Rivers of Kerala.............

Kerala, which is otherwise known in the tourism industry as "Gods own Country" is blessed with rivers and backwaters even though some of them are going to disappear within this century. The state is also blessed with a long stretch of beaches extending through the west coast which is washed by the blue waters of Arabian sea. The proximity of this state to the sea has made this part of the country popular among the other continents centuries earlier and paved the way for St:Thomas the disciple of Christ to land here and Vasco da gama to land at the beach of Kappad in 1498. The rivers of Kerala were the prime routes for travel and business during the last century which made the towns of Alappuzha and Changanacherry, the elite business centres during the 1900's. The situation is different now. Rivers and backwaters of kerala have become the biggest tourist attractions of Kerala. It will be very rare for a tourist who come to see Kerala to miss a night in one of the house boats breezing through the nature blessed backwaters of Alleppy or Kottayam. I have always enjoyed watching the river, having a dip in a river than having a shower, and sitting watching my bait being eaten by the fish without getting them on my hook! Those are some of the good memoirs I still consider precious when thinking of my childhood days.
The situation is different now. Massive sand mining, water pollution and encroaching has reduced the size of the rivers and made them dangerous. It is very sad to see the river getting polluted because there are people who use the river as their prime resource of water and the people who pollute them are creating misery in their life.The water pollution has also affected the normal ecosystem that existed in many of the rivers whereby many common species of fishes are becoming extinct in the backwaters.
Can we do something to prevent this. if so, where do we need to start. As usual, it is easy to blame on others and be ourselves the saviors with doing nothing. my suggestion is each one of us has the responsibility to take care of our natural resources so that they can be enjoyed by the future generation. Our forefathers has preserved many for us to enjoy, can we do the same for the coming generations?
If each of take take te responsibility in preserving the rivers with the government, take appropriate steps for proper waste disposal, we can maintain the beauty and cleanliness of the rivers so that they can be great assets for the generations to come.