MUMBAI: Amidst all the environmental concerns that plague India, plastic pollution is one of the most alarming. Despite the various preventive measures taken to reduce the wanton use of plastic pollutants, there is still a long road ahead to spread awareness and raise an alarm for its hazardous repercussions. Shining a spotlight on the issue, music entrepreneur, host and celebrity leader Nikhil Chinapa has been actively crusading against environmental pollution in Roadies Revolution. In the upcoming episode, Nikhil, along with his team, will be seen giving an entertaining yet impactful performance on the same in the land of senses, Rishikesh. Spearheading the cause of environmental pollution, Nikhil shares some insights on why issues around environmental pollution, especially water conservation and management is the need of the hour for India! 

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Talking about his experiences as an avid scuba diver Nikhil says, “From the time I started diving two decades ago to now, the amount of plastic in our oceans has surged. Pristine reefs now have plastic wrappers and packets floating through them, often getting caught on corals. Single-use plastic is one of the key ocean polluters along with microplastics that have now found their way into plankton - the basic food source of all living creatures in the ocean.” 

He further elaborates on the cause of environmental pollution in Roadies Revolution and says, “I'm trying to bring focus to the environment and more importantly to the water crisis we're currently in the middle of. As a nation, we survive from monsoon to monsoon, which is extremely risky. “Survive” is the apt word as a single failed monsoon will lead to an agrarian and humanitarian crisis in a heartbeat. 650 million Indians survive on a bucket of water a day - right now. We need better management of our water bodies, and river basins (not just the rivers themselves). Preserving and properly managing our rivers, basins and tributaries is vital to the health of the land and population that lives on it.”  

Nikhil also added, “We also need to pay attention to a critical area of water management - which is ground water depletion. India uses more groundwater than China and the USA *combined* and that has far reaching consequences. Groundwater depletion in the Cauvery basin has meant the river doesn't reach the ocean. The Cauvery stops 25km short of the ocean and is saline from there on. Focusing on recharging the groundwater aquifers will have enormous benefits for us as a nation with a growing population, whose economy is significantly driven by agricultural growth. Better management will also mean resorting to local and traditional methods of harvesting and storing rainwater - including the reintroduction check dams and open wells as opposed to bore wells. These methods hark back to the Chola Dynasty from the 13th century and were an integral part of our history and ancient scientific knowledge we developed, around agriculture and water management for human habitation. ”

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