The Pioneer, March 22, 2007
The theme, 'Coping with water scarcity' on this year's World Water Day -March 22, highlights the increasing significance of water scarcity worldwide and the need for increased integration and cooperation to ensure sustainable, efficient and equitable management of water resources.
The theme is quite relevant for Madhya Pradesh where many districts face water scarcity and level of ground water are going down. Almost 25 per cent of the groundwater, which is the main source of water in Madhya Pradesh, are over exploited. The Central Groundwater Board (CGWB) in its report stated that the State is facing water scarcity problem due to ongoing over exploitation of sources and inadequate recharge structures.
A study by the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) points out that increased number of private boreholes has led to over consumption of water at domestic level.
India is in grip of water crisis and International Water Management Institute (IWMI) estimates that by 2025 one third of India's population will suffer from severe water scarcity. According to IWMI estimation, India supports over 15 per cent of world's population but has only 4 per cent of the world's water resources.
State Representative UNICEF office for Madhya Pradesh Hamid, El Bashir says that millions of people suffer every year from multiple episodes of diarrhoea and many other fall ill on account of other diseases caused by poor hygiene and unsafe drinking water, especially children. We need to bring the issue into focus not on just one day but every day and it is our call for action. According to NEERI 2006 report, approximately 60 per cent of water consumed in the household is from bathing. This water is known as is 'greywater' as it is not highly contaminated and easily treatable and reuseble.
UNICEF, in collaboration with Public Health Engineering Department (PHED) and NGOs have developed a system that recycles up to 200 litres of water per household for flushing toilets and for gardening. The system reduces the demand on groundwater by 60 per cent. At Ganaganagar ashram school in Dhar district, the reuse of greywater has resulted in for the first time during summer months of March, April and May 2006.
Bashir believes that it is imperative the State Government scales the wise water management statewide wherein UNICEF can bring on board experts both national and international to help draft the same plan. PHE department is already planning to build 1500 similar schemes.
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Monday, March 12, 2007
Four women village heads felicitated
Sahara Samay, Posted at Thursday, 08 March 2007 21:03 IST
Indore, March 8 : Four women village heads were honoured by the Madhya Pradesh government for their excellent performance under the UNICEF sponsored programme ‘Nirmal Village’, Sahara Samay sources said.During the UNICEF programme, a group of four village heads were travelled to Chennai and Mumbai through aeroplane, where they stayed in a five star hotel and learn about the western style toilet technique.The Deputy Commissioner Rajesh Shukla said that they were given tour package as an honour for their better performance.
Indore, March 8 : Four women village heads were honoured by the Madhya Pradesh government for their excellent performance under the UNICEF sponsored programme ‘Nirmal Village’, Sahara Samay sources said.During the UNICEF programme, a group of four village heads were travelled to Chennai and Mumbai through aeroplane, where they stayed in a five star hotel and learn about the western style toilet technique.The Deputy Commissioner Rajesh Shukla said that they were given tour package as an honour for their better performance.
Saturday, March 10, 2007
Gritty women script stories of success
Vanita Srivastava. Hindustan Times, March 8, 2007 - women's day special
TWENTY-FIVE-YEAR-OLD Krishna of Tikariya village in Mandla district of Madhya Pradesh is a proud woman today. She is a primary school teacher in a government school. She is the ‘first’ girl of her village to have passed the 12th grade exam. The secondary school was very far from her village and one by one all her friends dropped out. Krishna, however, did not lose hope. Her father who had dropped out of school in grade seven knew how difficult it was to get a job without education.
He promised himself that he would educate all his children. Krishna would trudge several kilometers on foot to reach her school. Later, she started running night classes under the ‘Mahila Padhna-Badhna Andolan’. “Education enables us to express our thoughts and ideas to a wide spectrum of people,” she says. Krishna is one of the three women from the State who have been beautifully featured in ‘Girl Star’, UNICEF calendar of 2007, which focuses on those girls and women who have achieved something defying odds.
26-year-old Rupali Jain aka ‘Ruby’ runs a beauty parlour in Guna. After her father’s death, Rupali took over all the responsibilities of the family. She underwent training for a beautician’s course and also completed her Class XII exam. After that she did her BA. “My education helped me obtain a loan from the bank to open my parlour. Education is the only thing that helps a woman during hardship. It gives a woman the strength to brave challenges,” she says.
28-year-old Premlata Varma works as an accountant in the office of superintendent of police in Jhabua. She is the youngest in her department but has risen to this level through sheer hard work. She has four others working under her. Her grandmother who raised her was adamant that she should go to school although she had herself never been to a school. Premlata’s journey was, however, full of struggles.
As a child she used to collect water from a river for her neighbours and thus earned money both for her own and her sister’s education. She also had to look after her Nani (maternal grandmother) during her student days. Today, she has a masters in economics, a government job and lots of water in her house. “There was a time when I used to collect water from a river for others. Today, I have a house, a scooter and a tap for water,” she reminisces. The UNICEF calendar has some very beautiful pictures, which captures the strength of twelve different women from different areas of the country. Krishna, Premlata and Rupali are featured for the months of July, October and November respectively.
The calendar unveils the story of 12 ordinary women with special stories. All have written their own destiny by tasting the beauty of education.
TWENTY-FIVE-YEAR-OLD Krishna of Tikariya village in Mandla district of Madhya Pradesh is a proud woman today. She is a primary school teacher in a government school. She is the ‘first’ girl of her village to have passed the 12th grade exam. The secondary school was very far from her village and one by one all her friends dropped out. Krishna, however, did not lose hope. Her father who had dropped out of school in grade seven knew how difficult it was to get a job without education.
He promised himself that he would educate all his children. Krishna would trudge several kilometers on foot to reach her school. Later, she started running night classes under the ‘Mahila Padhna-Badhna Andolan’. “Education enables us to express our thoughts and ideas to a wide spectrum of people,” she says. Krishna is one of the three women from the State who have been beautifully featured in ‘Girl Star’, UNICEF calendar of 2007, which focuses on those girls and women who have achieved something defying odds.
26-year-old Rupali Jain aka ‘Ruby’ runs a beauty parlour in Guna. After her father’s death, Rupali took over all the responsibilities of the family. She underwent training for a beautician’s course and also completed her Class XII exam. After that she did her BA. “My education helped me obtain a loan from the bank to open my parlour. Education is the only thing that helps a woman during hardship. It gives a woman the strength to brave challenges,” she says.
28-year-old Premlata Varma works as an accountant in the office of superintendent of police in Jhabua. She is the youngest in her department but has risen to this level through sheer hard work. She has four others working under her. Her grandmother who raised her was adamant that she should go to school although she had herself never been to a school. Premlata’s journey was, however, full of struggles.
As a child she used to collect water from a river for her neighbours and thus earned money both for her own and her sister’s education. She also had to look after her Nani (maternal grandmother) during her student days. Today, she has a masters in economics, a government job and lots of water in her house. “There was a time when I used to collect water from a river for others. Today, I have a house, a scooter and a tap for water,” she reminisces. The UNICEF calendar has some very beautiful pictures, which captures the strength of twelve different women from different areas of the country. Krishna, Premlata and Rupali are featured for the months of July, October and November respectively.
The calendar unveils the story of 12 ordinary women with special stories. All have written their own destiny by tasting the beauty of education.
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