Thursday 25 May 2017

Meet up with the Waterman of India @ Chennai!

The Chennai Water Forum invites you for an extraordinary opportunity to meet Dr. Rajendra Singh, Waterman of India who was awarded the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Community Leadership in 2001 and the Stockholm Water Prize in 2015 for his outstanding work. Dr. Singh will present his ideas of what to do against the drought situation in TN followed by a discussion on what could be done by the civil society - a vital contribution to the current situation prevailing.

These are grim times in Chennai and Tamil Nadu. The state is facing unprecedented drought, with water reservoirs running dry and drinking water supplies to last only a few more days. Tough times lie ahead - for farmers, cattle, office establishments, industries and homes - and water tankers will become a common sight.

And yet in contradiction the situation was the reverse barely a year and a half ago, when rain was in abundance and many Tmcft (thousand million cubic feet) of water simply flooded our homes or drained into the sea. It is indeed ironic that we are confronted with two disasters - one of flooding, and the other of drought within a span of just two years! The solution clearly lies in Integrated Water Management - where all of us recognize the life-force WATER is, and take unequivocal steps to harvest, protect, preserve and nurture it.


And who better to guide us other than the Waterman of India, Dr. Rajendra Singh, who has transformed barren landscapes of Rajasthan into flourishing eco-systems, purely through indigenous water harvesting structures. He has been fully engaged with local communities, and his work resulted in recharged aquifers, improvement in ground and surface water and securing food supplies. 

Dr. Singh will be with us in Chennai, on Saturday, 27th May 2017, from 6.00 – 8.00 pm at Goethe-Institut, 4 Rutland Gate 5th Street to share his thoughts on how we can tackle this drought in Tamil Nadu and most importantly, on sustained actions to make the state drought-free.

All those who are interested towards contributing to solving this crucial challenge are cordially invited. Is it not the right time for us to come together again to instill this thought into action to restore water security for Chennai and TN?

Geetha Vedaraman

Programme Coordinator

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