On the occasion of World Water Day, Network18 will be the Mission Paani Waterthon Ground Zero to celebrate the spirit of water conservation. In a first and one of a kind step towards solving the persistent water crisis India, News18 has embarked upon the Harpic – News18 Mission Paani initiative towards saving water and sustaining it for the generations to come. The aim is to change attitudes and behaviour to improve water use efficiency. The motto of the initiative? Let’s save more water, together.
The event, which will be held on March 22, will see several professionals and celebrities from various walks of life joining in to take the pledge to save water.
The guests conservationists like H.E. Jigmed Wangchuk Namgyal from Leh and Water Warriors like Vedant Goel, an IT professional from Pune who was behind the launch of ‘Indeesai’ – a social organisation that aims to teach the young minds about the importance of water and sustainable use of resources. Their efforts with school children in Maharashtra led to saving 40,000 litres of water daily
Marathon runner Nayab Bind, who will be participating along with WaterAid India Programme Coordinator Dr. Shishir Chandra. The event will see the culmination of the Jal Marathon in at Lucknow’s Gandhi Bhawan where a 300 Km track is being covered in six days. Nayab belongs to a carpet weaver family from Bhadohi who has recently won first place in Goa in January 2021. Accompanying Nayab on this trail will be veteran athletes and cyclists Murlidhar and Surendra Kumar. They will be holding 13 public-facing events across five districts where they will be spreading awareness about water conservation.
The guests of honour also include water warriors such as Chandrasekaran Kuppan, the man behind efforts to rejuvenate the Naganadhi. More than 1,000 women from 21 villages in the Vellore district of Tamil Nadu four years ago cooperated to build rainwater harvesting structures to boost the lagging flow of the nearby Naganadhi River. Kuppan is now collaborating with district officials to take his model to 300 more villages, training 20,000 women in the process.
As part of Mission Paani, Water warriors such as Garvita Gulati and S Vishwanath from ‘Why Waste’ and ‘Global Shapers Bangalore’ are coming together to organize a Water Walk at Lalbagh lake. This event to dedicated to learning more about the lake with a fresh perspective: understanding the history and journey of the lake. The walk will be lead by Mr. Suresh Moona (Bangalore’s Heritage Man) and Mr. Vishwanath S (Zen Rain Man of India). Attendees will discover interesting facts about the wetland systems of Bengaluru, the history of water in the city, and how they can contribute as conscious citizens towards a better nation
Members of the NGO Himmotthan, which has been helping people living in rural areas of Tehri Uttarakhand get access to drinking water and basic hygiene care, will share pearls of wisdom with Indians about increasing access to clean water and hygiene.
The event will also feature Hyacinth Pinto, founder of Goa citizen’s group CatcH2o, whihc is working with the Goa Government’s Shram Shakti se Jal project to revive local ponds in the state which is now Har Ghar Jal positive. Pinto’s will shed light on conservation techniques that are vital for the rejuvenation of local water bodies.
Many including celebrities such as Akshay Kumar and Rajkumar joined Network18’s initiative Mission Paani Waterthon to spread awareness against the looming water scarcity threat. “I’m very conscious about water conservation and I want to tell everyone that we don’t need to try very hard to save water. There are small steps that we can imbibe in our lives, through which we can contribute a lot to this issue. Because there is nothing greater than water. 70% of our body is water. A small thing, that I can say, is that when you are brushing your teeth in the morning, a lot of people keep their taps on. There is no point. It just takes half a second to put the tap off. So please turn your taps off. A lot of men, when they shave, they keep their taps on. Don’t do that. These little steps are very easy and need to be a part of our lives. We can make a big contribution to this issue,” he said.
World Water Day on March 22nd will also mark an important milestone for Mission Paani, a landmark initiative by Network18 and Harpic India. It’s a chance for every Indian to join the movement for water and hygiene, and make a difference. Visit Mission Paani for more.