Essays - 4 | Current Affairs & Hindu Analysis: Daily, Weekly & Monthly - UPSC PDF Download

“Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth.”

• On observation first person said elephant was like a spear, second said it was like a tree trunk, third said it was like a pillar, fourth said it was like a rope and fifth said it was like a wall. This shows what the men felt was their perspective and what they said was their opinion. It was not the truth. This story is rooted in the philosophy of ‘Anekantavada’ i.e., people have different opinion about truth, and which can differ from the truth. In today’s world, labels of truth and facts are added to opinion and perspective. This makes it difficult for common masses to differentiate and understand. 
• The marketing agencies have been producing ever new techniques to manipulate and ‘influence’ people. Most pan masala and alcohol companies run their advertisement campaign through “elaichi” or “music CDs.” In the first look they are selling non-harmful products, but they are actually selling sin-goods. Similar is the case of ‘fake news,’ which are intently fabricated and manipulated opinions and perspectives presented to appear as facts. They tend to hit the insecurities of people and can cause ‘societal unrest.’ Take examples of Pehlu Khan and Palghar mob lynching episodes. In the former case, a person was lynched on fake news that he was carrying cow meat. In the second case, two saints were lynched on fake news that they are kidnappers.
• In cases of mob-violence or riots when people of one community are killed by other community. We tend to draw a line that Hindus were killed, or Muslims were killed. These are opinions, the truth is a human life is lost, as valuable citizen of our nation is lost. Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Christian etc. are variables, they can change but the fact that we are humans is constant.

Why do people take opinions as facts and perspective as truth?
High persistent Illiteracy in India. More than 25% of people cannot read and write. This makes many among us gullible to believing whatever they hear or see.

• Eco-Chamber effect of social media has now been deeply rooted into society. The eco-chamber affects leads to social media connects and ring fences people of similar ideologies who sometime reinforce falsehood and propaganda. Opinions are reiterated many times to the effect that people start believing it to be true. 
• For example: My parents started believing that Sai Temple Trust refused donation for Ram Mandir as this message was there in some WhatsApp groups, to which they were members too. However, this was fake news. The phenomena of Algorithmic existence, social media and analysis of user behaviour is used for targeted ads and  customers are coaxed to buying stuff they do not really need.
• Creation of Binary: People want to simplify things. They think either someone is with them or against them. They do not want to understand the complexities of truth. For example: Savarkar was a freedom fighter. However, some see him as a hero and others see him as a villain due to his ‘Hindutva’ politics. Savarkar cannot be classified into binary, he is greater than that.
• Sensationalization of News: This has led to 24 × 7 consumption of news and made people information hungry. They consume and react to whatever they get as truth.
• Presence of Stereotypes: Any opinion that suits a stereotype is accepted as truth by the person holding a stereotype. For example: If an Islamophobic person sees a Muslim guy having multiple wives, he will declare that the entire Muslim community has multiple wives. He will not judge the person individually.
• Power of social media has also been abused in politicking, electoral manipulations, voter profiling and targeting. For example, Cambridge Analytica and Facebook were accused of manipulating voters in the USA in favor of voting for Trump.

Importance of Separating Opinion and Facts Need for rationality and critical thinking: People should take decision on merits and facts not on opinions. It will help in casting away societal prejudices. It solves caste, religious and other ethnic problems as it will make humans realize that they are human’s first.

• Tolerance in society will increase as people will understand that different people have different opinions and perspectives. When people realize the fact that religions are different highways that lead to same destination, and its personal choice that a person picks which highway, it will make them more tolerant and open.
• Scientific Temper in society will increase as people will not uncritically believe in what they see or hear. They will question the authenticity of everything. They will question the authenticity of everything. This will help in creating scientific temper in the society.
• Ethical ecosystem of society will improve as morals of people would be based on facts and truth. When people internalize the fact that there is injustice, poverty and misery, they tend to become empathetic, just and philanthropic to end suffering.
• Steps we can take to separate opinion and facts Firstly, questioning everything around posts in social media and developing a curious attitude. Secondly, fact check everything, we see or hear on social media. Thirdly, interacting with people of diverse ideologies to create tolerance and check rationality of one’s beliefs. Fourthly, spread awareness about different opinions and facts. Fifthly, media house should clearly display on screen when they display an opinion. And lastly, governments should act against people spreading fake news.
• In a post-truth world where opinions are taken as facts, we need to be extra cautious in believing what be see and hear. To do so we need to develop curiosity of questioning everything. This curious altitude of Buddha helped him gain enlightenment, so it will surely help us in knowing what truth and facts are. 

Water Crisis: Not Just Meteorology, but Mismanagement

• On the other hand, there is another story playing in stakes like Karnataka, Tamil Nādu, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Endowed with a perennial river Cauvery, and Dakshin Ganga, Godavari. These states are usually at horns over the sharing of water resources of these rivers which acts as lifeline for supply of freshwater in the region. Despite directions from Supreme Court of India and Awards by Tribunals formed to adjudicate different river water sharing dispute matters, they politics around sharing of river water tends to be never ending. For example. Even after award of Cauvery Tribunal, the recent dispute over Karnataka’s Mekedatu dam on Cauvery has kept issue in public discourse.
• It appears that the statement of Mark Twain that ‘Whiskey is to drink, water is to fight’ is actually true. On one hand, states like Rajasthan face water deficit (due to curse of metereology), but it is the mismanagement of water (Ex. inter-state disputes) that makes matter worse. In this essay, we will analyse, various aspects related to water crisis. We will first deconstruct meaning of water crisis, and then investigate metereology and mismanagement as its causes followed by a brief look at’s impact, and steps by the government.

About the water crisis
Water Crisis can be defined as the deficiency of water. It is a situation that involves acute shortage or scarcity of water for possible uses. This can be in three different forms. Agricultural water deficiency (drought) occurs when water scarcity adversely impacts agricultural productivity. 

• Hydrological water deficiency entails water scarcity for human and natural world. Whereas a meteorological deficiency occurs when it is the meteorological or natural factors that causes the scarcity. Native’s Fury – The Meteorological Factors The meteorological factors result in water deficiency across the world. Let us look at these.
• Firstly, in case of India it is the Monsoons. Monsoon winds have an erratic pattern and do not cause equivalent rainfall across Indian subcontinents, rains are concentrated in four months in most parts of Indian peninsula. Due to orographic reasons, inner peninsula, Western Rajasthan and Gujarat and Tamil Nādu do not receive heavy rainfalls.
• Another factor in case of India is the natural inability of water to percolate through hard rocks. This is witnessed in Himalayas where groundwater level is vein poor due to lack of water percolation. Recent studies by IMD have even pointed to dust storms in Middle east as influencing Monsoons. Lack of such storms leads to poor presence of condensation nuclei, which then leads to poor rainfall. Now let us take a global reason for water crisis. Desert regions like Gobi Desert and Central Asia have natural water crisis where due to distance from sea, the rainfall is scanty. Similarly, Sub-tropical High-Pressure Belt around 25-35 latitude is major factor for scanty rainfall and desert like conditions especially in Middle Eastern Regions.
• Another widely known factor is the El Nino phenomenon which is due to reversal of wind patterns and sea surface temperatures in the Pacific Ocean. El Nino causes drought like conditions in the Western Pacific including Australia, Southeast Asia & even India.
• Lastly, Global warming induced climate change has deepened the water crisis even further. As highlighted in the recent report by Ministry of Earth Sciences, Climate change will increase the occurrence of droughts across India. Also, there is anticipation that climate change will result in thinning and eventual thawing of glaciers in the Himalayas which are the source of perennial rivers of the sub-continent. The drying of these rivers will adversely affect millions. Similarly, global agencies like WMO and IPCC paint a grim picture for water availability especially considering climate change. They warn of us increased frequency of adverse weather phenomenon such as draughts and floods.

However, to entirely blame weather, climate change and meteorological factors for the water crisis is not entirely story. Water management i.e., proper management and development of limited water resources is necessary to meet water needs of millions of Indians. Let us look how have we failed at managing our water resources properly.

Water Mismanagement – Who is at Fault?
It is said that ‘we do not inherit this Earth from our ancestors, rather we borrow it from our successors.’ The reasons for water mismanagement thus largely relates to how it is the human induced faults that has aggravated the water crisis. 

• Agricultural sector accounts for about 90% of fresh water use in India. Indian agriculture has the highest groundwater utilization in the world. Water use efficiency of Indian agriculture is extremely low. Several factors contribute to this. The rice-wheat system in water scarce states, irrigation subsidy by government, bund irrigation, rice as major commodity of export (export of virtual water), and eutrophication due to fertilizers, are some among many.
• In the industrial sector, water utilization is primarily as a coolant. However, the largest threat of water and water bodies from the industrial sector is due to the discharge of untreated water in rivers and ponds leading to water pollution. Sewage treatment plants are inadequate leading to poor rates of water recycling, there is open waste dumping. This makes water inhospitable for marine species and deadly for consumption.
• The household sector also is to blame for the water crisis. Household use water for variety of uses that leads to water wastage such washing of car, tap leaks, watering plants, usage of showers, wasting water from RO system.
• There is lack of regard to conserve and save water in the general population. Even in the public and international arena water issues are not given adequate attention. Despite being home to largest rivers, South Asia still faces water scarcity partly due to heavy population in the region. Lack of trust, lack of regional cooperation framework for water issues and competition among the countries and near death of SAARC are few factors that have made regional interstate cooperation on water issues near impossible.
• At the national level too, various disputes mire the water crisis. Lack of active role played by Central Government. politicization by states over water issues and not following orders of the water tribunals, role of SC, have aggravated the mismanagement of water. India has 16% of world population and 4% of world freshwater resources and acute water scarcity. This demands a spirit of cooperation and priority to water issues. However, political grandstanding, bureaucratic red-tapism, apathy to water issues in public policy and poor policies such as excessive concretization which have blocked seepage to ground water have made the water crisis only deeper.

Thus, India faces a peculiar scenario when at the same time some parts of the country are suffering with drought while others rile under floods. For this not one is at fault, it is the collective fault of all of us and its consequences. 

The grave economic impact India will have to bear to due to unsustainable water policies. World Bank projections say that India will lose 6% of its GDP by 2050 due to water crisis. Thus, unemployment, poverty, and food crisis would be a blot on Indian developmental journey. The impacts of the water crisis will fall disproportionately on the poorest living in remote regions. They will suffer for no fault of theirs as they continue to lead lives in accordance with nature.

• Water crisis will increase polarisation, regionalism and fissiparous tendencies. The doctrine of son of the soil will gain ground. States instead of cooperation would use vote bank politics which will worsen the situation. World Bank mentions that 60% of districts in India will reach critical ground water depletion level over next 20 years. Thus, vulnerable sections like women and tribals would be worse hit. This will be accompanied by poor health consequences, as India stands 120 in water quality index.
• Environmentally, water crisis will lead to loss of Biodiversity, frequent droughts changes in ecosystem and loss of agriculture productivity.
• Thus, we can see that the consequences of ignoring water issues will rather be disastrous.
• Efforts Taken to Address the critical water situation Firstly, National Ganga Action Plan which aims to ‘nirmalta and aviralta’ of Ganga, conserve biodiversity and and reduce pollution in the mainstem and its tributaries. This program has support from the highest political level with the PM heading the National Ganga Council.
• Secondly, water harvesting campaign by Ministry of Jal Shakti – Catch the Rain. It aims to revive traditional water harvesting techniques and kunds, and a rooftop water harvesting across districts.
• Other steps include emphasis on river interlinking (Ken and Betwa links), increasing MSP for Millets and less water-intensive crops, advocating and subsidising Micro–irrigation systems to make agriculture water efficient and proposed amendments to river disputes act. Emphasis on grey water usage, water recycling and reuse. However, there is still a long way to go.
• What more needs to be done for water-secure future Firstly, India must take lead at the regional level via SAARC, and BIMSTEC, to adopt a regional guideline to address water scarcity and sharing of water. Secondly, amending National legislation inter-state water disputes act to expedite setting of tribunal, and not appealing the decision to SC. Thirdly, for the agriculture sector, states must take lead to “incentivize micro irrigation, IEC to reduce bund irrigation, and increase millet procurement. In the industrial sector too, changes are needed. Clear and concise water filtration guideline, regular surprise checks to analyse their efforts and mandating CSR for water conservation.
• At individual level, there needs to be involvement of NGOs, and housing societies for rooftop water harvesting, using recycled water and ensuring desiltation of local water conservation sites.
• Thus, there is a need for holistic and multidimensional response to the present water crisis. Water is a necessity for the existence of biosphere. Thus, we must avoid and prevent any form of its mismanagement.

It is only by collective efforts that we can prevent the grave impact of water crisis. And thus, we must ensure its conservation. For this a collective resolve by on boarding everyone, a social contract for water is needed.