March 22, an international day of action to draw attention to the lack of access to safe drinking water in the developing world, is celebrated across the globe as World Water Day. Even though 75% of our planet is water, around two-thirds of the world population suffers from a severe water shortage for at least one month per year. Created by the United Nations, World Water Day is held on 22 March every year since 1993, in which the core focus is to support the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6, water and sanitation for all by 2030. There is a lack of public attention which makes the work of water-focused global initiatives more important.
The imperatives of World Water Day
World Water Day celebrates water and raises awareness of the 2.2 billion people living without access to safe drinking water. More importantly, it is about taking action to tackle the global water crisis. The day is cherished as one of the few poignant international days marked by the United Nations, which seeks to educate the public on issues of concern and to celebrate and reinforce the achievements of humanity.
The germination of the idea for this international day goes back to 1992, the year in which the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro took place. That same year, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution of declaring World Day for Water, to be observed on 22nd March starting in 1993.
Valuing Water: Theme of 2021 and Beyond
The theme of World Water Day 2021 is ‘Valuing Water’. It is simply impossible to weigh water with money as it has enormous and complex value. Overlooking or neglecting any of these values can put this finite resource at risk. Without a comprehensive understanding of water’s true, multidimensional value, we will be unable to safeguard this critical resource for the benefit of the future.
Jal Jeevan Mission: Tap Water to Every Household by 2024
To improve the lives of people in rural areas and enhance their ‘ease of living’, Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) was announced by PM Narendra Modi on 15th August 2019 to provide tap water connection to every rural household of the country by 2024. At the time of the announcement of the scheme, 3.23 crore rural households (17%) of the country had tap water connections out of a total of 18.93 Crore rural households. Since then, over 3.47 crore families living in rural areas have been provided with tap water connections in their homes. Now, as of Feb 12, 2021, more than 1/3rd, 6.70 crore rural families of the country have assured potable tap water supply in their homes, improving their quality of life and enhancing the ease of living.
Catch the rain, where it falls, when it falls
Commemorating World Water Day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the ‘Jal Shakti Abhiyan: Catch the Rain’ campaign. The mission of the campaign is focused on saving and conserving rainwater with the theme “Catch the rain, where it falls, when it falls” from 22 March 2021 to 30 November 2021, in the pre-monsoon and monsoon periods of 2021, covering both urban and rural areas of all the districts in the country. In his address, the Prime Minister emphasised that the better India manages rainwater, the lesser the country’s dependence on groundwater.
The campaign drives to make check dams, water harvesting pits, removal of encroachments and de-silting of tanks to increase their storage capacity. Using defunct bore-wells and unused wells to put water back to aquifers will be taken up with the active participation of people.
Towards Sustainable Water Management Ecosystem
The world needs to produce an estimated 60% more food by 2050 to ensure global food security, and it must do so while conserving and enhancing the natural resource base. Water is a major input in the provision of food – from production in the field through all the steps in the value chain.
WhatsApp us
Pingback: Medicijnen bestellen zonder recept bij Benu apotheek vervanger gevestigd in Utrecht
Pingback: aksara178 rtp
Pingback: hop over to this web-site