We all know that reserves of clean drinking water are fast depleting and already many people, not just in rural areas but even in the big urban centers such as Karachi, have no access to it. Yet the authorities do not seem to be unduly concerned. No measures are being adopted at present to help use this scarce resource efficiently. In Lahore at least, I have noticed large LDA water tankers being used to water green belts during daytime. This practice ignores the proven fact that the ideal time to water plants is early morning or late evening when water evaporation is minimum. Moreover, innovative and effective ways of watering green belts should be adopted rather than using hosepipes, which waste a lot of water by letting it overflow from the green belts on to the roads. It is time the municipal authorities took notice of such criminal practices. The nation is facing a crisis of scarcities in virtually everything, but especially in this precious natural resource. Techniques such as reusing or conserving water should be considered and implemented with immediate effect wherever possible. -SARA KHAN, Lahore, via e-mail, November 2.