Kerala’s rivers ‘meet’ in capital Thiruvananthapuram

Kerala Jalasabha to mark World Water Day on Tuesday

The 44 rivers in Kerala 'met' in the State capital on Monday evening ahead of the Kerala Jalasabha (Kerala Water Parliament) planned on Tuesday to mark World Water Day.

Small earthen pots containing water from the State’s rivers were brought to the Martyrs’ Column at Palayam here at the end of a Jala Sandesha Yatra organised under the Centrally assisted Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) programme.

The water was collected with the help of grama panchayats and Implementation Support Agencies (ISAs) under the JJM. MLAs V. K. Prasanth and M. Vincent, Mayor Arya Rajendran, Kerala Water Authority (KWA) managing director and mission director of JJM S. Venkatesapathy, elected representatives of panchayats and the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation and noted cultural and environmental activists were present. A poetry meet also was organised.

Held as part of the JJM rural household water connectivity programme, the Jalasabha is being organised jointly by the KWA, Jalanidhi, the Groundwater department and 44 ISAs with the support of the Central and State governments and the grama panchayats.

Water Resources Minister Roshy Augustine will inaugurate the Jalasabha at the Jubilee Memorial Animation Centre at Vellayambalam here at 9.30 a.m. on Tuesday. He will also inaugurate a seminar bearing the message ‘Water is Life’ on the occasion.

Transport Minister Antony Raju will preside over the function. Ramesh Chennithala, MLA, will launch the logo of a short film festival themed on water. Mr. Augustine will flag off a KSRTC bus sporting messages on water conservation.