India's villages face water scarcity - 4 Jun 2010  
email to friend  これについてメールを送る    印刷

Residents of Chandelao village in Rajasthan's Jodhpur District, have to queue for up to five hours at a time to fill water from wells due to drought. Other sources of water in the region, which are rain-dependent, have dried up.
One local villager said that there are only 10-15 liters of water available each day for the entire village.

Fortunately for Jodhpur and a dozen other regional villages, drought relief aid is scheduled to arrive soon from the Spain India Council Foundation (SICF), who plans to install Reverse Osmosis plants that purify normally undrinkable water.

However, according to the World Bank, India’s fresh water supplies could be depleted by 2050, affecting the population of 1.2 billion people.

We are thankful for the relief work of such organizations as the Spain India Council Foundation as we pray that the villagers in Jodhpur and other struggling areas soon receive the blessing of gentle rain.
May we all step up to preserve this most vital resource as part of our efforts to sustain a livable Earth.

During an interview published in the December 16, 2009 edition of The Irish Dog Journal, Supreme Master Ching Hai expressed concern regarding the spreading drought crisis worldwide, emphasizing the most effective way of ensuring adequate water supplies.

Supreme Master Ching Hai: Other devastating effects of climate change have already been occurring. And as a consequence of these environmental impacts, 2 billion people are facing water shortages, and 20 million people are in a desperate state – like refugees except with no official protection.

Supreme Master Ching Hai: The connection between livestock industry and global warming has been clearly established. Factory farming takes an extreme toll on our vital resources.

As drought and water crises are spreading silently across the globe, affecting 44% of the world’s population, even triggering conflicts in some areas, the livestock industry is guzzling much of our precious fresh water.

Supreme Master Ching Hai: If we really want to conserve our clean, safe water for ourselves and our children, we must stop livestock production and adopt the plant-based diet.

http://www.reuters.com/article/scienceNews/idUSTRE58S4L420090930   
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/jul/02/climatechange.endangeredspecies   
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/08/050829081636.htm