Adventure and outdoor activity is nothing new for Krushnaa Patil, the Indian member of the Access Water Ganga expedition. Patil ascended Mt. Everest in 2009 and now holds the record of been the second youngest woman to do so. Terming the expedition as an opportunity to view the river in its totality and watching first hand the effect of environmental and climate changes, she hopes this advocacy programme will encourage people to keep rivers clean for the future generation.
“For the civilisation and human beings there is an imperative need for a radical change in the attitude of treating rivers like a drainage system,” she avers and argues that in the first place there should be no need for cleaning the rivers if adequate and timely measures had been undertaken. “Technology is available for water treatment but it is ignored to save cost.”
Agreeing that Ganga is the best place to start the campaign, she adds we need to talk about other waterways and water bodies too. “Education and spreading awareness will inculcate a sense of responsibility among people making them take a stand. Starting with avoidance of water wastage to save water will levitate us to reduce water pollution by embracing lifestyle changes. Science classifies humans as intelligent creatures and we need to behave like one to prove it.”
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Advocating the need for private and public initiatives work in unison Patil, a Mumbaikar, is appalled by the volume of rain water draining into the Arabian Sea. She pleads for the construction sector to include rain harvesting mechanism while building structures. “The excellent initiatives by Rajendra Singh, the waterman should be replicated in other places too.”
A trained dancer, who initially wanted to become a choreographer, is now focused on mountaineering. “I am disappointed with the lack of sponsorship for the sport and intend to work on changing this mindset,” she sums up.