A lot has been said on the water scarcity in the state and how it has impacted almost every citizen in our state..
A recent report from the National Agriculture and Drought Assessment System (NADAMS) predicted a drought in many districts of Vidarbha and Marathwada.
Of the 1,605 farmer suicides until July this year, 536 were from eight districts of Marathwada and 737 from 11 districts of Vidarbha. The government has announced compensations for farmers for their loss, but as individuals, are we doing enough to save water?
An interesting yet debatable solution, Angholichi Goli, is a concept initiated by a Puneite who believes that every drop counts.
Madhav Patil, the mind behind this initiative believes that by skipping a bath at least once a week helps rejuvenate the water table.
“You can save up to 20 litres of water, reduce the flow of pollutants to the rivers and save at least one unit of electricity.
“For the past last three years we have been working on the concept of Angolichi Goli (which translates as Bath Pill) says Patil. I came up with this idea in 2015 when the then Mayor of Pune ordered that only there will be alternate day water supply since Maharashtra was under the effect of drought. When I saw that news, it struck me. I immediately told my wife to use water cautiously but was quite taken aback by her reply.
“She told me, “You don’t have to worry as you don’t have any connection with water. Neither in using it, nor saving it, right?” This comment silenced me..
“I was concerned about water scarcity hence, I decided to bathe on alternate days and contribute my bit towards water conservation. The next day I didn’t take a bath and since then I have been bathing on alternate days,” he added.
According to Madhav, Bath Pill is akin to medical treatment to cure the country from the problem of water scarcity..
“Through this initiative, our motive is to make people aware that just by skipping a bath once a week, we can contribute towards the environment. Our motive was steadily appreciated and accepted across Pune.
“Through active public participation we have been successful in convincing many people to skip a bath once a week. This not only will help save water but will also reduce the flow of harmful chemicals in the water bodies that are often seen in our bath water, possibly from soaps, shampoos etc,” he added.
Quite recently, the U.S. President Donald Trump announced his intention to withdraw from the Paris Climate Accord and this move was of great concern for Madhav Patil..
“Nobody was aggressively speaking against him at an international platform, says Madhav. Out of all, 195 UNFCCC members have signed the agreement but U.S. decided to withdraw.
“This bothered me, because Earth is the common link between Him and us and he denies the fact that climate change and global warming exists. This means that exploitation will be consistent without any climate action.
“President Trump even stated that the withdrawal would be in accordance with his America First policy. Hence, I rigorously started researching about climate change and its impact on Earth.
“I even started tweeting the officials and to the President himself with all the related facts and also suggested them to take a bath pill and at stop exploiting resources at least for America and take some climate action.
“And to my surprise, I got a reply from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) who suggested some measures to adopt climate action plans. It mean that my words are not falling into deaf ears,” he adds.
“I will continue working towards the conservation of natural resources be it at local, national or international level. I keep on conducting seminars to create awareness about the threat that is neglected by many. I am also in talks with local bodies and representatives who also support the cause,” he adds.
Will you do you bit and take the bath pill to help rejuvenate the country from this perennial water scarcity?
Reach her at loveleen@pune365.com or tweet @KaurKaur18
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