" Water Two Billion People Are Dying For It! "


Introduction:

First of all we have to know what is environment? What does it consist of? Its simplest definition is that environment is the surrounding around us. As for the dictionary meaning it says that 'the environment is the condition that affects the behavior& development of physical condition& the natural world in which people, animals& plants live in'. Enviroment includes biological, physical& socio-cultural factors. Biological factors are living things whereas physical factors are non-living things.

Environment has its own importance in our surrounding. We all are al well known about the world environment day, which is held on every 5th June all over the world. Many different kinds of programs& meetings are held all over the world on this occasion. Likewise in our country Nepal also many different programs were held on this occasion. There was an exhibition held in the Birendra Conventional Hall on the occasion of World Environment Day on 5thJune.

About the visit:

Aspects of visit

•     Bio – diversity
Our environment consists of both biological as well as physical factors. The biological factor contains two major factors that are plants& animals. These plants& animals are totally dependent on the environmental aspects. These plants& animals cannot live without environment.
Ecology is one of the components of biology. It is the study of relationship of living organisms among one another surroundings. The exhibition included different things related to ecology. The different habitants of different animals were included in the exhibition. The silkworm farming was also shown on that program which had been very useful not only for the farmers but also to the students who visited the exhibition. The silkworms are the insects, which give out fine silk, which is better than, the artificially prepared silk. The silkworm farming is highly related to the environment as the silk worm & the silk produced by them is totally natural which causes no harm to the environment. The artificial silk is produced very easily but while doing so there is the harm caused to the environment. If there is an exception for the artificial preparation of silk which can save the environment then why to use the artificial process? All this is because of ignorance among the people. Thus they are not familiar with the harms of environmental pollution nor are they familiar with the ways of protection of environment. Ecology also plays a vital role in the environment. It has got the components that are the responsible ones to improve the environment.
Some of the ecological components i.e. the birds & animals are endangered. They are in the state of extinction. Some birds & animals like Hornbill are totally extinct from the world. Other animals & birds like Spinning babbler are in the state of extinction. If such situation continues on going then there will be a great disaster going on the ecology & later the whole environment.
Ecosystem is also one of the basic components of the environment. It is the system resulting from the integration of all the living & non-living factors of the environment.  Food chain is directly related to ecosystem. It is the transfer of food energy from producers, through a series of organisms such as herbivores to carnivores, from carnivores to decomposers, with repeated eating& being eaten. Food chain is a natural process, which helps all the living beings to live. Mostly animals are related to food chain rather than the plants. The animals are killed by each other for their existence by which they feed upon each other. Without ecosystem the environment is incomplete.
The environment around us contains all kinds of organic materials, which can be used as fuel or fertilizers. But this method is not popular all over our country Nepal due to the ignorance of the people living here. These kind of organic matters can be converted into biogas& organic fertilizer (compost fertilizer). The method of preparation of these natural things was shown in the exhibition as a view to make public awareness.

•     Water resource conservation
The exhibition held on the occasion of world environment day had major thing related to water. The program included ways of preserving& conserving water resources. As drinking water is being the major problem of today's world every sectors should take care towards it. Many people all over the world are dying for water. As the slogan of world environment day says that all over the world more than two billion people are dying for water. All this is because of lack of clean, pure drinking water. If the water resources are not conserved& preserved today then tomorrow in future we will not have any sufficient amount of clean, pure drinking water. The conservation of water resources not only provides water for future but also prevents the water from getting contaminated by germs, which might lead to bad health of people who drink it. The conservations of water resources are thus very much important.
The exhibition had many variety of things related to water conservation& its purification. Thing which could be done by the local level as well as personal level for water conservation were exhibited on that occasion. Many different books& papers related to water conservation were given freely in order to increase public awareness. In this way the public awareness was brought to light for some extent.


•     Measures for controlling environmental pollution
The environmental pollution is growing all over the world day by day. This rapid increase in environmental pollution can in future be one of the major causes for the extinction of all the animals& plants as well as the humans too. Different sectors are trying to their best of ability but also some factors are disturbing them to carry out the work related to control of environmental pollution. Environmental education in our country has been made compulsory for the secondary& lower-secondary levels in school. All this is made in order to increase public awareness& to make the students think about their future.
The exhibition had may stall which taught how could we from individual level contribute towards making the environment better. Using less smoke-exerting vehicle, using biogas& fuels (guintha-in Nepali), which are made from animal dunk etc. Common sense in us should be created that we should use environmental friendly things around us that act as our basic need in everyday life.
One of the major causes for the degradation of the environment is the use of old vehicles, which we can find mostly in Kathmandu valley where the population density is very high. The smoke (carbon-monoxide) exerted from the vehicles, which affects our health directly, is found in excessive amount on the atmosphere of Kathmandu. The exhibition had things to make public awareness high about the conservation of environment such as use of electric vehicles (safa-tempo). Harm of environmental pollution should be told to all in order to make environmental better in future.
     
•     Food
We use food in our daily life to gain energy, which is very much essential for our existence. But the foods that we eat daily are not clean, as it has to be. The best way of having clean food is by heating it (i.e. cooking or boiling). Nowadays the foods we eat are prepared using the chemical fertilizers, which is very bad for our health. The best way of getting rid of it is by using organic fertilizers, which has no side affect on our body. This is healthy way of preparing food. The chemical fertilizers affect no only us but also to the environment. The soil is turned rough& hard by these fertilizers but the organic fertilizer makes the soil soft which helps to grow the plant healthy which are the source of our living.
 

Educational Importance


•     Water purification
Water is the basic unit of live of all living beings. Without water no living beings can live. There is a problem about water all over the world that is the unavailability of clean, pure drinking water. Different kind of scientific methods have been brought into use all over the world for water purification. But the cost of these methods are not affordable by normal people but there is a solution for this problem i.e. SODIS. This is a natural method of purification of water by using sunlight. This method is very much effective to kill germs in water. This method can be applied in rural areas also as it is one of the most effective & cheapest way of purifying water. Thus it is not a great deal to drink germ free water & everyone is now invited all over the world to have clean, pure drinking water.

•     Managing of wastage
Management of wastage is being one of the main problems of Nepal. In our country mainly in city area this problem has been found. Many different sectors are doing various works to decrease wastage. Even in the international level many countries are doing the work of recycling which is very much effective to save the environment. Even in our country this method has been introduced but it is not found practically in the right amount. It is not a hard task to manage the wastage. Two simple methods can be applied for the management of wastage i.e. recycling & changing it to fertilizers (only for organic substances). Thus there are several ways to manage the wastage. But only methods are not sufficient but full collaboration from every sector is required for this environment to be clean & green.

By : Shailesh Paudyal
Kathmandu Don Bosco Higher Secondary School
Grade: 10
      

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