By Venkat Ramakrishnan | Project Leader
India is facing a dangerous shortfall of water in the near future. Reports from Niti Aayog, which is a India governmental agency, has pointed out in its recent report that most of the country’s groundwater is going to depleted in the coming years (subject to seasonal rainfalls and monsoons, and how effectively we tap, store and manage the water that we receive).
At Isha Vidhya, we have taken several steps to educate our students about environment and the importance of water. In addition to what has been happening so far, we have started a new initiative to create awareness about water. This is not only to impart knowledge about water and the various aspects of it including efficient usage, but also implement a few hands-on projects, so that students can learn from these. These projects will also be helpful in addressing some of the water issues that we are currently facing in our schools. We are partnering with water NGOs and socially oriented organisations for the sessions and implementation.
Towards this, the first session happened at the Dharmapuri Isha Vidhya school, where our partner NGO ‘The Rainwater Club of Bangalore’ delivered a session on rainwater harvesting, and how to measure the levels of fluoride in water, as Dharmpuri is known to be affected by fluoride in water because of its terrain. This was attended by Dharmapuri 7th and 8th grade students.
Following this, our volunteers Arun, his daughter Nikita, and her classmate Swathi came all the way from Calicut, Kerala, to our Coimbatore Isha Vidhya school to deliver a talk on a particular implemention called ‘Bhungroo’, which is well-known across India and the world on its unique water harvesting technique.
The session created a broad awareness about how water wastage can be avoided, and how to conserve water, with a few details about the Bhungroo technique.
The students who attended the session share:
“First we learnt about how we are wasting water, and how to save water. We learnt different types of irrigation techniques including something called ‘wick irrigation’. It looks like a very efficient way to save water. Then we learnt about a method called ‘Bhungroo’, which in the Gujarati language means ‘straw’.
We came to know how Bhungroo is advantageous over traditional rainwater harvesting methods. The presentation explained about why pH value of the water is important for the implementation, and how a pipe is fixed, and serves as a straw to get water during the drought seasons. We learnt about the units of measuring water. We learnt how gallons of water are wasted to make phone chips, automobiles, regular blue jeans and while flushing in the toilets.
We thank Nikita akka and Swathi akka for coming all the way and delivering the presentation for us. We really enjoyed the session, and want to learn more about water conservation.”
It’s important that children grow with the understanding of importance of water so that they can appreciate its importance when they become adults. It is even possible that they could pursue careers that are associated with water! Sessions like these are helpful in orienting them towards water awareness and conservation. We look forward for the future sessions in the coming months and years, on an ongoing basis. We are looking at a few implementations in our schools.
We are attaching the pictures from the session for your perusal. If you have any questions, please feel free to email us at global.giving@ishavidhya.org
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