Chennai, March 14, 2017: “Tamil Nadu can provide enough water from its flood plains for the whole state, but the mining of sand is ruining this”, said Prof Vikram Soni, writer, physicist at M S Swaminathan Research Foundation here today. Giving a talk based on the book “Naturally – Tread Softly on the Planet” that he has authored, the Emeritus Professor at Jamia Millia and JNU spoke of dealing with the precarious water situation in a state like Tamil Nadu with sensitive solutions. He shared the example of how flood plains were used to provide water to Delhi, which Tamil Nadu could learn from.

“Over the last ten years, the world has downloaded 30 trillion tonnes of concrete and waste on the earth’s surface, something that is equivalent to 50 kg / sq m including land and water. It is a precarious situation,” he said regretting that natural resources were being indiscriminately used. Giving examples where small changes to nature had disastrous consequences, he emphasized on the motto “No Waste” and on “non-invasive science”. Nature usually manages to sustain itself and we need to learn from it, he said.  Illustrating his talk with examples, Prof Soni shared examples of work from the Aravalli Biodiversity Park and low-cost mineral water supply in Delhi, which make intelligent use of natural water at levels such that it is naturally restored.

Prof M S Swaminathan, Founder MSSRF, who made concluding remarks at the programme said, “The issue of water that has been discussed, is of great importance and the solutions provided are to be commended”. He shared the speaker’s sentiments on the need to respect and believe in nature’s potential to provide solutions. He also appreciated Prof Soni’s plan for a sustainable “Natural” city of Amaravati, the new capital of Andhra Pradesh. In an increasingly urbanized world, there is need for sustainable solutions; in new cities like Amaravati, these can be initiated, but we need to love our planet, he said.

Scientists, researchers and students from various institutions attended the talk and interacted with the speaker. The programme was part of MSSRF’s ‘Seminar Series’ held periodically at the institution.