Water and Biodiversity

This Blog also serves as a rejoinder to my earlier Blog on " Three elements to & of Life"(blog Dt Thursay 15th December 2011). This Blog was created to stree upon the absolute need for water,light,& air to keep human beings alive.The food was mentioned therein as a supplement to three essential elements.This Blog was also meant to highlight the disastrous effect of water,light& air by way of floods,Draught&storm ( including TSunami) .And this was also in the context of Earthquake which could do damages to the Mullaperiyar Dam. The idea behind the Blog was to highlight that the same essential elements to & of Life could also become detrimental to life& since earthquake consequent storms could destroy life ,the dam of Mullaperyar was necessary to be rebuilt with more& absolute strength to withstand the devasting forces of Nature which no one could predict. The TN Chief Minister was repeatedly saying that Earthquakes can not destroy Mullaperiyar Dam as it was strong& safe.Until now what she said prevailed .But still,there is no guarantee that the Dam could be safe from Earthquakes as no one has scientifically proved it beyond doubt.So Kerala is still under threat from Earthquake& yet another TSunami.Let the fate of the Dam hang in balance until something good like a new Dam or bad like it's destroyal takes place.No one could categorically state the Dam is safe as some scientific reports from IIT Rourkee remains still inconclusive.Let us ,for the time being ,leave Mullaperiyar Dam where it is to It's fate in the hands of Politicians who are more interested in Dispute than the Safety of the People. This year United Nations Has redesignated May 22nd As the International Day for Biological Diversity Day. The Theme of the year suggested by the United Nations is "WATER and BIODIVERSITY. An article written by ShriPrakash Nelliyat an environmental Economist with Nation Biodiversity Authority throws a a lot of Light on the burning issue Water & other related environmental factors . What is Biodiversity?: ********************** Variety of plants,Animals,Microorganisms,& the ecosystems in which these exist can be generally termed as Biodiversity. Water & Biodiversity are interdependent.In reality ,the Hydrological CycleDecides how Biodiversity could function. In other words the Soil Drive& vegetation decides the movements of Water. To elaborate every glass of water we drink Has proportionately Passed through fish,Trees,bacteria!soil and other Organisms.By this passing through ecosystems,Water gets cleaned& become fit for consumption. So the availability of water is a very significant feature provided to us by environment.So ,it is biodiversity Is just an ability of Nature to Recycle Water throughouT. However,when population and their requirement starts to increas!there would be proportionate stress to the Water This is the basic reason for the change in climate,rising cost of Food& Energy & consequent Global economic crisis togetherwith poverty,inequality& underdevelopment. Lack of Access to safe drinking water is thus an important issue especially in developing countries. Today about 40% Of World Population experience some form or other of Water scarcity.Lack of Basic services like Water supply& Sanitation thus Leads to insecurity,Political instability& even armed conflict in developing countries. Plants,soil& Animals apart from sustaining Hydrological cycle,play also a significant role in the purification of water. Water land Plants : Water has also close relationship with environmental changes also. As everyone knows,water is required not merely by human beings but every form of life on this Planet. There are enormous(very difficult to count& arrive at the figures exactly& correctly) living things in this world. Some of the animals & insects living in water solely depend upon water to survive. So if we waste & do not take proper care to protect water,it implies that we are indirectly killing many animals without our knowing it. Plants helps protect& make water more pure. To make it clearer,the forests influence Hydrological cycle by directly affecting the rates of Transpiration& evaporation&how water is routed & stored in watershed. Forest soils absorb,capture,& sustain certain amount of water.Deforestation increases soil erosion which reduces land productivity and causes water scarcity in Downstream areas.One third of the World's largest cities get a significant portion of their drinking water supply from Forest Areas. In other words,forests are part of Biodiversity& cities depend on Biodiversity for their need of Drinking Water. This gives us a fairly good suggestion and warning for the destroyers of Forests. Water is everything in life.Pure Drinking Water is the right for Humanbeings more than food because our life Mainly depend upon 3 Elements.Water,Light& Air.Food is a supplement ingredient to these three elements of life although Food is also essential for survival.But then ,one could survive for a long time without food whereas it is absolutely unimaginable To live without Water,Air& Light even for a single day. Plants,Soils ,Animals including birds & insects,not only sustain the Hydrological cycle but also play a significant Role in purifying water.Wetland plants remove high level of Nutrients such as Phosphorus and Nitrogen thus preventing them from reaching drinking water. Toxic substances such as heavy Metals from water are also removed by Wetland Plants.Water when flows Downstream it's Quality improves drastically as the Biodiversity( Ie mainly Bacteria,Animals& Plants) breaks down impurity and makes them fit for Drinking. There is widespread failure to recognize the Vital Role of Water& Biodiversities in providing Food,Energy, and Disaster relief& environmental sustainability.The main reason for this is that there are no markets or value for Good& Services derived from Ecosystem Once such a System is established,in the proper Spirits it could lift people from suffering from Poverty & Diseases Ignoring this kind of needs is, perhaps,is the reason for destroying KANDAL FORESTS on the bank of Rivers in a place in Kerala to establish a park for entertaiment with a view to collecting a nominal fee for entrance to the park.Ignorance is sometimes Bliss.But not always .the Park ,however,was derecognised later on & closed by the Central Government. To conclude ,the Environment,Ecosystem,water& Biodiversity are topics for unending thoughts concerning Human beings. Water is the most vital part of it. Ignore water &one is ignoring life.Water is the most essential & unavoidable ingredient to life which enables us to lead Peaceful& Happy Life. Sreedharan Mundanat 10th July 2013 13-15 Hrs( IST)