I recently saw a documentary prepared by the New York Metropolitan water Alliance on the New York waterfront. NOW, when we hear the two words "New York" images of tall buildings huddled together on an island is what most people would think about. The water just frames the picture and as the movie clearly brought out, the water front, the interface with the water, is actually not a a part of this great sea port city!! The city has turned its back to the water.
Now to Srinagar(Kashmir, India), the "venice of the east" known for its royal housboats and quaint shikaras and the wareways, its veins. But the water now is polluted and the another city has turned its back to the water. As the road transpoart developed, people cared less and less about the water and allowed growing volume of sewage to enter the water stream. The ghats and other forms of daily connection died.
The New York City is water is also untouchable and its connections to the water- dead.
So what?
Yes so what if there is no connection ? People stop caring. This public amenity that belongs to everybody suddenly belongs no body. So Srinagar's world famous waterways have become the city's open gutters. Some of temples still have steps going down to these polluted waters. In New York people wake up in the their "bedroom with a view" which overlooks the river onto apartments buildings on the other side onto other "bedrooms with a view". Barges still run bring in construction material or transporting garbage. There are water taxis and water ways but can you dare to dive in? NO. Each year over flow from the six local sewage treatment plants over flow into the rivers during a down pour. The two water bodies across the continents end up with the same fate !!