Water is essential for every living organism, and hence very precious. But unfortunately, this important natural resource is fast depleting. According to a report by Niti Aayog, at least 40% population of our country will have no access to potable water by 2030. The situation can become even worse, and it’s high time we declare water conservation a national priority.In Maharashtra, one youth has taken the initiative of taking water conservation awareness campaign among masses, particularly among school children for over last 3 years. Vedant Goel has been instrumental in designing unique and interesting water conservation campaign that can simply teach children about the importance of saving water. Vedant is very popular for his initiatives in Pune, Chandrapur and other cities in Maharashtra, and is fondly known as ‘Water Dada’.A proud moment came for the Water Dada, when he was recently acknowledged as “Jal Rakshak” by CNN Network 18, and also shared his ideas on water conservation along with the likes of Shri Nitin Gadkari and Amitabh Bacchan. The occasion was the Mission Paani initiative launch by Network 18 on August 27, 2019 in Mumbai.
During the event, Vedant talked about the simple, interesting as well as effective ideas about water conservation. He said, “We will go to over 100 schools in Pune, Nagpur and Chandrapur in Maharashtra, and install drums there. School children will be educated to empty their water flask into these drums before leaving the school. Often children waste this leftover water while leaving for home. The water in the drum can be used for cleaning, gardening and other purposes.”According to him, this is a tried and tested method of water conservation. They already have installed water drums in many Pune schools, and it helps in saving water. One can visit Dr. Dada Gujar School in Pune can witness the success of the campaign. It is this campaign that earned Vedant the title of “Water Dada”Earlier in 2015, Vedant has started a dental hygiene education campaign and gathered 5,011 kids in a single place for brushing their teeth under the guidance of dentists. This dental hygiene campaign has also its mention in the Limca Book of Records.Vedant has several such initiatives on the card. Till now, he has been doing these initiatives solely on his own resources, but he is not averse to the idea of like-minded people and corporate houses joining his movement.