In 2010, when Sachin Marti came back to his local town of Bhuigaon in Nala Sopara, Maharashtra, during his excursion from TISS, he saw a few kids strolling back with colossal compartments loaded up with water in spite of the many water bodies in the town. Captivated, Sachin asked the children for what valid reason they did as such, to which they answered, “We may pass on the off chance that we drink the water from bavkhal (customary lakes).”
This was a reminder for the then 23-year-old who had never really thought about to the wellspring of the water he and his family devoured. Just because, Sachin was eye to eye with the water emergency in the Virar-Vasai Region (VVR), some portion of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR).
To help spread mindfulness about water protection, the graduate of Tata Institute of Social Sciences joined the Yuva Vikas Sanstha (YVS), a NGO that was at that point progressing in the direction of assembling the residents of the locale.
As our urban areas reel under serious water emergencies, it is significant for every last one of us to spare as much as we can. Displaying our hits that set aside to 80% water.
What began in 2011 as a push to prevent individuals from tossing waste in the water bodies, has now developed into an undeniable crucial reestablish the current lakes as well as restore the ones that have evaporated.
Sachin has been driving the NGO’s water venture in the area for the last ten odd years, thus far, the NGO has been instrumental in restoring eight lakes which have helped increment the water tables crosswise over five towns.
What were once waste dumping grounds, loaded up with a wide range of dry and wet waste are currently freshwater lakes abounding with sea-going life.
For about two centuries, individuals dwelling in VVR have been utilizing lakes to meet their different water needs like drinking, water system and creature farming.
“These conventional lakes are only gaps made inside backwoods to catch water and permit the green space and groundwater tables to prosper. The lakes were either claimed by people or networks,” Sachin, who functions as a Project Manager at the Aga Khan Agency for Habitat India in Mumbai, reveals to The Better India.
Be that as it may, because of the advancement blast in Mumbai during the 90s, the land extended to this side of the MMR also. As the populace developed in numbers, the green space declined all the while.
“The occupants began abusing the water bodies for their own needs like washing garments, washing and some even use it for open crap,” he includes.