By Shaheda Purna and Silvanus Lamin
World water day is celebrated since 1993, with a view to raise awareness among the people who have access to water. This awareness aims to encourage them stopping wasting and misusing fresh water as well as taking initiative to prevent the encroachment and contamination of water bodies. However, about 2.2 billion people are facing high water crisis around the globe. It is a movement and standing beside them to assure the SDG: 6 within 2030.
Every year on March 22, we observe World Water Day, which promotes sustainable water resource management and emphasizes the value of freshwater. The subject for 2025 was “Glacier Preservation,” which reflects the pressing need to confront the glaciers’ rapid melting as a result of climate change.
In consonance with this year world water day theme, BARCIK has organized different events and activities to mark the world water day emphasizing on preservation of natural water bodies raising awareness to reduce water contamination as well as to press demand to the state authorities ensuring the implementation of water policy and related policies and guidelines. The organization arranged different events and activities such as meetings, discussions, rallies, human chains and seminars to mark the world water day on 22 March. The communities in 4 working areas being facilitated by BARCIK participated in those events and programs and shared their concerns, problems and initiative pertaining to water crisis, contamination and encroachment of natural sources of water.
As part of marking the world water day, the local communities in Rajshahi demanded to protect and preserve the Shib River including all natural water bodies in the Barind region participating in a human chain organized by Green Coalition, Tanore Rajshahi Organization, and BARCIK. They also demanded the preservation of Barnai River, and all natural rivers, wetlands, water bodies, canals, and Beels of the Barind region. Nur Mohammad, President of Green Coalition and Tanore Rajshahi Organization, as well as a self-taught farmer researcher, stated, “The only way to solve the water crisis in the Barind region is to conserve its rivers and ensure year-round irrigation water. This will reduce pressure on groundwater and address the region’s water crisis.” Marginalized communities are losing their access to water. These people are demanding the protection of water resources for both agriculture and daily household use of local communities.
Indigenous leader Rani Pauria from the water-scarce area of Mondumala in Tanore expressed in her Mahali language, “Do you know how difficult it is to fetch water from far away?” It is worth mentioning that the water crisis among the indigenous communities in Tanore is becoming increasingly severe. They often have to buy water from distant places, and sometimes, even that is unavailable. BARCIK Barind region is demanding highly concern regarding sweet water conservation. In this regard BARCIK says, “We want a solution to the Barind region’s water crisis. For that, we need a people-centered water policy. On World Water Day, we demand the assurance of drinking water for all living beings.”
Moving towards the center of Bangladesh, BARCIK arranged a discussion and sharing program with the members of Joyonagar agroecological learnig centre (ALC) demanded to ensure water right to mark the world water day. Farmers’ organizations from Sadar and Ghior Upazilla of Manikgonj in collaboration of Green Coalition organized the discussion demanding to protect natural water bodies through which water right of all could be ensured.
The discussants while emphasizing on conservation of natural water bodies said, ‘People living in low lying land, suffer from water crisis during the month of March-April. Climate change, encroachment of water bodies for development construction as well as extraction of underground have intensified the crisis of drinking water. They went on saying, ‘in order to combat these crises, we should take initiatives to conserve natural water bodies and ensure the proper management of water. This will enable people to have access to water.’
BARCIK’s 4 working area is fully different from other. It has selected these different areas for ascertaining the diversity of work. If we put our attention to the wetland, we could analyze that there are severe crisis of water during the dry seasons. But when rain comes it becomes flooded. Drinking water is scares and the locals are adopting newly innovating techniques to meet the every day demand of it.
40 local people aggregated for this World Water Day in Netrokona. Irrespective of gender and cast these people stand with the hope for the solution to this crisis. Shubimol Murong said “Our agricultural work is being impacted for scarcity of water. We want a solution of it. We don’t want to depend upon underground water rather the cannels, rivers and the local water bodies need to be renovated from government initiative.
Gunjon Rema from BARCIK added that if we look over the theme of glacier preservation, we might think that it is not a related issue for the people of ours. But it’s a global issue. If we are contributing in climate change and are not being able to reduce it, that these glaciers will melt rapidly which is a concentrated source of sweet water.
In Shyamnagar, Satkhira BARCIK arranged a dialogue where members of Sundarban student solidarity team, Shyamnagar sub district youth volunteer committee, Green coalition and local community people participated and shared their concerns and expressed solidarity with the fight of people for their water right. Along with the dialogue a rally was also arranged with these people where participants bearing different placards and banners depicting the water scarcity in the coast.
The participants of the events said, “When we talk about water it does not only mean that we need water to drink and use. Actually, water is our very right and we want to establish our right on water! They also added that people must conserve safe drinking water and incorporate sustainable water management techniques which is not going to harm the environment.
Let’s take initiative to save and protect all natural water sources and oath not to waste any drop of water. Water is life and we cannot progress without water; particularly fresh water. Therefore, let’s press and demand to the state to ensure the preservation and protection of all water bodies through the proper implementation of water policy. Additionally, let’s persuade the state authorities to stop the encroachment of water bodies in the name of development.
