Caritas Institute of Development Action and Learning (CIDAL) in association with the Indian National Chapter of the International Association of Hydrogeologists organised a webinar titled “WATER: Every Drop Counts” on 22nd March to commemorate World Water Day 2023. World Water Day, held on 22 March every year since 1993, celebrates the indispensable gift of nature and raises awareness about people living without access to safe drinking water. This World Water Day is about ‘Accelerating Change’ to solve the water and sanitation crisis. And because water affects us all, we need everyone to take action. This theme aims to urge governments, civil society, and individuals to accelerate progress toward achieving SDG Goal 6. To ensure safe drinking, irrigation and proper sanitation facilities for everyone, we need a multifaceted approach composed of action, ambition, initiatives and innovations in water conservation and management.

The webinar constituted the best advocates of Water Conservation. The distinguished dignitaries included – Ms. Musamba Mubanga, Senior Advocacy Officer, Caritas Internationalis, Dr. A K Sinha, Vice Chancellor, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj University, Mumbai, Dr. M G Rajamanickam IAS, Rural Development Commissioner, Government of Kerala, Mr. Pran Ranjan Agriculture Advisor – GIZ, Bhopal, Dr. Ranjan Panda Convenor, Water Initiatives and Co-founder of Youth4WaterIndia, and Dr. Haridas V.R. Lead: Climate Justice, Caritas India.
This Asia regional webinar on water deliberated on the conservation, preservation, and protection of groundwater resources and also on understanding the sustainable ways of water management.

Fr (Dr.) Paul Moonjely, Executive Director, Caritas India urged everyone to be “water warriors” and join the moment for the conservation of water so we are better capacitated to face the upcoming challenges. He emphasised on four keywords that should be followed to protect this gift of nature in coordination with the people in vulnerable regions- Listen, Reflect, and Transform.

Ms. Musamba Mubanga alarmed the participants regarding the trend towards politicization and privatization of resources and encouraged Community-led water management practices. She suggested three strong recommendations that governments need to collaborate locally to meet local water issues strengthen laws and policies, and call the governments to support poor and vulnerable. Dr. M G Rajamanickam shared about his community-led movements of Anpudu Kochi and the Endekulam movement which included cleaning of ponds with the community. He also alerted about the depletion of backwaters in Kerala.

Mr. Pran Ranjan shared about the traditional water harvesting system i.e., Paar system, Talab/Bandis/Ponds (for example- Chandela tanks), Johad, and AHAR-PYNE system. During the discussion, Dr. Ranjan Panda coined the phrase “Green is the New Blue” referring to his research where they observed a nexus between forest and water as the world’s major cities draw water from forest catchments. “Unless there is a way to involve a linkage between forests, and cities and civil society engagement, water crisis won’t get solved.” Dr Ranjan said. He reiterated the need to plan ways to work together with cities, villages, and ecosystem services.

Around 162 people participated in the webinar. The discussions ranged from the water crisis and the global ecosystem around its utilisation as a sustainable resource. The range of services that water provides underpins poverty reduction, economic growth, and environmental sustainability. That’s where the development role of NGOs and Church organizations come in. Caritas India already indulges in several programs and projects which are climate-adaptive, sustainable and environmentally friendly. These programmes have not only produced scalable sustainable results but have empowered communities for resourceful and effective utilization of water.