US Consulate celebrates World Water Day

A day-long session was being arranged by the Foreign Commercial Service of the U.S. Consulate, in order to propagate awareness related to water pollution and efficient solutions about it.

 Craig Hall, US Consul General said: “We know that effective water diplomacy and development aid can save millions of lives and help countries develop sustainably and peacefully. Two of the world’s greatest river basins-the Ganges and the Brahmaputra- capture water from East and Northeast India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, and China. Working together across national and state boundaries to manage water use is critical to regional development.”

Talking about the need to celebrate World Water Day, he said: “ It is a day to make a difference for the people around the world who suffer from water related issues. For 2.5 billion people living without access to sanitation and 748 million without safe drinking water, these challenges mean a life threatened by illness, lost income, and malnourishment.”

Business, NGOs and academics participated in panel discussions, which has been divided into three sessions. Participating organizations showcased exhibits on water.

The first session focused on the theme Water and Jobs.  Joyashree Roy, Professor of Economics, Jadavpur University, who was a participant to the session said, “Why will only men be allowed to involve in water business management systems? Where women are the main controller of household, they should be even given a chance to spend time earning money instead of walking hours, too far off miles and miles, to fetch water.”

The second session was about Commercialization and Application of Water Technology. To this Vijayaraghavan M. Charier, Ekam Eco Solutions -brought a new technological toilet system named ‘zerdor’. According to him it will save water and remove odour because here excreta will be divided into three excreted treatment process- where water can be treated for farther use and urine can be utilised as a source of fertilizer. He said “This innovative technique will be soon launched in market and it is expected to reduce water related problems and save fresh water.”

The third session covered Jobs Technology and Sustainable Development. Keeping in mind about the deteriorated water supply in West Bengal and the increasing arsenic pollution and floride contaminated water, Arunabha Mazumder ,Executive Committee, IWWA-Kolkata said: “ In order to get safe water facilities, sustainable business model has to be well accepted by the people on ground. Arsenic treatment plan has to be prioritized at earliest.” He added “We hope that the community will soon be get used to a term called ‘Use and Take Toilet’ instead of ‘Pay and Use Toilet’ by the sustainable panned toilet system“.

The session also witnessed screening of two documentary films by Ron Meyer, When the Water Tap Runs Dry and United Nations documentary on water, One Water.

Participating organisations included the U.S Agency for International Development(USAID), UNICEF, WASH Institute, American Water Works Association(AWWA), Kohler India, Splash, University of California, Berkeley, Ekam, Coco-Cola, Water for People, World Vision, Safe Water Network, Jadavpur University(Indo-US Science & Technology Forum grantee), TERI University and Rotary Club of Calcutta.

 

 

(Reporting by Aninnya Sarkar)