MADURAI: Today- March 22nd- is World Water Day and the theme of this year’s celebration is water for peace.
In this context, save water campaigner from Madurai Dr.P.S.Navaraj has made a call to take a pledge to save and conserve the water for future generations.
“Water can create peace or spark a conflict. When water is scarce or polluted or when when people have unequal or no access to water, it creates tensions between communities and countries. More than three billion people worldwide depend on water that crosses national borders. Yet, only 24 countries have water cooperation agreements for shared water,” Dr.P.S.Navaraj, former Dean, Yadava College and former Principal of Annai Fathima College, Madurai, who is an outstanding water messenger award winner in World Water Forum-Japan, has said while sharing his thoughts on water.
He stresses that prosperity and peace rely on water and as nations manage climate change and mass migration, the focus must be put on water cooperation at the heart of their plans. “Water can foster harmony between communities and countries. We need sustainable use of water from the United Nations at international level to actions at local level.
“There are 2.2 billion people still living without safely managed drinking water including 115 million people who drink surface water. Roughly, half of the world’s population is experiencing severe water scarcity for at least part of the year. Water related disasters have dominated over the list of past 50 years and account for 70 per cent of all deaths related to natural disasters. Let the policy makers, administrators, researchers and the public get aware of the facts and take a pledge to conserve water for the future generation. Water is not just a resource to be used and competed over- water is a human right intrinsic to every aspect of life,” water messenger Dr.P.S.Navaraj has said in his message from Madurai for the World Water Day on March 22nd 2024.
