WORLD WATER DAY

-VIDHI KUMAWAT

Water is not a commodity – water is life. If we destroy our water sources, we destroy future generations right now.

HISTORY

World Water Day is celebrated annually observed all around the world to underscore the problem of the water crisis faced by the earthlings. The notion to observe World Water Day was passed on December 22, 1992. From the following year of 1993, World Water Day is celebrated every year on March 22.

THEME

The theme of World Water Day 2021 is “Valuing Water” and has been chosen to highlight the value of water in our daily lives. According to the United Nations (UN) website, the main focus of the day is to “support the achievement of sustainable development goal (SDG) 6: water and sanitation for all by 2030.”

INITIATIVES BY INDIAN GOVERNMENT

1- JAL JEEVAN MISSION

The Jal Jeevan Mission(rural) was launched in 2019 which aims to provide safe and adequate drinking water to all the rural households before 2024. The mission envisages implementing sustainable practices such as rainwater harvesting, recharge and reuse of water, and water conservation. The mission aims to communicate with the rural residents and tries to educate them about sustainable practices to conserve water.

In the Budget 2021-22, Jal Jeevan Mission (Urban) has been announced under the Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry to provide universal coverage of water supply to all households through functional taps. It aims at a universal water supply in all 4,378 Urban Local Bodies with 2.86 crore household tap connections. It will be implemented over 5 years, with an outlay of 2,87,000 crores.

2- CATCH THE RAIN MOVEMENT

The PM would be launching ''Catch the rain'' with the tagline "Catch the rain, where it falls, when it falls" to provide information to all the states to take appropriate rainwater harvesting measures in accordance with the suitable climatic conditions and the status of the soil before the monsoon.

REPORTS AND ESTIMATIONS

1- In a 21century still 2.2 billion people lack access to safely managed drinking water; 4.2 billion people live without safely managed sanitation; 2 billion people don't have decent toilets 3 billion lack basic handwashing facilities.

2- According to the UN, by 2050 around 5.7 billion people could be living in areas that experience water scarcity.

3- According to a survey by 2030 India will have its half of the water that is needed.Whereas till 2040 will have used its half of the water.

These reports predict the grave conditions which we are facing and which we will have to face. Many of us have seen young girls and women walking several miles to fetch water from the well in the pots over their heads. We have seen people standing in long queues to get water. Many students have to miss a day in school as they go to fetch water early in the morning. The availability of handpumps in the villages do not eradicate the water crisis as the level of groundwater is drastically decreasing.

It is high time now that we pay heed to the water crisis across the globe. "Little drops of water make a mighty ocean", this famous adage motivates us to work collectively to mitigate water crisis all over the world. It might seem like there's nothing we can do as individuals. But this adage underscores the importance of individual efforts. We should make individual efforts by conserving water at our own level. This in turn will create a large impact and help us mitigate the global water crisis.

The child is fetching water for her family in the Sirohi district of Rajasthan. Yesterday, I came across many girls and women walking large distances to fetch water from wells or nearby ponds.

The pond is used by animals for drinking water. The village women have to fetch water from a well which is a half kilometer far.

Irrigational facilities in these villages are poorly developed.