House of Lords, UK honours Ban

Weather

House of Lords, UK honours Bankura women for water conservation

An award for it's efforts for conservation of water by a women's group of Bankura has come from London's House of Lords, which equally has brought a glory to the drought hit district.

'My Dear Trees & Wilds' - an organization run by the Bishnupur women dedicated for protection of environment and the wildlife has been conferred the 'Green Apple Environment Award 2025' by The Green Organization, United Kingdom. The women's group has been awarded for it's long standing project titled 'Catch rain for water sustainable India' that was kicked off five years ago for the South Bengal districts by 'My Dear Trees & Wilds'.

The organization mainly works spreading awareness for water conservation and organise Environmental Music Festival each year, besides sustained campaigns accompanied by folk singers. "We compose songs, sing them in groups, prepare and stage dramas, dance ptogramnes for awareness of water conservation, as water in these districts are more precious than jewelries," narrated Chairpersons of the organization Jharna Ganguly and Sangeeta Biswas. The team composed and performed 107 songs, 17 dance-dramas and 11 one-wall dramas and produced one documentary film on environment protection, said Jharna Ganguly.

Yesterday evening, the Award mailed by it's founder Roger Wolens on 17 November was received by My Dear Trees and Wilds. The award function was held at the House of Lords, Palace of Westminster. This award, launched in 1994, as Roger Wolen mentioned, is aimed to recognize, reward and promote environmental best practices around the world.

Members of the organization like Malini Roy, Anita Samaddar, Sharmistha Chakraborty, Bharati Banerjee said: "The way global warming has started taking it's toll upon the environment, it seems, we are already too late to combat the menace."

The rainwater harvesting projects though stress more on rooftop collection of water especially during the monsoon season, the Bishnupur women however chose to prioritize the surface run-off management that included capturing and storing of the rainwater for common uses like gardening, domestic washing and even to replenish groundwater, which Bengal government's 'Jal Dharo - Jal Bharo' and Centre's Jal Shakti Abhiyan also have inspired extensively.

Drought prone Bankura, incidentally has started implementing rainwater harvesting as a critical measure to combat water scarcity under Jal Dharo - Jal Bharo scheme since 2012, besides, utilizing Central Ground Water Board's scientifically designed groundwater recharge structures.