BIOSWALE

The land next to river is deprived of vegetation and hence there are no plants’ to hold the soil next to the river which is immensely fertile. During the summer season rivers go dry and there is no vegetation to replenish this water deficiency. During the rainy season the rivers are over-fed leading to surface run-offs and floods which leads to wastage of rain water reaching us.

This problem can be solved with the help of bioswales.

What is a Bioswale?

Bioswales are planted or mulched channels which slow water flow down and allow it to infiltrate into the soil. 

A bioswale consists of:

i)   A layer of crushed stone at the bottom level for drainage

ii)  A layer of nutrient-rich porous soil above, which acts as a growing medium

iii) A layer of geotextile fabric between soil and crushed stone, to prevent soil from choking the airspaces between the stone pieces.

iv)The top most layer consists of plants (preferably native)

Bioswale helps to reduce the pace of water when it flows through it as well as remove pollutant particle from it.

 Its the forests next to rivers that help them stay alive but the land next to river is owned by farmers' and they will not be ready to plant native forest trees which shall not yield them any income. Hence, we need to come up with a solution that doesn’t encroach a large part of farmers land, doesn’t lead to surface run-offs as well as the farmers can cultivate as they want.

In my opinion we can create bioswales probably 1-1.5 m long on the land next to the rivers facing the rivers (perpendicular to the river path) which does not cover much land, doesn’t erode soil  and prevents polluted water entering the waterbody. In urban areas and rural areas where human civilizations thrive is exactly where consumption of water takes place and the ground water in these places is about to meet its impending death. The rain which falls upon these areas is expected to flow into sewage tanks which are often clogged and the rain water acquires lodging in the road and leads to creation of swamps and is hence, lost by evaporation. In order to not render this water waste, we can create bioswales on either side of the roads which allows the water to infiltrate slowly into the ground thereby increasing the ground water table.

The Problem

Pardon me for starting this blog on a negative note but the problem is a shameful and a critical one to address and has been highly ignored.

Rivers have assumed a distinct identity as ‘life givers’ across the world. What’s more, rivers in India have a significance beyond economic wellbeing – as they are inextricably intertwined with our cultural and spiritual heritage. 

In the past few decades, our rivers have been depleting drastically due to various factors like over-extraction, deforestation, pollution from point and non-point sources, and climate variation (increasing temperatures and differential precipitation patterns). Major rivers are rapidly shrinking, and many perennial rivers have turned seasonal, not even reaching the oceans for many months of the year.

 Godavari has shrunk by almost 20% from historical flows. Kaveri has shrunk by 40%, while Krishna and Narmada have shrunk by 60%. According to estimates, by 2030 we will have only 50% of the water that we need for our survival. Further, 25% of India is becoming desert. As compared to 1947, we have about 25% water per capita available today. Rivers meet one-third of the total irrigation and twenty percent of the drinking water needs of the country. Groundwater and other water bodies/resources that meet the rest of our water needs, are already over-stressed across the nation and are being over-utilized at an alarming rate. Twenty-two out of thirty-two major Indian cities deal with daily water shortages. Water scarcity and drought has become a reality for today’s generation in India. In case priority action is not initiated to enhance water supply and reduce overexploitation of our water resources, in another fifteen to twenty years’ time, the country may face a severe water and food crisis.