The entire ecosystem has a role. Right from the montane grasslands on top of the mountains (like Grasshills, Avalanche etc) to the streams, the rivers, the mud, the silt, the sand in the rivers and its natural flow to the sea. Everything is interconnected. A river might seem to be dry, but deep underneath, the sand will help water to percolate and still flow through. Remove the sand, you are exposing the water and reducing the capacity of the river to hold water.
Similarly, flood plains are created as the sand and silt are beached to the sides of the river. This provides for fertile soil that has been moving down from the mountains. So much of organic material in the form of spores, bacteria, etc., everything helping out plant growth.
We use pesticides and fertilizers to kill pests. But pesticides do not differentiate between good insects and bad. They kill everything once and for all. No plant can produce seed without pollination. So how is pollination happening when we are killing these insects and other organisms. The forests are our storehouse for all these insects. Destroy the forests and you end up with lower output in agriculture.
When you construct a dam or a checkdam, you are restricting the natural flow of sand and silt. This fills up the dam and starts choking it gradually allowing the water to evaporate much faster. It will also restrict the upward and downward movement of aquatic life which need to move up the river to spawn. The more dams you build, the more the damage.
All rivers are different in terms of the kind of water they carry. Variations in pH, hardness, TDS, conductivity, so many parameters like season of rain and flood etc. By trying to interconnect two rivers, you are killing the nature of the rivers. The species that depend on those particular parameters cannot survive. The vast destruction caused to link the rivers - it is only the forests that will have to bear the brunt of 'development'.
Similarly, flood plains are created as the sand and silt are beached to the sides of the river. This provides for fertile soil that has been moving down from the mountains. So much of organic material in the form of spores, bacteria, etc., everything helping out plant growth.
We use pesticides and fertilizers to kill pests. But pesticides do not differentiate between good insects and bad. They kill everything once and for all. No plant can produce seed without pollination. So how is pollination happening when we are killing these insects and other organisms. The forests are our storehouse for all these insects. Destroy the forests and you end up with lower output in agriculture.
When you construct a dam or a checkdam, you are restricting the natural flow of sand and silt. This fills up the dam and starts choking it gradually allowing the water to evaporate much faster. It will also restrict the upward and downward movement of aquatic life which need to move up the river to spawn. The more dams you build, the more the damage.
All rivers are different in terms of the kind of water they carry. Variations in pH, hardness, TDS, conductivity, so many parameters like season of rain and flood etc. By trying to interconnect two rivers, you are killing the nature of the rivers. The species that depend on those particular parameters cannot survive. The vast destruction caused to link the rivers - it is only the forests that will have to bear the brunt of 'development'.
Comments
Post a Comment