14th April

More Than a Pause

The article talks about the worsening situation in Sri Lanka which cannot be resolved merely by ceasefire. The author demands Sri Lankan govt to go beyond ceasefire and solve the political issue through dialogue and not through military action. 

While Sri Lankan govt proposes the ceasefire not only as a measure to vacate the civilians trapped in the warzone but also as a gesture to mark Sinhalese and Tamil New Year, LTTE declares it as an “insult to the Tamil community”. Colombo has played smart by putting the onus of civilian safety on LTTE by alleging that LTTE uses civilians as human shields. Tigers, obviously, refuted the claim. There is a deadlock in the situation with Rajapaksa govt firm on wiping out the LTTE followed by a political solution to the Tamilian dissatisfaction while LTTE considered itself a sole representative of Tamil minority and doesn’t want to settle with anything less then a separate state. While civilians face the burnt of the situation here, what is needed is that Colombo should call for a constructive dialogue following the ceasefire hoping that LTTE, or at least its over ground sympathizers like Tamil National Alliance, would welcome the gesture. 

A political problem must be solved using diplomacy and dialogue and not through military action since the end of LTTE might not necessarily end the Tamil separatism.

Down The Drain

The article talks about improving the technology and management for more effective and efficient use of water so that the least of it gets wasted. Majority of world water problems are due to huge wastage and inefficient management.

An election candidate, fighting from Kakrola, Delhi, promised to solve the water problems of its constituency by providing water tankers just before the elections. However, this might solve the problem temporarily, but it does not address the core issue of huge wastage of water and the mismanagement that leads to inefficient use of water. While the global demand for water goes up by 2-3% every year, greenhouse effect in fact infuses fresh water into our oceans more or less constantly. What is missing is prudent management of water i.e. protection of water bodies, reducing public wastage and equitable distribution. Fifth World Water Forum held at Istanbul was allegedly biased towards private interests. Thus, in future all the water forums must be held under the auspices of UN to ensure more egalitarian approach. More efficient irrigation systems could reduce the water usage into agriculture significantly. Efficient usage and reducing wastage at individual level could also contribute significantly to prevent depleting of water resources. It is estimated that by 2075, 7 billion people around the world would live in the regions with chronic water shortage. 

With 75% of world water going into agriculture, mainly due to inefficient irrigation, it is important that countries like India and Brazil, that consume much more water for wheat then US or China, to adopt more efficient technology and management for smarter agricultural practice rather then making water expensive for farmers.