Speakers at a roundtable yesterday underscored the need for taking immediate steps to reduce dependency on the ground water to save the country from environmental disaster.

Suggesting for optimal use of surface water, they said a national consensus has to be built to save the sources of water - rivers, canals and wetlands - from pollution and encroachment.

ITAKHOLA

Alarmed by the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board

Ever since they started pumping water for their vines, the winegrowers of Langhorne Creek have learnt to cope with crises. But none as grave as the one they face now. Their water source at the mouth of the Murray River, in South Australia, has turned salty. Adelaide, the state capital 55km (34 miles) away, has been told its water supply from the Murray can no longer be guaranteed.

THRISSUR: A Comprehensive study on the linkage between ecosystem services and human livelihood depending upon the Thrissur kole wetlands by the research unit for Livelihood and Natural Resources of the Centre for Economic and Social Studies (CESS), Hyderabad was launched, with an inception workshop organised by the district administration and CESS here on Saturday.

Green Voice, an organisation working for environment, demanded steps to free the rivers, including Buriganga, Turag, Shitalakkhya and Balu, from encroachers and making them pollution-free.

They placed the demand at a human chain formed in front of the National Press Club in the city yesterday.

Their intervention is timely. Powerful commercial interests, including developers and big farming groups, have been pressuring Congress to keep things the way they are.