Water is the fundamental building block of life. Can you imagine a day without water? Certainly not. A few hours without quenching your thirst seems unbearable. While you can certainly survive without food, you cannot without water.
Water has a huge impact on our everyday life. Apart from quenching our thirst and providing us with numerous health benefits, we use it every single day for washing and cleaning. Apart from it’s important in our domestic lives, water is used in industries and for hydropower generation. Further, its uses in the agricultural sector are well known. Also, recreational activities such as swimming and rafting also require water.
However, despite its manifold uses, humans tend to misuse water, not using it judiciously. And statistics prove this sad fact.
Unfortunately, 2.1 billion people lack access to safely-managed drinking water. More than 700 children across the world die each day from diseases linked to unsafe water. 700 million people across the world could be displaced due to acute water scarcity by 2030. Further, nearly two-thirds of the population of the world faces severe water scarcity for at least one month each year.
Aren’t these statistics appalling? It is exactly for this reason that World Water Day is observed each year by the United Nations.
22 March is commemorated as World Water Day across the world. This day is celebrated across the world to spread awareness about the importance of freshwater. It also seeks to establish reasons for the lack of water and address those reasons effectively. Further, it advocates sustainable ways of managing freshwater resources and conserving water resources.
The first World Water Day was held in 1993 after a recommendation was made to celebrate freshwater at the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
The celebrations and events of the day are coordinated by UN-Water, which is the United Nations’ agency for all freshwater related issues, including sanitation and safe water.
The theme for the World Water Day 2019 is ‘Leave No One Behind.’ The theme is in alignment with the Sustainable Development Goal 6 that aims to ensure availability and sustainable management for every person across the world by 2030. Unfortunately, many marginalized groups such as women, children, indigenous groups, and refugees do not have access to safe and clean water. This theme propagates that no one must be left behind in having access to clean and safe water.
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How can you do your bit to save water? Here are some simple and effective tips to do so.
1. Turn off the taps while brushing, shaving, and washing hands.
2. Reuse the water used to clean vegetable and fruits by using it to water plants.
3. Shower using a bucket.
4. Fix the leaks in your taps as soon as you find them.
5. Run the washing machine and dishwasher only when full.
6. Reduce food wastage because it takes a lot of water to produce food.
This World Water Day, let’s join hands in conserving this precious natural resource, managing it sustainably, and using it prudently.
Happy World Water Day, everyone!
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