World Water Day 2021: Sand Artist Sudarsan Pattnaik Asks To ‘Catch The Rain’ For The Future

New Delhi: On World Water Day, celebrated across the world on March 22 to make people aware about the need to preserve and conserve water, Padma Shree awardee and sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik created a sculpture promoting rainwater harvesting and ‘valuing water’ which is also the theme for this year. The sand art features a pair of hands holding a drop of water. The text on the drop says, ‘catch the rain’ which essentially means harvesting rainwater and using it for multiple purposes like cleaning, washing, gardening, among others.

Also Read: World Water Day 2021: PM Modi Launches ‘Catch The Rain’ Campaign, Calls For Water Conservation

The concept of the sand art is in line with the ‘Jal Shakti Abhiyan: Catch the Rain’ campaign launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi earlier in the day. The campaign intends to nudge all stakeholders to create rainwater harvesting structures suitable to the climatic conditions and subsoil strata, to ensure proper storage of rainwater, states the official statement issued by the Prime Minister’s Office.

Motivated by the central government’s campaign, Mr Pattnaik created the sand art and showed his support. In a conversation with NDTV, Mr Pattnaik shared details of his latest sand art and said,

I believe ‘catch the rain’ campaign is a laudable move and we all should work together towards harvesting rainwater.

Mr Pattnaik informed that it took him four hours to put the piece together and through his artwork, he is trying to give one basic yet pivotal message, ‘Jal Hi Jeevan Hai’ (water is life). He added,

There was a time when we would walk miles to fetch a bucket of water. Now that we get water by turning on the tap, we should value it.

Also Read: This World Water Day, Let’s Take The Pledge To Value The Precious Resource: Five Things To Know About The Day

The 10 feet wide and 5 feet tall sand art is accompanied with a message ‘our water our future’. During the launch of the ‘catch the rain’ campaign, PM Modi also talked about conserving water for our future generations.

PM Modi said that our forefathers have given us water resources and it is our responsibility to provide water to our future generations. Thus, we must take a pledge to save water and not waste it. We have to ensure a pious bond with water, he added.

Stressing on rainwater harvesting, PM Modi said,

The better India manages rainwater, the lesser will be the country’s dependence on groundwater. Therefore, it is important to run campaigns like ‘Catch the Rain’ and make them successful. Monsoon is still a few weeks away and now is the time to prepare for rainwater harvesting.

Also Read: On World Water Day, Ministers And Politicians Urge Netizens To Conserve Every Drop Of The Precious Resource – Water

Further talking about his art and the message it sends across, Mr Pattanaik said,

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance and need for water more than ever. We need to make judicious use of water and conserve for our future.

The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends hand hygiene (washing hands with soap and water or using alcohol-based hand sanitisers) as an extremely important measure to prevent the transmission of the novel coronavirus. To ensure good hand hygiene, availability of both water and soap is needed. In the recent analysis done by Delhi-based think tank Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), around 20-40 litres of water is used in this new normal, everyday, with the assumption that every person cleans their hands at least 10 times a day, instead of a usual average of five times a day.

Also Read: Here Is How Vijaylakshmi, Somarathi, And Many Others Are Helping People In Their Communities Get Access To Clean Drinking Water

NDTV – Dettol Banega Swasth India campaign is an extension of the five-year-old Banega Swachh India initiative helmed by Campaign Ambassador Amitabh Bachchan. It aims to spread awareness about critical health issues facing the country. In wake of the current COVID-19 pandemic, the need for WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) is reaffirmed as handwashing is one of the ways to prevent Coronavirus infection and other diseases. The campaign highlights the importance of nutrition and healthcare for women and children to prevent maternal and child mortality, fight malnutrition, stunting, wasting, anaemia and disease prevention through vaccines. Importance of programmes like Public Distribution System (PDS), Mid-day Meal Scheme, POSHAN Abhiyan and the role of Aganwadis and ASHA workers are also covered. Only a Swachh or clean India where toilets are used and open defecation free (ODF) status achieved as part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014, can eradicate diseases like diahorrea and become a Swasth or healthy India. The campaign will continue to cover issues like air pollution, waste management, plastic ban, manual scavenging and sanitation workers and menstrual hygiene.