WALK FOR WATER 2011

As a part of the World Walks for Water Campaign, Walk for Water 2011 was an NGO, Government and Civil Society led event to create joint action to address the plight of those who still have to walk several kilometers to get their daily requirement of water. It was planned to bring together citizens from all segments of society – particularly those who are usually left out from planning processes for water – the poor.

It was flagged off by Heads of the Partner institutions:

Lourdes Baptista – Country Director,WaterAid India, Dr Ranjana Pant – WWF, Director; Dr Kiran Mehra Kerpelman – UNIC, Director; Dr Aidan Cronin – UNICEF, Water and Sanitation specialist, Dr SC Jain – AFPRO and Jyoti Sharma – President, FORCE

From India Gate to Vijay Chowk, on Rajpath, the crowd of approx 1750 people walked shouting slogans and showing their solidarity for the cause of Saving and Sharing Water.

The walk ended with a Kalash Ceremony and the Blue Delhi Pledge taking ceremony led by the Honble minister of Water Resources, Sh Salman Khurshid and with cultural performances by folk artists, magicians, youth performers and children.

The Hon’ble Minister of Water Resources, all dignitaries on the dais and all participants pledged to honour – The Blue delhi Declaration – to make Delhi completely Water Secure & self sufficient in Water by 2011.

Click here to read and pledge to honour The Blue Delhi Declaration. To action off the Blue Delhi Declaration agenda, 5 task forces will be formed which will address 5 different issues to make Delhi Water Secure. Click here to register for any of the 5 Task Forces. Click here to check out photographs of the event on our Facebook page.

The Blue Delhi initiative marks a shift in Water planning. It seeks to reverse the current trend of planning for satisfying water demand by exploitative unsustainable use of water or import of water into habitations. Water Planning for a city / town / village should be geared towards first sustaining and maximizing usage of locally available water resources. Any import of water should only be done after these possibilities are exhausted.

It also made a significant political demand – that the poor must be included in the consultative planning process and that their need for water security must be addressed.

Speaking on the occasion, the Honble Minister of Water Resources said that “Water is getting increasingly scarce and a cause for concern. We all need to act together to conserve it in every way we can. I look forward to a time 5 years from now, when Delhi will be the first Indian city to become totally Water Secure”.