Whilst water may be the core necessity of life and many
people argue should be available for all, this is not the case, water is
becoming a threatened commodity due to both physical and human impacts. As
climate change looms and industrialisation increases flooded rivers, pollution
and water scarcity will ensue. Not only will physical resources of water
diminish but access to water in poverty stricken countries could create
economic scarcity whereby the water supply is there it just cannot be attained
due to a lack of money. The Himalayan countries such as China, Bangladesh,
India and Pakistan are facing continues threats to their future water supply
often as a result of each other.
The Ganges flows through India but ends in Pakistan, however
along the way Indian companies have diverted large amounts of water into
irrigation systems and dams have been placed so Bangladesh is deprived of its
natural amount of water from the Ganges. This creates the threat of not just a
lack of water in the future for Bangladesh but also a lack of food security as
fishing cannot take place if water levels are too low and salinisation may occur,
destroying habitats for marine life. Not only does India divert water from the
Ganges it also pollutes by distributing waste from industries into the flow
near Bangladesh. This creates an even large threat for Bangladesh as they will
be at risk from undrinkable, contaminated water. Despite an agreement in 1990
to share the Ganges, India maintains power over its supply, leaving Bangladesh
at the mercy of India.
In 1962 China and India fought over Aksai Chin and Arunachal
Pradesh on their neighbouring borders due to territorial disputes but also
water conflict as Aksai Chin holds one of the major sources of water for the
Hotan county, the river Karakash. Forces clashed after China seized Aksai chin
however despite many peace treaties signed there continues to be conflict. In
2012 China issued passport stamps with Aksai Chin and Arunachal Pradesh
included leading to the Indian defence minister claiming China was its biggest
threat when it comes to territory. If China maintains hold of these two areas
India will face water shortages without access to Karakash and the Tarim River
Basin, a future threat for both China and India is perhaps not their water
sources but each other.
Many threats come in the form of human conflict in the Himalayas
however there are physical threats such as climate change that can pose a risk.
The Himalaya’s is home to the largest mountain in the world, snow topped Mount
Everest and many others, as climate change warms the temperature there is a
threat that snow cover may melt and as 70% of freshwater is kept in these snow
covers, the surrounding Countries could lose or contaminate this water if it
begins to melt and flood. The water could become contaminated as it flows
through sewages meaning it is lost forever. Another physical threat is that of
India’s monsoon period, the heavy rainfall can cause flooding and therefore
sewage leakages again infecting the water supplies. The Himalayan threats are
present from many angles suggesting it’s water security is incredibly in
danger.
China has established a scheme to aid its water supply in
the future called the South to North Transfer, aiming to join the rivers
Yangtze, Yellow and Huai to channel water from the plentiful North to the in
need South. However this has posed a new threat in trying to counteract
another, the Yellow River is already at undrinkable levels of pollution due to
industrial and domestic waste, if the rivers are channelled to combine this
could worsen the water quality in the Yangtze River, therefore diminishing a
further resource.
Water is increasingly under threat; human factors have a
major role in not only creating these dangers but trying to prevent them.
Various projects have been created in order to protect the Himalaya’s from
these risks however as with China’s South to North transfer, these projects are
sometimes threats in themselves.
No comments:
Post a Comment