'Nira Nischinte' (ನೀರ ನಿಶ್ಚಿಂತೆ) or loosely translated - 'Peace of mind with Water' is the slogan we chose for the Kannada version of Water Portal (which is funded by Arghyam), and also as the title of the event we planned surrounding it. We just had the third edition of the 'Nira Nischinte' event at Tumkur yesterday. The first one was at Dharwad, the second at Mangalore.
It is quite an interesting event considering that not many people in general take interest in issues surrounding Water. Here, we have had passionate people attending the event, in good numbers that too, which is quite surprising really. We have had people learning how to share information on-line, and more importantly about doing so in *local language*. It has made up a rather unique event and the name has caught up already! And the discussions we have had until now has been excellent.
In general, many discussions just end up with complaints, but no solid initiatives towards solving the problem. Although water issues affect everyone, they always end up being perceived as "somebody else's problem" and go without being addressed properly. Most often than not, public authorities are blamed. The day to day situation on water is something that people have got "adjusted" to, rather than trying to improve it. Whether it is to prick the public authority to do their jobs properly or to take up simple initiatives on their own (like Rain Water Harvesting), not many seem to have enough motivation or intent. And all this, I note down from my interaction over a significant amount of time, and having been the same myself earlier.
You get a feeling that the intent is now changing when people discuss the issues even when having their lunch (!) and seeing them cover that extra distance discussing "what could be done about it"!
