Top Indian Musicians Collaborating on Water Movement

Remember the 80s song Mile Sur Mera Tumhara which became an anthem for national integration? Well, the creators of that iconic track—lyricist Piyush Pandey and composer Louiz Banks—are collaborating on water movement ‘Paani Ka Teeka’. Among the top Indian musicians joining the water consciousness project are tabla maestro Zakir Hussain, ghazal legend Pankaj Udhas, singer-composers Shankar Mahadevan, Vishal Dadlani and Salim Merchant, Bollywood vocalists Shreya Ghoshal, Shaan, Harshdeep Kaur, Neha Bhasin, and respected world musicians Mame Khan, Sivamani and Rakesh Chaurasia.

Top Indian musicians and responsible citizens

These top Indian musicians are also socially conscious and considered responsible citizens, so it’s no surprise that the ad men behind Mile Sur reached out to them for #PaaniKaTeeka. The project itself has been created to trigger a pan-India citizen’s social responsibility (CSR) movement towards a Water Secure India.

India is currently staring at a severe water crisis as it nears ‘Day Zero’ conditions when the taps run dry. While the government, corporate social responsibility and NGOs are working on various water projects, the cause has reached a point where it needs the involvement of citizens to reach a stage of water security. For this reason, Paani ka Teeka will work closely with rural folks in transforming lives affected by water scarcity.

The social enterprise behind the project is IdeaHive Media Pvt Ltd, which works on Water, Education and Job Creation. Livelihood creation, watershed management and behavioural change when it comes to water usage are the key focus areas for this campaign.

Louiz Banks says the project is a “unified voice to conserve water, which is a precious natural resource.” The intention is to find long-term sustainable ways of preserving water and promoting water-protecting ecosystems. Dilip Moorkoth, Founder,
#PaaniKaTeeka calls the support of these top Indian musicians a “blessing.”

The project has partnered with Watershed Organisation Trust (WOTR) as its knowledge partner; Advisory and Technical partners are National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI), Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE) and Emergy Enviro (A SINE IIT Bombay Company). The goal is to impact 1,000 villages across India and work towards bringing a behavioural change within larger cities.