Paani Foundation is a non-profit, non-governmental organisation engaged in Maharashtra, India, inside the areas of drought avoidance as well as watershed management. Indian superstar Aamir Khan as well as his ex-wife, Kiran Rao, launched the foundation. Satyajit Bhatkal is indeed the Foundation’s CEO.
Paani Foundation’s main goal is to disseminate information on watershed management as well as groundwater replenishment. Since 2016, the Paani Foundation has hosted the Satyamev Jayate Water Cup competition, in which communities compete against one another in the summer months leading up to the monsoon season to apply watershed management as well as water conservation practices.
Throughout the last several decades, the Indian state of Maharashtra has experienced periodic droughts and severe water shortages (e.g. in 2013). This predicament is caused by both natural and man-made factors. The semi-arid climate zone covers one-third of the state.
Overuse of bore wells (tube wells) has resulted in a sharp drop in groundwater levels. Sugarcane and other water-intensive cash crops are indeed grown in semi-arid areas, compounding the situation.
In 2015, the state administration announced that 60 per cent of the communities in the state were experiencing “drought-like conditions.” This signifies that they reported a crop yield that is less than half of the area’s average production. In terms of absolute numbers, this group includes 23,811 of the state’s 39,453 settlements. According to authorities, this one will result in a significant drop in the state’s agricultural production for the year.
Inside the 12th episode of the first season, which aired on July 22, 2012, Aamir Khan’s TV show Satyamev Jayate, that tackled a wide range of social concerns facing India, the subject of water shortage, as well as the deficiencies of water management in India, was first addressed. Khan as well as the show’s director, Satyajit Bhatkal, chose to take up a cause with which they could stick for several years and see actual effects once the series finished in November 2014.
They decided to address the issue of chronic water scarcity in rural Maharashtra. Khan and Bhatkal, as well as Khan’s wife Kiran Rao as well as other members of the TV series’ core crew, spent and over a year investigating and analysing the problem. Paani Foundation was established in 2016.
Also Read: What is the net worth of Kathy Bates?
