Conservation Stressed In New Water Efficiency Plan: Fill & Download for Free

India is a developing country with a population of almost 1.4 billion. It is implicit that demands for natural resources to support the elephantine task of development is raised to unprecedented levels.Of all the resources, demand for water has increased at a galloping pace, be it- hydroelectric projects or excessive use by households. Actually, the share distribution of water among agricuture, industries and households gives a very complex picture of pattern of it’s use:Source: Central Water CommissionHighest share of water is used in irrigation/ agriculture , ie. 85.3%, followed by domestic use/ households- 6.6% and industry- 1.3%. It is obvious that wastage of water is maximum in-Prosperous agrarian states that have access to better irrigation facelities and practise intensive agriculture.States with high GSDP and high density of population.Union territories with high density of population.Now that we have data and spatial spread of water stress across India, I think the best policy is to follow a Targeted Sytems Approach:Modern agricultural practices that involve optimal use of water:Agro- Climatic cultivation: where the crops are grown keeping the climatic aspects under consideration. For example: Paddy is a water guzzling Kharif crop and requires almost 3 times the water needed to grow wheat. It’s spatial distribution conspicuously corresponds with water stress areas of North- West India and peninsular India. The need of the hour is to adopt environmentally sustainable cropping patterns that are in harmony with the available natural resources of that area at the given time.Changing Irrigation Practices: This involves using water efficient irrigation methods that use less amounts of water per unit of land. Out of 58 million Hectares of land irrigated, 40 million Hectares is irrigated from ground water. Such intensive irrigation method can be replaced with- drip irrigation, irrgigation via water gun, etc.Modern Agriculture: A paradigm shift has been brought about by Hydroponics in developed nations like Singapore, that uses minimum to no soil strata, application of mineral fluids and controlled application of water via tubes. This is a very innovative methodology that requires less area and minimum water resources. This is indeed a viable option to solve water crisis in India emanating out of Agriculture. Also, new initiatives like Organic Farming and Zero Budget Natural Farming are a welcome step as they require much less water than conventional methods.Rational Use of Water by Households/ Domestic Users: The average water requirement of a Indian Household (major cities) is around 400 litres per day and that of an individual is around 91 litres per day. Most of this water is used in daily chores- washing, cleaning, cooking, etc. There is a general tendency of households to expend way more water than they conserve. So at household level, water conservation must be promoted and gradually, enforced with fines and punishments:Roof- top rain water harvesting methods, collecting rain water in artificial tanks near the house, etc.Promoting recycling of waste water for activities like gardening, planting, construction works, etc.Collective Efforts- Building of bunds at Panchayat level, reviving of local water reserviors by Municipality,etc.Efficient Town Planning: Making permeable drains on the road sides that can effectively allow seeping in of the water during rains to allow water table to recharge, compulsory rain water harvesting in government buildings and corporate offices. These efforts can be given impetus by involvement of households of the area in town planning and plan implementation.Making our Industries Water Efficient: Most of the water used in industries is used during production processes and is generally not usable for other purposes owing to it’s high temprature post- usage and high chemical impurities. steps that can be taken:Hot water discharge from one industry can be used as it is in another industry that specifically requires hot water in the production process. This process is known as Cogeneration. For example: high temprature gasses emited from Industry A by combustion of fossil fuels to create electricity, can be captured and mixed with water recycled form Industry A and sent to Industry B, where this high temprature water can be converted into steam to turn turbines and produce elecricity. This increases efficiency and reduces wastage of water.Government Interventions: The union and state governments can work in synergy to implement big- budget projects that are specifically targeted at water conservation and also, they can ensure that all the guidelines are adhered to without fail.State Governmant Initiatives: Making flood reservoirs along the flood plains to catch extra flood water and use them as a storm drains during excessive rains.Union Government Initiatives: The government at the centre must work with state government to impliment projects like- Inter- State River Linking to mitigate water availability imbalances among the states, Off-shore De- Salination Plants to ensure water security to the citizens, taking measures to prevent surface runoff of water, etc.The Water Stress Index 2019 has set the alarm bells ringing among the governments, environmentalists and citizens, just at the right time. The growing scarcity of water exacerbated by global warming is a great threat that endangers our future well-being and thus, water conservation must be the agenda of every socially- spirited human being. It’s not far, in my opinion, when India will observe it’s first Zero Day, on the lines of South Africa, if consolidated steps aren’t taken in time.Let’s ecologise politics and politicise ecology!!Regards,Anshul MishraImage Sources: GoogleFOOTNOTES:Domestic Water Consumption Pattern ReportEdit: (10- August- 2019)Today, CM of NCT, Mr. Arvind Kejriwal along with Union Minister of Jal Shakti, Mr. Gajendra Singh Shekhawat inaugurated the pilot project for flood reservoirs, along the bank of Yamuna River. The project will serve as a model project to be followed in other states for water conservation and arresting surface runoff during excessive flow in rivers. The reservoir is made without any cement and doesn't alter the flow of Yamuna. The reservoir will be spread in 25 acres and will be 2 meters deep.

I’m going to offer something quite different from most of the answers you will receive. I realize that my answer will likely garner some heated argument. I’m ok with that.Most in the field of DID/OSDD (henceforth ‘multiplicity’) are going to posit that multiplicity originates because one, original ego (personality/identity) was ‘broken’ by trauma into shards of itself. So, one whole crystal ball was dropped and…crash! Now someone is multiple. All the ‘parts’ of that first crystal ball, lying in the shadows, really just need to find their way back to wanting to rejoin that original crystal ball (integration). Once that crystal ball is put back together again…someone will again be whole like they used to be, before the trauma.No.For the sake of efficiency, I’m going to copy and paste what I’ve posted before about this here._____________There is a sort of old school way of looking at Multiplicity, as though it is one whole personality that was then fragmented into pieces. Think of it like a glass ball. It’s fully formed, one piece. Smooth and pretty. Then trauma hits and …crash, it’s dropped and shatters into a million pieces. And so, if one were to look down at the floor…there is still really only ONE glass ball, right? Just not whole anymore. This is the way a few people still see the ‘personalities’ of Multiplicity.Here’s the problem with that older theory. Personality begins forming in very early childhood. It is not a solidified whole for many years. All you start out with is raw, unintegrated materials. Trauma enters before the process of even forming this personality has barely begun. There IS no solid glass ball to begin with. Instead of a healthy and neurologically ‘normal’ brain which proceeds to take all this raw material and integrate it into that single, solid glass ball….the trauma brain takes the (traumatic) material and frantically starts splitting it (sorting might be a better term, so as not to confuse it with a ‘split’ whole personality) off into smaller bits, accepting and rejecting what it does or does NOT have the capacity to integrate. The intense pressure of this world of trauma squeezes the materials and channels them into MORE THAN ONE reservoir instead of it all gently flowing into what should have been one. The process is similar for all of us. But with tortured children ‘under the influence’ of a constant neurological stress response, their brains do not accomplish this process like everyone else. Their worlds do not provide the time (afforded by safety) to properly associate all of the dissonant and threatening data. I highlighted dissonant, because most people with DID were both abused and ‘cared’ for by the SAME people. You have no idea how that messes with a childs head if you were not one of them. The confusion, to put it mildly, is deafening. Fingernails on the chalkboard of your brain. Neurotransmitters are firing in extreme doses, flooding neural pathways. Whole sections of the brain shut down in order to conserve energy and allow the person to react as quickly as possible to trauma. Except they CAN’T react. They’re children. They can’t fight! They can’t fly! What do they do? Freeze of course. But quite frankly, that only works so well. So when that isn’t sufficient…the brain starts that splitting and squishing into separate containers in order to survive.My point here is that many cannot fathom multiplicity because they are still coming at this from the faulty notion that…well….our glass balls were just dropped. And all we need to do is realize that all those pieces are really the same ball, and we need to pick em up and glue em back together. In essence that’s the premise. I’m saying that premise is what’s faulty, therefore so are the rest of the assertions that usually follow.Yes, I am ONE person. Me. I just also happen to have had 2 or 3 OTHER persons (at least) who also formed alongside me. Saying that we are all one person is as ludicrous to me as saying that YOU and I are one person. My others may as well have a seat beside me in a chair. We are NOT…NOT the same person.Look, back to how we ALL do this: Every person takes in new data from their environment every hour of every day. As children especially we are looking at that data, comparing it to what we have already integrated, and deciding whether or not it all jives with us. We ALL look at some new thing and say…this is LIKE me, or this is NOT like me. This is part of me. This is not. *I* like this, but *I* do not like that. I believe this. I do not believe that. This is how I feel. I do not feel…this. Get me?Now have someone tell you that you have no right to do that. That who you think you are, who you say you are….AND ARE NOT…is all just a delusion. That you’re sick and someone needs to just wake you up to the truth that…there IS no you. Not really. No ego? I mean, some religions teach that. But not MINE. Do you have a favorite color? Say it’s blue. No. No it really isn’t. It’s really orange. You just don’t believe it is. What? You’re a Muslim? No you’re not! You’re delusional. You’re totally Hindu man!! Wait…I got one! You hate Trump? No no no! You LOVE him! Hahaaa. THIS is how utterly ridiculous it is to assert that I am the same person as my others. We believe in diametrically opposed things. We think in completely opposite ways. I could care less about the consideration of a body. I mean is THAT what has you hung up?Some multiples do look at their others as all part of themSELF. (And some professionals, even ‘experts’ still teach that.) Fine for them. Some do desire to integrate. Also fine for them. But we have no need or use for it at all. That does not mean we are deluded. It means we’re perfectly fine acknowledging that we are as separate as oil and water.Also going to add here: the concept that a traumatized 4 year old just imagines up…or usually the term even professionals use is ‘creates’ these alters (so uh…imaginary friends?) to help them cope is also unswallowable for me. To create, there must be not only an assertive will to do so, but a level of awareness to construct that which you want to create. You plan, you imagine, you get your supplies, you sit and go about creating. Yet the very nature of multiplicity is DISSOCIATION. No awareness. In fact, a life saving means to block awareness. Dissociation is not an act of will. It is an unconscious, automatic process by the most primitive part of the brain. So ‘create’? No. I did not create my others. They just showed up like I did. To posit that a 4–5 year old, in the midst of extreme abuse and trauma, with a brain flooded by it…stops to imagine and ‘create’ little friends who become real to them…is the illogical delusion. Let alone that they then continue to develop entire identities and personalities for them and then maintain their presence in ever increasing detail…all while most of their brains are shut down. Total oxymoron.Sorry for the length, but I hope some people get to the end and can benefit from something I’ve shared.*One more edit. I credit Clarissa for pointing out that my answer may seem to imply that I don’t believe that a ‘core’ exists. We have some dialogue below, but let me just say this: I… me…AM one core person. But SO are my others. So I guess what I don’t mean is that no core personality forms. Rather more than ONE does. I don’t look at my others as ‘alters’ or fragments. Me as ‘host’, them as stuck being subservient. We are ALL whole people, whole consciousnesses, within one body, developed in parallel. I/we are not ‘split’ and all are just a piece of a pie. We are all people, all equal. It’s just that I am the fronter, always. That is how we all agree it is. They have never had a desire to front or, a need to for that matter. It isn’t because they are ‘less’. So I hope that clarifies if anyone else read my answer here as saying no core person ever exists. I’m just saying it is not one core who then is fractured and split. We all develop as cores.*

Before making what may amount to a major investment in the retrofit of existing buildings for energy and sustainability improvements, it is important to determine if the investment is worthwhile in perspective with other building conditions. Is the building structurally sound? Are seismic upgrades needed to meet current standards and local building code requirements? Do hazardous material like asbestos, poly chlorinated biphenyls (PCB) and lead paint have to be contained and removed? Can the work be done in phases to minimize disruption to the occupants?The recent trend toward sustainable buildings is obvious in new construction as architects and contractors focus on using green techniques in the building process – as well as making sure the building follows eco-friendly standards in its usage. Renovations and additions follow this same concept. There are steps to be taken to make existing buildings follow the same opportunities of green living that are expected from new buildings.Process includes measurements for air and health quality systems, energy conservation, materials used, water management, waste reduction and “other” to include any measures.Simple daily methods of sustainability can be used such as using less daily supplies of non-reusable materials and recycling the ones that must be used for the business to operate. Introducing fan systems to distribute warm air in winter or cool in summer or replacing older appliances with Energy Star fixtures are realistic and inexpensive ways to improve sustainability while reducing operating costs.When renovations are made, they can be engineered to improve the sustainable buildings’ overall ratings by using the proper sustainable methods and materials. Even daily maintenance can be used as a way to slowly improve the building’s efficiency over time by incorporating sustainability techniques.There are a number of ways to make a building green. These include:Taking an intelligent approach to energyMinimizing energy use in all stages of a building’s life-cycle, making new and renovated buildings more comfortable and less expensive to run, and helping building users learn to be efficient too.Integrating renewable and low-carbon technologies to supply buildings’ energy needs, once their design has maximized inbuilt and natural efficiencies.Safeguarding water resourcesExploring ways to improve drinking and waste water efficiency and management, harvesting water for safe indoor use in innovative ways, and generally minimizing water use in buildings.Considering the impact of buildings and their surroundings on storm water and drainage infrastructure, ensuring these are not put under undue stress or prevented from doing their job.Minimizing waste and maximizing reuseUsing fewer, more durable materials and generating less waste, as well as accounting for a building’s end of life stage by designing for demolition waste recovery and reuse.Engaging building users in reuse and recycling.Promoting health and well beingBringing fresh air inside, delivering good indoor air quality through ventilation, and avoiding materials and chemicals that create harmful or toxic emissions.Incorporating natural light and views to ensure building users’ comfort and enjoyment of their surroundings, and reducing lighting energy needs in the process.Designing for ears as well as eyes. Acoustics and proper sound insulation play important roles in helping concentration, recuperation, and peaceful enjoyment of a building in educational, health and residential buildings.Ensuring people are comfortable in their everyday environments, creating the right indoor temperature through passive design or building management and monitoring systems.Keeping our environment greenRecognizing that our urban environment should preserve nature, and ensuring diverse wildlife and land quality are protected or enhanced, by, for example, re mediating and building on polluted land or creating new green spaces.Looking for ways we can make our urban areas more productive, bringing agriculture into our cities.Creating resilient and flexible structuresAdapting to our changing climate, ensuring resilience to events such as flooding, earthquakes or fires so that our buildings stand the test of time and keep people and their belongings safe.Designing flexible and dynamic spaces, anticipating changes in their use over time, and avoiding the need to demolish, rebuild or significantly renovate buildings to prevent them becoming obsolete.Connecting communities and peopleCreating diverse environments that connect and enhance communities, asking what a building will add to its context in terms of positive economic and social effects, and engaging local communities in planning.Ensuring transport and distance to amenities are considered in design, reducing the impact of personal transport on the environment, and encouraging environmentally friendly options such as walking or cycling.Exploring the potential of both ‘smart’ and information communications technologies to communicate better with the world around us, for example through smart electricity grids that understand how to transport energy where and when it is needed.Considering all stages of a building's life-cycleSeeking to lower environmental impacts and maximize social and economic value over a building's whole life-cycle (from design, construction, operation and maintenance, through to renovation and eventual demolition).Ensuring that embodied resources, such as the energy or water used to produce and transport the materials in the building are minimized so that buildings are truly low impact.