Women's Welfare Department (WWD), Delhi sector organized a virtual talk on 'Water Conservation: The Need of the Hour' on Monday, 27th June 2022 on the Zoom platform and the keynote speaker was Dr. Vartika Jain, Assistant Professor, Dept. of Botany, Govt. Meera Girls College who is also serving as Secretary, Society for Microvita Research and Integrated Medicine (SMRIM), Udaipur. She was introduced to the audience by the moderator of the program, Smt. Meera Singh from New Delhi.
Dr. Vartika discussed the need of water conservation and measures to be adopted for the same. She said that scarcity of water and contamination of existing water are two major reasons why there is a need for extensive water conservation and not only humans but Plants and Animals are also affected hugely by water scarcity and water-borne diseases leading to life-threatening. Dr. Vartika explained the concept of water-friendly plantation around water reservoirs as given by Shrii P.R. Sarkar which is a two-phased program incorporating plantation of both fast and slow-growing plants. Through this approach, the water level is retained in the reservoirs even in the dry seasons as the roots of the plants slowly release water to keep the water flowing throughout the year. She emphasized that Rain Water Harvesting (RWH) is the only system through which we can save the water for future generations and improve the quality of water by reducing total dissolved solid content and making the heavy metals in permissible limits. Dr Jain gave some practical examples of implementing RWH in schools, govt, and private buildings and also for recharging public handpumps, tube-wells, wells, step-wells, etc.
Further, she said we will have to change our consumption-oriented lifestyle and start practicing 'Aparigrah' in order to avoid wastage made due to fast-changing fashion. Mulching of plants using coconut husk and water-less shaving using natural Aloe vera gel were some other examples given for conservation of water.
The program was attended by participants from all over the country and appreciated by all. Dr Jain also resolved the queries of the participants. In the end, Sectorial Women Welfare Secretary, Avdhutika Ananda Chittaprabha Acarya extended heartfelt thanks to Dr. Vartika for giving an excellent talk on such a relevant topic and requested her consultation regarding RWH to be implemented in various places of the country.