World water day at Rainbow Drive layout, March 22nd
Is there any other better way to celebrate world water day than at Rainbow Drive (RBD) layout in Bengaluru? Rainbow Drive has been a pioneer in many good practices towards water sustainability, and this was one such occasion which provided an opportunity to celebrate that spirit of working towards water self-sufficiency.
The involvement of the young generation in taking photographs and developing a movie on the good practices followed in the community, the residents themselves talking about the current practices and interventions around solid waste management, recharge wells, rainwater harvesting, etc. made the event much more valued. A presentation by Avinash Krishnamurthy from BIOME on how RBD has changed from a situation like any other layout in the city struggling with water issues, to water sustainable community over the years, was one of the highlights of the event.
On occasion of this day, a Phytorid based sewage treatment plant was officially inaugurated by Upa Lokayuktha, Justice Subhash B Adi. Justice Adi, who has been hearing cases around issues of water bodies, especially lakes in Bengaluru praised the efforts undertaken at RBD and encouraged others to follow it.
Amidst the chaos created by the many discussions around sewage treatment, recharge well, rainwater harvesting, aquifer mapping, lakes bioremediation, etc. and the blazing heat, cool coconut water was indeed refreshing.
World water day at WIPRO Sarjapur Campus, March 25th
Wipro, a corporate group, has been engaging in many water sustainable practices over a period now. The team at Wipro also supports the aquifer mapping and lakes bio-remediation projects in Bengaluru. Wipro employees staying in the area falling under the Sarjapur-Bellandur watershed have been helpful in providing information about their borewells also.
As part of the world water day, a small event was arranged at the Wipro Sarjapur campus, where the activities included conducting water quality tests on the samples brought by the employees, and sharing the information about aquifer mapping project and lakes bioremediation activities. The water quality tests conducted included pH, TDS, Electrical conductivity (E.C), Salinity, Fluoride and bacterial. The vials for the bacterial testing were given away to the people as the time taken for the results to show up is 24 to 48 hrs. The sharing of information about the projects was done through elaborating on the watershed map and showcasing a small story book on sewage mining.
The feedback from the employees was overwhelming with people remembering to get their own water samples to office and taking the bacterial vials at home for testing on their own.
We would like to thank Lingaraj Dinni and other members from Wipro for giving an opportunity to be part of this event.
