Rotary Club Puttur Yuva is looking forward to collaborate with Corporates to

fund (through CSR) lake building activities in our community so as to promote

water security, biodiversity, ecological balance and environmental
sustainability.
SUBJECT: Construction of Lakes in every Taluk along India’s West Coast.

We all know that earth is the only planet in our Solar system to support life.
The most important factors to sustain life is the availability of Air and Fresh
Water.
Despite 71% of earth is filled with water, fresh water availability on earth is
just 0.5-0.75% (Of all the water, 97% is saline sea water and around 2% is
frozen in the form of glaciers, ice, snow). Due to rapid consumption of water
for irrigation, construction and domestic needs, today, even D.K. District of
Karnataka (which never had water crisis) is facing acute water shortage
problem. We are all aware of the difficulties faced by the people of Suratkal,
Mangalore, Dharmasthala and Sullia regions of D.K. District in procuring fresh
water during this summer. Even in water abundant Puttur, the ground water
table has substantially reduced, which might soon put this taluk for the first
time in the list of places categorized as ‘Draught Hit’ by the State Gov’t.
When our country has:
Active military for National security,
Courts for Judicial security,
Pension schemes for Social Security,
PDS for Food security,
Why don’t we have anything for Water Security, which is certainly the most
important of all as it is directly linked to the survival of human race?
Despite living in harmony with nature and no records of water pollution, yet
our ancestors have given priority to build tanks (Some examples: Bellandur
lake by Ganga Dynasty in 8th century, Hebbal lake by Kempegowda in 1537) to
meet water demands of the local community. So, where do we stand in
comparison to our ancestors?
Moreover today, with major problems like water pollution, global warming,
etc. availability of natural fresh water is further decreasing at alarming pace.
Studies have also confirmed that our water consumption rate is beyond
replenishment level which is not only unsustainable but also has dangerous
consequences. So, where are we heading to?
It has to be noted that energy intensive ‘Sea water desalination’ is not a viable
option for a country as big as India. Unlike other places of Karnataka (like
Tumkur, Kolar, Chikkaballapur, Bangalore Rural, etc.), which have to depend
only on capital intensive ‘River-Linking’ project to meet their water
requirements, our D.K. District is blessed to receive around 200cm rainfall
annually. Nature itself bestows on us desalinated sea water (by utilizing solar
and wind energy) in the form of South West Monsoon rain. All we need to do is
store it by constructing ponds than letting it return to sea in the form of
surface run-offs. When water drains into sea as surface run-offs, we not only
miss the opportunity of saving water but also lose our fertile soil layer due to
soil erosion which deprives us of vegetation eventually leading to food scarcity
as well.
Having a lake in our community has other advantages too. The ecological
benefits of wetland (like ponds, lakes, etc.) is enormous. It preserves
biodiversity as all the living creatures from fish, flies, insects, amphibians,
reptiles, birds, mammals to countless species of plants depend on it for
survival. Wetlands improve the quality of life of all living organisms in the
community. They thus enrich the overall health and make our ecosystem
colourful and vibrant. Besides providing water security, lakes not only
mitigates climate change but also help in economic development by
promoting tourism and generating employment.

Today, we being technologically superior to our ancestors (with satellite based

GIS and having numerous Earth moving equipment like JCB, etc.) and having
vast man power, it is relatively easier to build lakes. Despite then, the question
stands why we still don’t act to save us and our future generation from this
grim crisis.
Moreover, Indian Constitution mentions protecting and improving natural
environment including forests, lakes, rivers and wildlife in both Directive
Principles of state policy and Fundamental Duties of citizens. Hence, such
activities should involve ‘mass movement’ (with active participation of
students, bureaucrats, corporates, etc. irrespective of caste, creed and
religion). Citizens in their collective capacity need to address this water
security issue on a war footing.