22nd April, morning the Water warrior rode into Trivandrum. On his K2K trip, fresh from the southern most tip of India from Kanyakumari, CSP stopped over at Kovalam for an interaction organised by “Zero Waste Campaign” an undertaking of Thanal.

The meeting was organised in the offices of the Campaign, near the beaches of Kovalam and was headed of by Mr. Sridhar of Thanal who introduced the participants and kicked off the discussion. The core group present was members of the Campaign. The first part of the meeting involved the sharing of information, experiences by the Campaign members in the various projects that they had undertaken, were currently involved with. This was followed by introductions all round and the meet was kicked off. A Waste-to-Use thread was visible in all the projects that have been undertaken here. Conversion of tailor waste cloth to beautiful, useful objects of everyday use, creation of banners, in an eco-friendly manner, avoiding plastic flex printing by using reject cloth and a lot of creativity are a few among them! A plan to avoid the pollution/littering of the pristine beaches of Kovalam by plastic mineral water bottles was explained. A handmade bamboo carrier was provided to tourists, who could carry their own bottle, and refill stations for the same were put up. The bamboo carrier is an easy to carry, stylish to use method that was adopted by quite a few hotels who also co-operated in setting up the refilling stations.

Piping hot tea, and more narrations about plans to reclaim the beaches for the local people, to instill a feeling of belonging in order to induce them to actively participate in care and maintenance of resources kept the discussions lively.

The discussion went on to the subject of water availability and conservation. It was a pleasant surprise for CSP when he understood that the panchayats were taking up phased implementation of RWH structures in their locales. The women traded stories of how the RWH storage tanks are used to store tanker water in summer time when there is less rain, and more water is needed. Also the inconsistency in water availability in the Kovalam area came under discussion. The up stream communities are able to get enough water, exploit groundwater resources and sell the same to down stream communities that do not have a stable supply of water. The feeling of injustice that strikes harder when hotels manage to fill their pools with freshwater, but leaves the local people parched also figured in the talks. CSP offered advice to the participants indicating that water from RWH practices should be primarily used for drinking, cooking as it would prevent the use of unverified quality tanker water for such purposes. He also provided some pointers as to the proper sterilization methods with regard to drinking water.

CSP also took time out to sign a protest poster initiated by Thanal against the introduction of genetically engineered crops to India. Silje kept the flash popping as she steadily documented the interaction, intermittently answering queries regarding where she was from, and the reasons for the trip!

Thanal members, CSP and me had a final photo session following which we gave him and Silje a warm sent off. With a whispered prayer and a good luck wave the water warrior rode off.

For me the meet provided a “face” for the India Water Portal and Arghyam. Working freelance for the Portal on a remote basis the meet provided a better understanding of the driving forces behind the k2k initiative and also the need, necessity for evolving a better water infrastructure as we move along. The water warrior came alone, but carried with him the spirit of those who had dedicated their time and efforts to ensure the safe, sustainable, and any time availability of water to all!

-Francis Fernandez
India Water Portal freelancer