Citizens’ collective on a drive to conserve water

A citizens’ initiative called World of Water Mission is out to save water in Bengaluru.

It is led by environmentalist Dr Hariharan Chandrashekar, and comprises of 80 volunteers.

“Every year, in Bengaluru, we consume 70,000 crore litres of water, severely affecting our groundwater levels.”

“The government spends Rs 2,500 crore to supply water and 35 per cent of the city’s energy is spent on supplying water,” says Hariharan, founder of
AltTech Foundation, a non-profit organisation focused on accelerating sustainability.

In 2020, Hariharan launched the World of Water (WOW) Mission. It comprises of citizens committed to raising awareness about water conservation, and hopes to save 1,000 crore litres of water by 2022.

The mission has participants from all walks of life.

“When someone shows interest in water conservation, we put in all our efforts to help them find a solution and then put it into action,” Hariharan says.

A Bengalurean consumes
approximately 150 litres of water per day. The mission promotes four simple solutions to bring down per person consumption to 100 litres. 

The four steps to saving water, as suggested by the mission are: setting up a sewage treatment plant, setting up rainwater harvesting, installing smart meters as mandated by law, and setting up aerators to check wastage. 

“Apart from implementing
water-saving solutions in their own homes, many have taken up the challenge of convincing an apartment complex or school in their locality to implement water-conserving solutions,” says Hariharan.

Water stress

A 2019 water stress index by Verisk Maplecroft, a research firm specialising in global risk analytics, ranked India as the 46th highest risk country in the world, with 11 of India’s biggest cities being at extreme risk. Bengaluru is one of those cities. 

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