"Anyone who can solve the problems of water will be worthy of two Nobel prizes - one for peace and one for science."
John F. Kennedy
Water Crisis:
Water is a basic requirement for all life, yet water resources are facing more and more demands from, and competition among, users. President Kennedy has expressed the crisis of water in the above said lines so beautifully. According to World Water Council “While the world's population tripled in the 20th century, the use of renewable water resources has grown six-fold. Within the next fifty years, the world population will increase by another 40 to 50 %. This population growth - coupled with industrialization and urbanization - will result in an increasing demand for water and will have serious consequences on the environment.” India, one of the many countries has also been facing serious water crisis. “The Union budget of 2005-06 had given the impression that the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government had a plan to promote water conservation and management.” (Tanwar, Ritu)
Situation in urban India:
The urban India faces a very ironical situation today. One side it faces acute water crisis and on the other hand during monsoons it is over flooded. This is due to negligence with the quality and quantity of groundwater. The cities receive ample amount of rainfall but it is short spell of high intensity. Because of the short duration most of the rain falling on surface seeps through quickly leaving very little recharge for groundwater. Capturing the run off is one of the solutions been incorporated in some cities.
Technological determinism is a reductionist doctrine that a society's technology determines its cultural values, social structure, or history. In India in the rural areas the practice of rain water harvesting has always been there. The families collect the rain water which is then used for household purposes. But in the urban areas the cities the technology is quite
Bibliography: "Rainwater Harvesting." Centre for Science & Environment. 2007. <http://www.rainwaterharvesting.org/>. “Canadian Water Network.” Network of centre’s of excellence. 2007. <http://cwn-rce.ca/index.php?fa=CWN.showHome> “Rain water harvesting and artificial recharge to ground water – an essential for urban sustainability” NIPSTEC