Sand artists spread awareness on world water day

Bhubaneswar: Acclaimed sand artist Manas Sahoo, continuing his habit of coming up with something special to mark every important occasion, created a five feet high and 15 feet long sand sculpture on the Puri beach on occasion of World Water Day on Tuesday.

The sand sculpture titled “Thousands have lived without love, not one without water” compares each drop of fresh water with the holy water treated with respect in religious places. It suggests that the life giving property of water is essential for the very survival of flora and fauna.

Similarly, students of international sand artist Sudarshan Patnaik also created a sculpture on the beach to aware people about water conservation.

World Water Day is celebrated around the globe today on March 22 as a means of focusing attention on the importance of freshwater and advocating for the sustainable management of water resources. The day was established to be celebrated as an annual event in the year 1993 by the decision of the United Nations General Assembly.

This year’s theme “Why waste water?” is about reducing and reusing waste water. The campaign aims to halve the proportion of untreated waste water and increase water recycling and safe use.

Access to safe water is a basic human rights, however, the World Health Organization (WHO) notes there are over 663 million people living without a safe water supply close to home, and coping with the health impacts of using contaminated water.