Time to demand climate security act: Rajendra Singh

Highlighting the ill effects of climate change, water conservationist Rajendra Singh today stressed that it was the time to demand climate security act instead of food and water act.
Singh, popularly known as 'waterman', claimed that despite good rains last year, 14 states and 327 districts of the country year faced drought and drought like situation which shows that rainfall is not the deciding factor for occurrence of drought.
"The time has come when we need to demand climate security act, instead of food and water," Singh said while delivering a lecture on 'Water Awareness and Water Conservation' on 35th foundation day of NABARD at its regional office.

"Our rainwater is getting waste, instead of going underground. We are exploiting and extracting more ground water than recharging. This has led to drought in many areas of the country," Singh said.
"Rainfall is not the main factor behind drought, it is the system and amount of ground water recharge which plays crucial factor," he said.
Singh said food scarcity, water scarcity, loss of seeds and loss of crops are the ill effects of the situation which is arising out of the mismanagement of water and water resources.

"After independence, engineers did not pay due respect to scientists and their approach in designing dams. They just considered engineering aspects and not the scientific and environmental approach which should have been there," he said.

Saying that sedimentation is a big problem and causes flood in rivers, Singh said erosion and silting needs to be effectively controlled to address the issue of flood and drought.
"Besides, linking of crop pattern with rain pattern is utmost important to address the challenge," he said, while opining that without proper management of water, no other significant development can take place.