Mammootty's water conservation campaign gets support

As Kerala continues to reel under the blazing heat with several succumbing to sunstroke, actor Mammootty's water conservation drive has come as a relief to several Kochiites. As part of the Own Your Water project, the megastar, with the support of the volunteer group Anbodu Kochi, has installed 50 drinking water kiosks in the city and also supplied 50,000 litres of water to different parts of the district.
Mammootty tells us, 'We have to be equipped to face droughts in the future.A single person cannot do much towards solving the issue but as a society we can do a lot. Right now, the need of the hour is awareness. If we start distributing water, others too will follow suit, I hope.'
The actor put forward the plan to combat the drinking water crisis last week as the Chief Minister urged the Centre to declare Kerala as a drought-hit state. While the drive is a temporary respite to those in Kochi, Mammootty reiterates, 'We have only distributed water but that's not a remedy for droughts. Right now, we are only in the preliminary stages of the project and I cannot speculate on how we will be implementing it.'
While the actor spearheads the mission, the back-end processes are being handled by Anbodu Kochi, which is led by Ernakulam District Collector M G Rajamanickam and comprises 7000 volunteers.
On Monday, the team had supplied water to Perumbavoor, Mulanthuruthy, Chottanikkara, Nellikuzhi, Vallarpadam and Girinagar, besides installing the kiosks in the city. 'The current challenge is refilling the water as the cans get exhausted every 10 minutes,' says Bindu Satyajith, spokesperson of Anbodu Kochi and its volunteer. 'We have placed the kiosks nears shops and bus stations. The shopkeepers and auto rickshaw drivers have taken the onus on themselves to inform us when the water supply is low and also take initiative to refill it.'
Bindu informs that the kiosks are part of a yet-to-be-formulated long-term plan for combating droughts in the future. 'The project will entail cleaning water bodies, building check dams and also planting more trees. While we would begin it in Kochi, it will be adopted in other districts as well,' she explains.
The mission has already garnered widespread appreciation from all quarters. Actor Kunchacko Boban, who had inaugurated the first kiosk along with Mammootty on Monday, tells us, 'It is the need of the hour. North India is currently facing the brunt of the droughts. So, it is a forewarning for all of us. If we conserve our water bodies, it will come handy during a water crisis. Each one of us has the responsibility to conserve water. I hope this drive serves as an eye opener.'