During a panel discussion in India Today Mumbai Conclave 2025, the growing water crisis in India and the important role of women in saving water in Maharashtra were discussed. In this discussion, Rajendra Singh, known as Water Man of India, filmmaker, co-founder of Pani Foundation, Kiran Rao and Population Foundation of India Executive Director Poonam Muttreja participated. During this, Rajendra Singh said that respect for water in India has decreased and due to this, the problem of water is increasing.
At the same time, Poonam Muttreja described the water crisis as a gender -based crisis and said that if the man of the society changes then the country will change and the scarcity of water will be reduced.
Rajendra Singh said that there was a deep respect for water in India and people used to manage it in a sustainable way.
He said, ‘After the arrival of the British, our water management was damaged and even after independence, the governments did not respect the local diversity nor empowered the communities. No king ever managed water in India, but his people did that work. But all the governments after independence never insisted on community awareness about water.
Rajendra Singh’s target against the governments of the country for water conservation
Rajendra Singh said that the community who understand their local ecosystem have been successful in restoring dry rivers and dealing with climate change.
He said, ‘Governments have sat down as owners … distribute money in the name of water and distribute so much money every year … every house tap … not knowing how many schemes. The tap has reached the house but there is no water in it. The society cannot be watery with these schemes… If the society wants to become watery then you have to believe in their people, they have to be made self -sufficient.
Women bring water but do not get credit
Kiran Rao, the founder of the Pani Foundation, said that the women of Maharashtra, often called ‘Water Wives’, are the real foundation of this self -sufficiency.
He said, ‘The problem of water is a problem, because our association with the resources of the earth is broken. We think about ourselves, but we have to think like a community.
Kiran Rao said that due to the problem of water, women are the most troublesome. He told, ‘Women bring water to miles, think about their families, cattle and fields, but they neither get recognition nor any compensation.’
He said that when women will be given the role of opportunity, education and leadership, then she can emerge as the real leader of water conservation movements.
‘Water crisis is a gender -based crisis’
Poonam Muttreja, who was in the panel, said that the water crisis is an environment and health crisis but more than this, it is a gender -based crisis.
She says, ‘Women carry a heavy burden of water on their heads, their shoulders … Many women have had a problem of weakness, back pain. Girls could not go to school due to water. One in every five girl is leaving school due to water. Maharashtra has been sterilized by most women in dried districts because there is a shortage of water, they do not want any more children.
‘The root of every problem is men …’
During the session, Poonam Muttreja questioned that women bring water, handle the house, take care of the children, then where are the men? What are they doing?
She says, ‘There can be a solution … men only make policy and they are missing from this work. If men have to carry water, then imagine what will be the situation… absolutely different. We started the water scheme from the tap… I would say that we are a scheme with a scheme but this scheme is limited to the pipe only. The root of every problem is some some men… The country will change when the men of the country change.
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