Varanasi leg of Run Blue campaign for water conservation kicks off

The third marathon of the India chapter of the Run Blue campaign was held in Uttar Pradesh’s Varanasi on Wednesday as water advocate and ultramarathon runner Mina Guli spread awareness about the need to conserve water and on the impact of the expansion and urbanisation on the Ganga’s banks

 The third marathon of the India chapter of the Run Blue campaign was held in Uttar Pradesh’s Varanasi on Wednesday as water advocate and ultramarathon runner Mina Guli spread awareness about the need to conserve water and on the impact of the expansion and urbanisation on the Ganga’s banks.

The campaign aims to organise 200 marathons across the world in the run-up to the first global UN 2023 Water Conference scheduled to be held in New York from March 22 to 24. (HT Photo)

The campaign is being organised by pharma and agri major Bayer, in partnership with Guli, across five cities in the country. It aims to organise 200 marathons across the world in the run-up to the first global United Nations 2023 Water Conference scheduled to be held in New York from March 22 to 24.

Guli, who has been leading the marathons, has already completed 154 of the 200 marathons so far.

In the historic city of Varanasi, Guli on Wednesday began her marathon from the Taj Ganges. The event was flagged off by city superintendent of police (traffic) Dinesh Kumar Puri and concluded at the same spot later in the day.

Speaking about the initiative and her run in Varanasi, Guli said: “The river Ganga has been an integral part of Indian culture and religion for centuries and represents the country’s soul. With the Run Blue campaign, I am hoping to inspire more people to take action to keep the river healthy and supplement the government’s efforts in cleaning and rejuvenating this mighty river.”

In a statement, Bayer said that through her runs, Guli aims to build a coalition of stakeholders whose actions are crucial in conserving and cleaning up water resources.

Considering farmers as one of the most crucial stakeholders, Guli, after completing her run, visited a Better Life Farming (BLF) hub set up by Bayer, just outside the city of Varanasi.

BLF centers run by the agri entrepreneurs help smallholder farmers increase crop yields and farm incomes through sustainable methods.

In a statement, Bayer said that Mina interacted with farmers and highlighted the importance of water conservation in farming. The farmers informed Mina about various water-saving techniques adopted by them to help conserve water.

On her visit to BLF, Guli said: “Farmers are impacted the most by water challenges and visiting the Bayer BLF centre allowed me to interact with the large farmer community around Varanasi. I was inspired by the farmers there, who understand the importance of water conservation and a healthy Ganga and have taken action to make sure that their practices are sustainable.”

In 2014, the Union government initiated the Namami Gange project, an integrated conservation project, with budget outlay of ₹20,000 Crore to accomplish the twin objectives of effective abatement of pollution, conservation and rejuvenation of the river Ganga.

According to information available on the National Mission for Clean Ganga website, the main pillars of the project are sewerage treatment infrastructure, riverfront development, river-surface cleaning, biodiversity, afforestation, public awareness, industrial effluent monitoring and Ganga gram.

“Countries such as Australia, United Kingdom, Germany, Finland, Israel etc. have shown interest in collaborating with India for Ganga rejuvenation. Memorandums of Understanding were signed with various Central Ministries…,” the website said.

The United Nations (UN) has recognised the Namami Gange initiative to rejuvenate the river as one of the top 10 World Restoration Flagships to revive the natural world, according to a statement issued by the Jal Shakti ministry last month.

The BLF centres are an example of how modern technology and the right agronomy advisory can help increase crop yields while reducing water usage and environmental damage, Bayer said in its statement.

It added that it has already set up more than 1,500 BLF centres across various parts of the country.

The BLF initiative has led to a doubling of crop yields and a tripling of farm incomes among participant farmers and is already impacting the lives of around half a million farmers in India, the company said. By 2025, the BLF farming initiative aims to empower 2.5 million smallholder farmers in India by providing them access to modern agri inputs and improving their standard of living.

Thanking Guli for her conservation efforts, Simon Wiebusch, country division head for Bayer’s Crop Science Business in India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka said: “Bayer’s commitment to water conservation and its efficient usage runs deep and I am grateful to sustainability champions like Mina Guli for spearheading this cause globally and in India and interacting with our farmers and agri entrepreneurs and raising awareness around the issue.”

Wiebusch added: “To see the #RunBlue campaign take place in Varanasi is extra special because this is the place where we laid down the foundation of our BLF program with an aim to help millions of smallholders present in under-served geographies.”

Guli’s next marathon, her 155th, is scheduled to be held in Thane which is home to around 30 lakes and also Bayer’s headquarters in India.