National Geographic.
Keeping renewable energy aside, what’s even more concerning is the pollution of the water systems in China. A new video by The Economist that hosts Mr John Parker, tells us how exactly this has happened and its implications.
Not to mention the smog that’s making China rethink on the strategies to host Olympics, an air pollution disaster. The World Bank has a multi-year, multi-sector study that estimates the physical and economic cost of air and water pollution in China. It speaks of water scarcity and what remains too is polluted, the impact of which is significant.
Watching India lying next to China, in terms of demographics, I wonder if India is taking sufficient measures to avoid such a situation. India Infrastructure Report 2011 and Water in India: Situation and Prospects, a report by UNICEF puts forwards the harsh realities that exist and the measures that are being taken.
India cannot be categorized as a water scarce country like China, but it sure does fall into the ‘water-stressed’ category. Although scarcity is also an effect of natural phenomenon like drought, it sure can be avoided if water resources are not over-polluted or over-used. Water can be kept safe for drinking through proper waste disposal and sanitation. In my blog ‘Water mining and its consequences‘, I mentioned how water mining can also lead to water shortage, so that’s one other aspect we can deal with to avoid future scarcity.
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