WaterFest with diverse events gets under way across Puducherry

This year’s water festival hosted by the NGOs — All for Water for All and the Alliance For Good Governance — that rallies for an eco-sensitive approach to the essential resource got under way in the city recently.

According to organisers, WaterFest 2026 which was launched to coincide with World Wetlands Day, will feature a series of events over the next few weeks and conclude on World Water Day, March 22.

According to the AGG, the waterfest is not just limited to the Puducherry Union Territory but to the whole of the bioregion — the Puducherry-Villupuram-Auroville-Cuddalore (PVAC) bioregion — and is thus another rare and unique call for action at a bio-regional level.

The event is also perhaps the largest, multi-stakeholder programme bringing together various government departments, civil society organisations, individuals, institutions, people’s organisations together on the single agenda of water. It is a constructive, deliberative, citizen-centric festival which calls for action for a better water-secure world through a combination of field-level action, citizen science research, wetlands assessment, water and livelihoods, education, health and all possible interconnected thematic areas.

Kalamegam Kaliyaperumal, Environment Engineer, Department of Science, Technology and Environment, was the chief guest at the launch event in the PondyYatchClub.

A ‘Kayak2Clean’ programme was held in this connection with volunteers kayaking through the Thengaithittu lagoon to remove trash from the mangroves.

A citizen’s science activity corner to initiate children to biodiversity mapping using apps like iNaturalist and eBird and exhibitions on the wetlands and marine life of the region are part of the events.