The third edition of the seven-week-long WaterFest ‘23 will begin on February 2 (World Wetlands Day) and conclude on March 22 (World Water Day).
Organised by ‘All For Water For All’ (A4W4A), a collective of individuals and organisations working in the Puducherry-Villupuram-Auroville-Cuddalore (PVAC) bioregion, the festival will look at management of water resources in the bioregion as these places share geographic characteristics.
Addressing journalists in Puducherry on Friday, Probir Banerjee, co-founder of PondyCan, a civil society organisation and coordinator of WaterFest ‘23-Stewardship for Water and Biodiversity, said the festival would focus on each bioregion and “celebrate our deep connection” with water, which sustains all life on this planet.
The festival will have consultations on long-term strategies and commitment, workshops, and Round Table discussions on how to connect the community, experts, and the government for a sustained effort at water conservation. The aim is to build a culture of collaboration and shared responsibility for the integrated management of our water resources and biodiversity, he said.
The activities under the festival will be organised at Marakkanam (March 4), Vanur (February 11), Cuddalore (February 18), Puducherry (February 25), Bahour (March 4), Oussudu (March 11) and Auroville (March 18).
According to Victor Raj, Director of HOPE, a non-governmental organisation, the seven-week festival will see a kaleidoscope of events and activities across the PVAC bioregion. They include school programmes (Monday to Friday), in which about 200 schools will participate; community programmes at weekends, in which the communities in different parts of the bioregion will organise events to celebrate water and biodiversity.
The activities include One School-One Pond (OSOP) workshop, mapping of waterbodies, and a workshop on hyacinth to craft.
According to Mr. Banerjee, one of the high points of the festival for the cause of protecting the waterbodies and biodiversity is the ‘Neer Kudam Yatra’ in which pots filled with water from Oussudu, the largest waterbody in the region and considered an important wetland in Asia, will be passed on in a relay by one village/neighbourhood to the next.
These pots will traverse through the seven regions — the municipalities of Puducherry and Oulgaret and the five Commune Panchayats of Ariyankuppam, Bahour, Mannadipet, Nettapakkam and Villianur.
