MAPPING A SOCIAL ISSUE
Problem Statement: How can we prevent putrid water staying on the road!
Past scenario
This road was tar road several years ago, approximately ranging from 2-3 years ago. Concrete road was built later. When it was tar road it was clean and the water didn’t settle there, it dried up before it could mix with any dirty water. The tar road construction was perfect and neat. The road was low, fixed to the base, so it didn’t have much of contact with living organisms.
Questions to ask:
- How was the road before?
- Why wasn’t concrete road built before tar road?
- Why wasn’t there putrid water on the tar road?
Present scenario
The concrete road was laid on top of the tar road causing more contact with the living organisms but the concrete road wasn’t laid properly, it was slightly tilted causing the putrid water to settle on one end. When the dirty water is settled it has contact with plants and insects, so the organisms are affected by it and also to people trying to use this route. Government have taken a few steps to solve it. The final one was leveling up the road.
Questions to ask:
1.What are the differences between the tar road and concrete road?
2. What led the change in road?
3. Why is the rancid water settling on the road?
Future
Once the road is levelled up and the dirty water mixing with rain water is prevented, there would be no more problems on the road. The biodiversity wouldn’t get affected, no more walking on the plants to cross over the water. Finally, the place would be free of any problems. The road has to maintained as this isn’t a permanent fix.
Questions to ask:
- Will the government take the steps to level it up?
- What are the things that are going to change?
- Once solved, how is it going to be maintained?
Stakeholders involved in the problem
There are many stakeholders involved from small insects to powerful people. Mainly government officials are involved in it to take steps to solve the problem. Next the insects that live nearby, who are affected, and not to forget peoples’s cooperation for maintaining the road.
How other countries have solved similar issues?
One of the method could be similar to what people in Africa follow, they take the dirty water and purify it and use it for several other purposes, as the water is being recycled there is no water being wasted. There is also another method that few other countries follows, its basically preventing the problem even before its being formed. They collect the rain water and harvest it, so the amount of rain water in the ground is lesser, where more water is being recycled which later can be purified and be used for other purposes. It’s the same principle as the before one but a more effective and simpler method.
