Simple solutions

On a visit to Ladakh in 2008, I was told by my local guide of how villagers make sure not to dirty the water running along the streams so that those living downstream can also use it.
Big talk or not, it is such a simple solution to so many of our problems today.
Altruism is not just about giving, but saving as well, not just the environment but also big money. Take the instance of landslides peppered across every district of the state every monsoon. Roads washed out, houses destroyed, water and power supply lines disrupted, the loss of private and public property also includes private and public money. Drains filled with rocks and garbage, drains not properly maintained, drains left half-constructed, drains designed or planned badly, drain nothing except money. The destruction brought about by faulty or bad drainage systems eventually costs us more than what repairs or proper designing and planning would have cost. All the technology available is useless if we cannot do simple mathematics. We all talk of sustainable development today but old communities like the one in Ladakh have forever been “living” sustainably.