What is World water day?

World Water Day is an annual event held by the United Nations that aims to draw attention to "the importance of freshwater and advocate for the sustainable management of freshwater resources." The international observance of World Water Day is an initiative that grew out of the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro. Each year, World Water Day highlights a specific aspect of freshwater. Over the years, the day has focused on critical issues such as improving water quality, effective water management, sanitation, finding ways to eradicate water scarcity and so on.

In 2011, the event took place worldwide on the 22nd of March with the theme 'Water for Cities: Responding to the Urban Challenge'.

World Water Day and JAAGO

In 2010, JAAGO Foundation volunteers, accompanied by medical doctors, visited the Rayer Bazar slum to create awareness about safe drinking water and sanitation to celebrate World Water Day 2010's theme: Clean Water for a Healthy World. The doctors talked about ways through which water should be purified prior to drinking and for cooking purposes. They also taught them how to prepare oral rehydration saline easily at home. The benefits of using sanitary latrines, washing hands prior to eating and maintaining general cleanliness were emphasized.

JAAGO Foundation took the success of last year's event and celebrate this year's program on a much larger scale. This year, the aim was to clean the Banani Lake and teach our participants what it is like to live with limited water resources through a series of challenging tasks.

The Banani Lake is one of the last remaining water bodies of the city. Not only is its presence important for the sustenance of the eco-system, it is a major source of the replenishment of ground water. Its existence, however, is in grave danger. The curse of encroachment has led to the disappearance of large portions of the lake. Whatever is left is also being threatened by rampant pollution, killing the aquatic life in the lake and endangering its ecological balance. The lake, which is situated directly next to the Korail slum, is severely polluted by the open sewers that lead into the water and by the garbage that is thrown in by the neighboring communities. Furthermore, the fact that the outlets of the lake are completely blocked ensures that the lake has become a concoction of bacterial life and toxic waste. Realizing this grave scenario and understanding the importance of preserving the lake, JAAGO Foundation made cleaning the lake the focus of this year's event and initiated what will hopefully be a major step towards saving the water bodies of the city.