Conserving water is the key, say TV actors on World Water Day

It is often said that if the 20th century witnessed world wars over land issue, this century will see large scale bloodshed over the subject of water scarcity. One measure to prevent all this to create awareness about conserving this precious natural resource is to celebrate World Water Day that is being observed today (22 March 2013). We spoke to few TV stars about what they felt about the importance of water. Says Niaa Sharma of Ek Hazaaron Mein Meri Behna Hai, “It is very important to save water given the serious drought situations in parts of Maharashtra. As a child I remember watching Shaktimaan at the end of each episode of which Mukesh Khanna would give an important social message. One of his tips was to save water. He had said that it is very wrong to keep your tap running when you are brushing your teeth. That admonition had a great impact on me and since then I am very careful with the use of H20. I take bath with only one bucket of water.” She also feels that with large parts of the country being agrarian in nature, the government needs to take urgent steps to ascertain that the small and medium farmers are not only technically equipped but also educated enough to try to create cheap and sustainable irrigational systems like checking dams and other water harvesting facilities. Have we not seen several villages, which thanks to such efforts, are harvesting multiple crops each year.” Observes Giaa Maanek,“ Water is the most important liquid for me and everyone else. I drink lots of water every day as it keeps my skin fresh. We need to devise ways to save this precious liquid. I, in my own humble way, have decided to play eco Holi from this year onwards. We will celebrate this festival of colors with flowers on the sets of Jeannie aur Juju.” Here Niaa adds, “It is sad that youngsters waste so much of water when millions in our state are in desperate need of the same.” Observes British actress Sofia Maria Hayat, last seen in Welcome - Baazi Mehmaan-Nawaazi Ki, “Water needs to be conserved especially in cities like Mumbai where water is as precious as gold to those who do not have access to clean water. We take it for granted, but it is this stuff that gives life to all. This year if we could play Holi with powder we would show the world that we are together and do not just see it as someone else’s problem.” Feels Amit Behl,“ It is indeed sad to see each state fighting for its own interests only. Take for example the current crisis in western and central India. If only Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Goa helped Maharashtra with little extra water, will it not help us? And we should reciprocate if the rains fail in their states some time in future.” He also is quite surprised that Maharashtra, despite being such a developed state, has been unable to increase area of farm land under irrigation. “We need to learn from Israel and have water desalination plants across our vast coastlines. “The desert Jewish country has turned green in matter of years,” quips Aastha Choudhary. She also laments on the non implementation of projects such as river interlinking which are stuck due to objections by civil society and environmental groups. “The government needs to quickly address the genuine concerns of displaced people and start working on the same for delay may mean a hike in the cost. The Supreme Court has also asked the Union and the States to get working on the same,” the actress maintains. Last but not the least, we spoke to Gaurav Chopraa and he opined, “First of all tell me that isn’t it firms like Archies who tries to make some money by selling cards and other memorabilia on this day. We all need to chip in at our level to save water. The government needs to ensure that blocks in high rise apartments get appropriate share of water which the aam aadmi deserves. The scientific community also needs to get its priorities right on this topic. While we still can’t harvest sea water cheaply, you are sending missions to Mars.” Gaurav really does not blame the media for paying too much attention to less important issues like the conviction of Sanjay Dutt under the arms act rather than highlighting the drought situation in Beed, Maharashtra. “I guess they know that a sensational piece of news about celebrities will get more reader attention than a poor waterless man. To be honest, I have stopped regarding works of the media as the gospel truth.” Let’s all pledge to save water on the World Water Day!!!