Paani Foundation: A Gamified Approach to Water Crisis in Rural India

Abstract

Maharashtra in India faced the dual challenge of drought and flooding as a result of variable rainfall and inadequate water management practices. Paani Foundation, an NGO, embarked on a mission to empower and mobilize people in order to combat the issue of water scarcity and drought in Maharashtra. They introduced the ‘Satyamev Jayate Water Cup Competition’, which employed a gamified approach to ignite ‘A Mass Movement to Combat the Environmental Crisis’. In this competition, villages vied with each other to amass as much water as possible during the rainy season by constructing reservoirs for rainwater harvesting. The remarkable success of this intervention in rural Maharashtra led to the question of whether it marked the dawn of a ‘Water Revolution’ in the country. How could a mass movement transform water-scarce villages into water-abundant ones?