Two-minute water break every hour in Jaisalmer schools

To ensure that the students stay hydrated in the desert belt, Jaisalmer district has introduced water breaks in the schools and distributed free water bottles to students.

To begin with, the district administration distributed free water bottles to four government school and directed school administration to ring the bell so that students are reminded to drink water. "The step has been taken on the lines of Kerala government. But before imparting the order across the district, we chose four schools for pilot testing of the initiative known as 'Jal Sudha'", Jaisalmer Collector Namit Mehta told DH.

On Thursday the district administration distributed around 1,000 free thermal plastic water bottles and reminded school children to carry these to school everyday. In his address to students, he spoke on how drinking water is essential as it provides nutrients to the body.

"In rural area, there is no concept of carrying water bottles to school which is why we wanted to develop this as their habit hence we distributed bottles for free", Mehta shared with DH. The bottles were sourced with the help of philanthropists.

School principals have been also directed to monitor the practice. Since Thursday the schools ring the bell thrice to remind them that they needed to drink water. The bell rang at 11am, noon and 3 pm, and students sipped the water for two minutes.

When asked if the format could be adopted across the desert state, Mehta said, "For next two months we will focus on these schools and then present a case study to government and request them to announce the water break across state".

In India, Kerala is the first state to introduce a water break.