Because the human body is such a remarkable machine, we tend to forget that its capacity to tolerate abuse is finite and is being over-stretched. These are but some of the minor 'gifts' of pollution. More serious and traumatic by far would be the loss of a relative to cancer, or one whose liver finally collapsed under the assault of concentrated toxins, or the deformed baby whose mother was callously exposed to metals, or banned chemicals in her diet or environment. Children, elderly persons and the infirm are most prone to pollution. The rain falls for a few short months, yet rivers run for a full year.
Gravity works together with the topography of the land to channel water.
By soaking the rain like a wet sponge, 'communities' of natural plants manage to staunch the rain, and then send trickles of water continuously downstream, long after the monsoon is over. Much of the water finds its way through cracks and crevasses in the land to fill underwater reservoirs or aquifers. It is these aquifers which supply our wells. By cutting forests, we force the water to 'run off' in the form of a flood. Later in the dry season, when we need the water most, we are faced with drought.