A walk bringing to fore the water woes

CHENNAI: Light showers on a hazy Sunday morning did not deter the participants as nearly 4300 children from 90 schools across the city, participated in the Chennai Water Walkathon held at Marina Beach as part of the  German Students Week 2016, conducted by the Goethe-Institut. The event was held to raise awareness about the issues of water usage and conservation and waste management in the city.
The walkathon, which started from Lighthouse to Kannagi Statue and back, was flagged off by Natraj, MLA for Mylapore Constituency and Helmut Schippert, director, Goethe Institut. It was the culmination of a week-long series of events from November 9-13 that included a football tournament called the Goethe Super League, a glass painting competition for students and a Model Chennai Corporation where students raised pertinent issues of water conservation, while also proposing ideas to solve them learnt from other cities and countries.

“We decided to concentrate on the issue of water because of the urgency involved with it,” said Helmut Schippert. “Last month we organised a Chennai Water Forum where experts and academicians from around the world came together to discuss pertinent issues, especially in the aftermath of the floods last year,” he added. “We thought it would be important to create some additional awareness especially among the youth and children, so that when people see them engage more in such issues, it will encourage them more.”

He added that the simulation of Chennai Corporation helped students learn more about the socio-political issues regarding water as well, and not just look at it from an environmental aspect. “But the whole series of events was not planned before the floods, we have always had a few projects related to water, but after last year’s disaster, it got a lot more traction among the general public.” Rotary Club of Madras East was the partner organisation for the event.