There was a power break down and I woke up totally drenched in sweat. It seemed that I was sleeping without fan and AC for quite sometime as the room appeared to stuffy and hot. I got up and thought of making myself a cup of tea to get over the lethargy due to insufficient sleep. As I lit a match stick to switch on my gas stove, it refused to light up. The pipeline gas supplying LNG to my residence was not receiving gas from its source. As I opened tap to at least drink a glass of water to quench my thirst, I found the tap was running dry and there was not a drop of water to drink. I started feeling suffocated as if choking to death, when I actually woke up from my nightmare. AC and Fan were running, my wife was sleeping peacefully next to me but in spite of everything being fine, I was indeed drenched in sweat.
If we and our policy makers don’t invest in energy, water and food, the above nightmare is going to turn into a reality sooner than we can imagine. Monsoon is just a tad delayed and a bit weaker, but lakes supplying water to Mumbai are already dipping into reserve stock and yet meeting only partial requirement of water. Mumbai roads are infested with water tankers going here, there, everywhere. Power consumption in places like Delhi, reeling under extreme heat, has reached a new peak and any further demand for it may break down the system!
Things are scary, but in spite of tremendous progress in all walks of life, we seem to be unable to resolve the vital issues of availability of potable water, cheap and green energy and affordable basic food.
Arvind Arya blog 