Efforts in India

Efforts so Far Government Apathy
Every incline in technology has to be paid off by nature. Call it the receding greener pastures or the eroding desert regions. This also brings forth the callousness of the governmental bodies and the people of the Region who seem to have never thought of the devastating results, playing with nature can bring in the long run and for the future generations. The most relevant need of the people and inhabitants of the Thar desert is drinking water and not water for irrigation. Though there has been some efforts by Government as well as by several NGOs in the area of providing drinking water but not before the situation has aggravated to the level wherein disaster is just knocking. The Government seems to be having ‘water for irrigation’ as their preferred agenda item as it benefits the rich and the affluent section of society rather than the drinking water which has become a topic for discussions in meetings and seminars. The concept and thought of retaining and preserving deserts have never been in the list of priorities of Government. Unfortunately, the businessmen and industrialists of Rajasthan who, otherwise are very benevolent and always champion the cause of social upliftments, have never looked upon the need and requirement to curb the de-desertification. The writers write about the beautiful deserts, the poets describe and rightly glorify the desert land, the singers put their heart and soul in the folk songs, calling it as a heaven on earth but no one ever has ever thought of the fact that the deserts are diminishing and the speed by which it is depleting, the day is not far when all proses, poetries and songs will have a theoretical and academic value only.
The primary focus should be on the following…

• Containing De-Desertification
• Water Harvesting
• Drinking Water
• Desert Vegetation
• Employment Generation
• Protecting the Heritage.

India already has a number of regions that have been rendered unproductive by deforestation, overgrazing, population pressure and a breakdown of the traditional social order. People in these regions have been reduced to dependence on cash remittances from the cities or living as contract labourers in various other parts of the state or migrating to other part of the country and living a miserable life.
The desert communities themselves can control not only the resources of the area but trade and commerce as well if they themselves play the role of middlemen and entrepreneurs. This will call for new institutions to be created and new relationships shaped up, compatible with the changes in the deserts. This will bring forward the need of a scientific, social, economic and technical research to be carried out in the deserts on a continuing basis and a viable social model developed for the region and supported. Further, it would need the establishment of an institution in the desert, manned by competent professionals well-versed in modern economics, engineering and agriculture and simultaneously highly sensitive to local cultural and tradition.
There is reason to believe, however, that there is still time to save this planet and its inhabitants; while the desert winds continue to blow, more and more people think about global ecological challenges, but then there is a strong need for some one, who actually thinks and does something about the diminishing and/or shifting of deserts.