 Thiruvananthapuram Branch Webinar on Water Day 2021

Roshni  January - March 2021

(Report prepared by Adv. Gayathri S. Mohan, International Youth Delegate, nominated by Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Government of India; Member-YUVASHAKTHI - AIWC Youth Volunteers Group)

Awebinar on the theme 'World Water Day 2021' was organised by Trivandrum Branch on 21 March 2021.

The Guest Speaker was Smt.Kalpana Ramesh and the title of her talk was ‘The Last Mile for Water’. Smt. Kalpana is an environmentalist, designer and architect who advocates water conservation and restoration of traditional water sources. She has been working for several years on rainwater harvesting projects across Hyderabad. She was also part of a survey for cataloguing traditional stepwells. Her current social start-up, “The Rainwater Project”, provides sustainable integrated water management solutions in public and private sectors, along with lake and well restoration and conservation.

Smt. Kalpana` spoke of how she advocated and worked for tanker free homes, reuse of waste water, rain water harvesting and conservation of environment. She recalled how she commenced work on rainwater harvesting, starting from her own home. Later, as a lead of ‘Blue Hyderabad Initiative’, in collaboration with various organizations, she worked on restoring the ‘dead’ Kudi Kunta lake in Hyderabad, starting with creating awareness and engaging communities around the water body. Working with the communities and by engaging with different departments in the Government, she could get the lake restored. Fish and birds reappeared and the surroundings turned green. The quality of water and the environment of the lake vicinity have improved significantly over three years. Using the 'Super Blocks Model of Barcelona', she divided each zone in Hyderabad into blocks for rain water harvesting. Specific interventions were done in the blocks with the help of scientists and water analysts. She offered handholding to schools, temples,organisations, apartments, and independent houses, to make the environment water positive. This in turn, leads to lake and well restoration, improved ground water quality, cleaner environment and good air quality in the surrounding areas. There were lively interactions following the talk. AIWC members from across India who had joined the webinar appreciated the impressive presentation. For the novel initiatives and the dynamic leadership displayed, Kalpana has been awarded at national and international levels, and several recognitions have come her way. She was one of the seven women chosen to take over the Prime Minister’s social media handles on Women’s Day. Today, as part of the 'Blue Hyderabad Campaign',she hopes to carry the message of conservation of water and water bodies to other cities and towns across India.

Smt. Usha Nair, Zonal Organiser AIWC South Zone B welcomed the participants and moderated the session. Smt. Padmini Nair from AIWC Thiruvananthapuram Main branch offered the vote of thanks and expressed gratitude to Smt. Kalpana Ramesh for giving an informative talk. She also thanked all the participants in the webinar.

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