Saving water is an alarm call we must heed every day
Journal of Zoology in 1982, A.J.T. Johnsingh documented the behaviour of dholes he observed from August 1976 to July 1978 in Bandipur Tiger Reserve. The picture he drew is a lively one, full of seriousness and play.
He wrote how pups beg for food from adults, and jaw-wrestle with other pups. Once they have made their kill, adults will often play with each other. Pack members whistle at each other to stay in touch and they scream with a “ka ka ka keone" when disturbed.
We lost Johnsingh in June, and my thoughts go out for all of the lives—human and non-human—that he touched. His work showed us the power of deep observation—and how the study of nature may often reveal hitherto unknown facets or interactions. And so much of our history, and natural history is around water sources.
In this year’s heatwave, water seems more precious than ever. In cities, the quest for water takes different forms. One is RWA (resident welfare association) groups asking each other if supply is low, and when the water will come.
The other is water tankers coming to people, with lines of citizens with buckets below. Each summer there is a deficit of water, similar to the scarcity Bengaluru had for five whole months before the rain. And yet we forget this once the monsoon hits and our rivers and wetlands swell.
It shouldn’t take a heatwave to remind us we need to change our practices around water; that we should want to save it even when we aren’t thirsting after it. From a city planning perspective, tanks and water storage units should have planned water utilisation before the monsoon so rains can replenish them instead of simply overflowing. Streams and channels need desilting to help absorption.
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