CELEBRATED INDIAN WATER WEEK (17th - 21st Sept) BY BROADCASTING A DOCUMENTARY 'WHEN EVERY DROP COUNT'S'

 

On 18th September 2024 (Wednesday), PG Department of Commerce and Management celebrated 8th “Indian Water Week” (17 to 21st September) by broadcasting a documentary ‘When Every Drop Counts’. The objective of this event was to focus on sustainable development and international cooperation, an attempt to shape policies and strategies that will have a lasting impact on the future of India's water resources. The documentary was based on a case study of the Barmer district of Rajasthan.

The documentary showcased the hardships of the village of Barmer with respect to the water crisis. The film highlights how people in the unbearable heat of July are waiting for rain and perform a ritual where the villagers have chosen 10-year-old Chandu to become a frog who will call out to the rain God and tell him that every vessel in the village is empty. Further, he leads a procession collecting grains from every doorstep. They all come together, and in the end, they assemble near the dry village pond where the collection of grain and jaggery is cooked and offered to the rain God. The children finally get their sweet incentive, but after all the praying and merriment, it still does not rain. The clouds fly in and fly out. The focus of the video was on the struggle for drinking water in the Thar desert spread over the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, which is one of the hottest and driest regions in the world. The nature seems harsh in all quarters. It rains the least here in the country; there are no perennial rivers and groundwater is saline, and then there is this piped water supply from far off to wells.

The tanka stores here pure drinking water. In a good monsoon, a tanka can store anywhere between 30,000 litres and 100,000 litres of drinking water. 77-year-old Shmt. Madan Kaur, the district head of Barmer, has served in public life. The Barmer district received the award for excellence for effective initiative of tanka building under MGNREGA in 2011.

The documentary was raising an alarming concern about the future water crisis, how every drop of water counts, the endeavours we must do to save water, and how we can further go for harvesting the rainwater as the rivers and water streams are also declining in drinking water facilities. This event was attended by students of B Com Sem 1 and B Com FS Sem I and B.Com FS Sem III.