World Water Day: Global water crisis looming, high time we introspect and change our attitude

Life cannot exist without water, which is one of the earth’s essential elements. A living being like a human, animal or plant is impossible without water. Therefore, it is rightly said that “Water is life”. Human life, however, is facing some questionable situations such as acute water shortages due to overconsumption, industrialization, and overuse of natural resources.
In recognition of the importance of fresh water and sustainable management of this valuable resource, World Water Day takes place each year on March 22 to raise public awareness. ‘Groundwater: Making The Invisible Visible’ is the theme for this year’s World Water Day. 

It is a time to address the water-related issues for better tomorrow and youths must come in front to take responsibility. Manav Subodh- Managing Director of 1M1B (One Million for One Billion) Foundation which is a youth-focused organization that mobilizes youths in the fields of climate change, environment, water, health & wellness, etc. Manav said that “Our country India has the highest number of people who lack access to clean water, imposing a huge financial burden for some of the country’s poorest. A few numbers from the World Bank highlight the plight the country is facing -163 million Indians lack access to safe drinking water, 21% of communicable diseases are linked to unsafe water and  500 children under the age of five die from diarrhoea each day in India. These figures clearly show that people in India require an immediate solution for their clean drinking water issues.”  Youths can be the solutions to such problems and be torchbearers in creating awareness and educating masses about the water-related issues. “1M1B Foundation is mobilizing and activating youth as changemakers of tomorrow to work on this crisis of water. A number of 1M1B youth changemakers (all under the age of 18) have undertaken various projects in the last 4 years especially in the villages of India to address the crisis of access to safe drinking water. Establishing Water ATM’s in the east Godavari regions of Andhra Pradesh to fundraising and community counseling in the villages of Karnataka, are some of the bold initiatives 1M1B youth changemakers have undertaken to address this issue. 1M1B’s vision is to mobilize 100,000 youth across India on Water and take action on the climate crisis” added Manav Subodh.

People across the world need to change their attitude towards water. “In the time of increasing population growth and climate change, the World Water Day has become even more relevant. It has been over 5 years since the launch of the Sustainable Development Goals. SDG 6 highlights ensuring availability and sustainable management of water for all but how much has been achieved in this direction? With looming water crisis worldwide, it is high time that we introspect and change our attitude towards water. Even though this is necessary, there is great potential in focusing on the ‘demand side’ – working with rural communities to be more water-efficient and partnering with like-minded partners to provide water to the people.” said Pearl Tiwari, Director & CEO, Ambuja Cement Foundation

Also, lots of water get wasted in activities like washing of clothes, utensils, vehicles etc. Nitin Sharma, Founder of GoWaterLess said that “Trillions of water is wasted on vehicle wash. People don’t get clean water for their daily usages. Especially during Summe, water crisis is a big issue in many parts of India. World Water Day spreads the message of utilizing it wisely. Understanding the importance of water to the core after experiencing an acute water crisis at my family business of automobiles – I decided to innovate a substitute and something which has a finishing touch too. Modern world is formed in a way that Water is easily accessible and people don’t have to travel far to have it and hence no one values it. Even now in many parts of country people have to travel many kilometers for their daily necessities. We can change the system by re-building our needs. If cities will negotiate with smart usage in water management – villages will not face droughts.” 

In India, the farming sector uses 80-85% of India’s total freshwater and 70 percent of India’s groundwater. According to one estimate, a mere 5-10% improvement in water efficiency in the farming sector would be enough to meet the drinking water needs in the country.  But much of the strategy to address the impending water crisis has focused on only the ‘supply side’ – To keep pace with India’s population growth, large infrastructure projects will be necessary to harvest or tap into more and more.