School children to be messengers of awareness for India River week

In a bid to celebrate the rivers of Pune and create awareness about the severity of their plight, several organisations have come together under the banner, ‘Aao Nadi Ko Jane’ and planned a series of events involving children from Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) schools and people across the city to commemorate ‘India River Week’ from November 21 to 27 this year

In a bid to celebrate the rivers of Pune and create awareness about the severity of their plight, several organisations have come together under the banner, ‘Aao Nadi Ko Jane’ and planned a series of events involving children from Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) schools and people across the city to commemorate ‘India River Week’ from November 21 to 27 this year.

In a bid to celebrate the rivers of Pune and create awareness about the severity of their plight, several organisations have come together under the banner, ‘Aao Nadi Ko Jane’ and planned a series of events involving children from PMC schools (HT FILE PHOTO)

Shaileja Deshpande of the NGO, Jeevit Nadi, said, “We are aware of the pathetic state of our rivers across India and Pune as well. Though Pune is rich in natural resources, fast urbanisation has been a major cause of degradation of our rivers. The condition of our rivers is further deteriorating due to excessive pollution, insufficient sewage treatment, encroachment and limited water in the rivers due to dams stopping their flow. But the most important reason is that citizens are totally unaware of these fast-deteriorating conditions and their consequences.”

Deshpande said that the rivers have been forgotten and that without them there won’t be adequate drinking water apart from the loss of a vast amount of biodiversity. Hence, to bring back the importance of the rivers, ‘India River Week’ will be dedicated to the rivers of the country.

“This year, the theme of ‘India River Week’ is the revival of the rivers of Pune with the focus of the programmes being school children and the main objective being to make children understand the importance of rivers, know the rivers and make them think about what they can do for the rivers,” she said.

The events between November 21 and 27 will include ‘School Quiz’, a fun, interactive and informative quiz to raise awareness about the rivers of Pune, with more than 268 children from PMC primary schools and Classes 4 to 7 of other Marathi- and English- medium schools participating in the quiz; a pledge for the rivers created by the school children, which will be displayed on the last day of the celebrations; and a school march to raise awareness about the plight of the rivers of Pune. As part of the programme, a massive clean-up drive will be carried out in areas such as Rajiv Gandhi bridge-side riverbanks, Z bridge riverbanks, Kawadipat, the confluence of the Mula and Mutha rivers, and Sangam bridge in association with Swachh Pune Swachh Bharat and PMC. Also planned are a series of cultural events including dance performances on river-related songs, and street plays on the plight of Pune’s rivers titled ‘Punyala Jevha Jaag Yete’ and ‘Nadi Sampavar Jate’.

“We have put in a great deal of thought into the various activities to raise awareness about the condition of the rivers, connect citizens with the rivers of Pune, and celebrate this important ecosystem through the ‘India River Week’,” Deshpande said.