Introduction

Jal Jeevan Dhara Foundation

A Mission To Save Water and Thereby Life

Water- the Foundation of Life- is a resource that has an aura of devotion in the rich cultural traditions of India. The Indian civilization deifies rivers like Ganga and Yamuna. But the impending threat to the variables of life due to water stress is a matter that should concern us all.

Conceptually inspired by Hon'ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi's Jal Jeevan Mission, Rashmi Group in 2023 established Jal Jeevan Dhara Foundation (JJDF), a non-profit initiative, because it feels as its civilizational responsibility to save Jal and thereby the Jeevan

The Foundations’ primary aim is to raise awareness and contribute in Government’s efforts to save and conserve water so that safe drinking water is easily available to every citizen of India.

Headquartered in Delhi, the Foundation is establishing its chapters in every State and Union territory of the country. It shall launch a coordinated and result-oriented campaign to raise awareness about the three very basic issues pertaining to drinking water: Conserve Water, Drink Safe Water and Easy Access to Safe Drinking Water for Everyone.

The Government of India under the blessed leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi Ji has laid out a clear and vibrant roadmap to achieve these objectives through the Jal Jeevan Mission. JJDF has a sincere objective to contribute to this mission by utilizing its resources and network.

Most of the human diseases are water-borne. Safe drinking water will save a huge capital from expending on treatment of ailments caused due to the contaminated water. The Foundation believes that if safe drinking water is provided to the citizens, the load on the hospitals will significantly decrease. As a result the nation shall be able to save a lot of money which it spends on a sick population and it shall be easily successful in realizing a developed India.

The foundation shall raise awareness to conserve water, avoid its wastage and inculcate among the people the habit of judicious use of water.

JJDF aims to reach out to students in the classrooms all over the country, make them water-conscious citizens and then convert them in to water conservation ambassadors. New age Digital, Information and Communication Technologies will be employed to harness the objectives.

The foundation shall also engage researchers and experts from the universities in helping formulate a policy in line with their research outcomes. It earnestly aspires to contribute to the Government’s Jal Jeevan Mission. Because Jal is our Jeevan and it is our responsibility to secure and promote the continuity of Jeevan as a Mission.

By: Kinjal Desai

Clean drinking water is a global challenge. As a fast-growing economy of the world, India is also beset with this challenge of availability of safe drinking water for it’s burgeon population. Given its vast geographical diversity and transition from a rural to an urban economy where its towns and cities are expanding at a fast rate, provision of portable drinking water to every citizen is a gigantic task.

Coupled with it are contamination and pollution of this basic source of existence. The annual economic burden of the intake of unsafe water in the country is in billions of rupees. The sick citizenry and the drain of resources to cope up with the consequences of intake of insecure water impedes the growth momentum of the country. It is in this socio-economic milieu Shree Narendra Modi led government in 2019 embarked up on a historical project of making available the safe drinking water to every household in the country.

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The governments flagship programme under Jal Jeevan Shakti Jal Jeevan Mission, is envisioned to provide safe and adequate drinking water through individual household tap connections to all the households in the country by 2024. But source sustainability elements like recharge and reuse through grey water management, water conservation and rain water harvesting is a must to achieve this Mission. Community approaches are usually developed to make these programmes successful.

The safe drinking water accessibility projects like the Jal Jeevan Mission have the potential of unleashing a chain of economic opportunities and linkages. Our young men and women can obtain training and develop the required skill to align themselves with the demands of construction, plumbing, electrical, water quality management, water treatment, catchment protection.

Women can create Self Help Groups, link them with financial institutions. They can subsequently partner with government in mobilizing the resources and sharing the knowledge to increase affordable access to safe water. Under-privileged sections of the society and the women folk can connect themselves with the projects and empower themselves to reap their windfall.

But as members of a great civilisation which is making its foot print in the comity of nations visible, we are still sticked to some undesirable civic habits, including the non-judicious use of water. We cannot afford to waste the resource on which our government is spending billions of rupees of public money.

India is a land of myriad of rivers, lakes, ponds and fresh water springs. We have a cultural ethos wherein we worship water. Apart from reviving this ethos we need to develop a scientific temper as how to conserve water, prevent its pollution and use it judiciously. This can help us in sustaining this important resource of life, ensure its continuity and thereby keeping up the growth momentum of our nation.

the author is member Jal Jeevan Dhara Foundation

Safe Drinking Water Is Key to India’s Growth Momentum