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World Water Day 22 March 2018 ENVIS Resource Partner on Medicinal Plants World Water Day, on 22 March every year, is about focusing attention on the importance of water. This year's theme, 'Nature for Water', explores nature-based solutions to the water challenges we face in the 21st century.

The Holy basil for safe drinking water:

Botanical name: Strychnos potatorum L. Botanical name: Ocimum tenuiorum L. Hindi: Tulsi (popular name) Parts used: Leaves

Learn more and get inspired by stories about naturebased solutions on http://www.unwater.org/worldwater-day-2018/; www.worldwaterday.org

Wonder herbs for safe and healthy drinking water Life without water is un-imaginable. Moreover, consuming safe drinking water is more important as it curtails several water borne diseases, which sometime may be fatal. From time immemorial across the country, various medicinal plants, metals and minerals are used to purify the water traditionally. Here are few simple phytotechnologies available at home at an affordable cost.

Simple tips: Few leaves of Tulsi in copper/ silver vessel lled with water help to kill the microbes and builds immunity. This is a common practice in most of the Indian homes and in temples. Next time when you go to temple, take a spoonful of tirta, a medicated holy water for good health! The leaves are effective to treat fever, cold, cough and skin disorders.

List of plant drugs commonly used for treatment of drinking water in Ayurveda 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12.

Nirmali the herbal lter:

Acacia catechu (L.f.) Willd. [Khadira/ khatta/ Kachi]- heartwood Caesalpinia sappan L. [Pattanga/Patranga]- heartwood Coleus vettiveroides Jacob [Hrivera]- root Coriandrum sativum L. [Dhaniya]- seeds Cuminum cyminum L. [Cumin seeds/ Jeeraka/ Jeera]- dry seeds Cyperus rotundus L. [Musta]- rhizome Elettaria cardamomum (L.) Maton [Ela/Elachi]- entire fruit/ seeds Fumaria parviora Lam. [Parpata]- whole plant Hemidesmus indicus (L.) R.Br. ex Schult. [Sariva/ Nannari]- dry roots Santalaum album L. [Chandana]- heartwood Trigonella foenum-graecum L. [Methi]- seeds Zingiber ofcinale Roscoe [Dry ginger/ shunti]- dry rhizome

Hindi: Nirmali Sanskrit: Kataka Tamil and Malayalam: terran kottai Kannada: cilledabija Part used: Seeds

Simple tips: Handful of seeds in a pot of water removes all the dirt through sedimentation process. This is a common practice in most parts of the rural Tamil Nadu. Besides these, the seeds are used in the form of powder to treat eye diseases, calculi and diabetes.

Khus grass for cooling and cleansing: Botanical name: Vetiveria zizanioides (L.) Nash. Synonym: Chrysopogon zizanoides (L.) Roberty Hindi: Vetiver Sanskrit: Usira Tamil and Malayalam: ramachham Kannada: Lavancha

Simple tips: Soak the cleaned dried roots of vettiver in the drinking water pot and ll it with water. It absorbs heavy metals and minerals and leaves the water clear. Treated water gives sweet taste, pleasant aroma and leaves the water cool.

General method of preparation and administration for plant drugs in Ayurveda About 3-5 g of individual drug powder/ mixture is added to a litre of boiling water, kept closed and ltered after natural cooling. Can be consumed as required without contraindication/dose limit. Classical method of preparation of Shadanga Paniya * One part of the shadanga paniya powder is added to 32/64 parts of boiling water, kept closed, ltered after natural cooling and used to drink as required. References: Ÿ Murthy S.R.K. (ed.). 2001. Astanga Hrdayam, Vol III, Krishnadas Academy, Varanasi. Ÿ Chunekar K.C. 2004. Bhavaprakasha Nighantu, Chaukhambha Bharati Academy, Varanasi, , 237- 324 Ÿ Sastry J.L.N. 2005. Dravyaguna Vijnana, Chaukhambha Orientalia, Varanasi, 593 Ÿ Anonymous. 2003. The Ayurvedic Formulary of India, Part I, (Government of India, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Department of Indian Systems of Medicine & Homoeopathy, New Delhi) Ÿ D. K. Ved, Suma Tagadur Sureshchandra, Vijay Barve, Vijay Srinivas, Sathya Sangeetha, K. Ravikumar, Kartikeyan R., Vaibhav Kulkarni, Ajith S. Kumar, S.N. Venugopal, B. S. Somashekhar, M.V. Sumanth, Noorunissa Begum, Sugandhi Fathima, Surekha K. V., and Nikhil Desale. 2016. (envis.frlht.org/ frlhtenvis.nic.in). FRLHT's ENVIS Centre on Medicinal Plants, Bengaluru. * Shadanga paniya powder is available in markets

Compiled by: ENVIS Resource Partner on Medicinal Plants (Suma Tagadur Sureshchandra, Shilpa Naveen and Soumyashree N) Photo courtesy: Ravi Kumar K. FRLHT - TDU, Bengaluru Copy Right: ENVIS Resource Partner on Medicinal Plants, FRLHT - TDU, Bengaluru and MoEF&CC, GoI.