Anil
Agarwal
Anil Kumar Agarwal, the founder
of the Centre for Science and Environment, spearheaded the Jal
Swaraj campaign. His thoughts, ideas and opinions remain
the driving force behind the movement. Agarwal conceptualised
and edited Dying Wisdom, that explore the tremendous potential
of India's traditional water harvesting systems; and Making
Water Everybody's Business, that documents technologies that
are being practiced even today by communities in various parts
of the country. These two widely-read publications have gone
a long way in putting the issue of community-based water management.
in the national agenda.
Agarwal, who passed away on January 2, 2002, graduated as an
engineer from one of India's leading engineering colleges in
1970, but gave up a promising technical career to become a science
journalist in order to explore the country's scientific and
technological needs. He joined Delhi's leading daily, Hindustan
Times, as a science correspondent in 1973 and soon discovered
India's most evocative environmental movement known as the Chipko
Movement in 1974. The reportage of this movement not only led
to a nationwide interest in environmental conservation but also
brought home to Agarwal the importance that the environment
and its natural resource base hold for the local village economy
and for meeting the daily needs of village people in terms of
water, firewood, fodder, manure, building materials and medicinal
herbs. This was still a time when the leadership of the developing
world still believed that economic development must take precedence
over environmental conservation. But this understanding of the
relationship between the poor and their environment soon turned
Agarwal into a lifelong environmentalist and a reknowned environmental
analyst and writer.
Anupam
Mishra
A Gandhian and an environmental activist, Anupam Mishra
is among the most knowledgeable persons in India on traditional
water harvesting systems. He has travelled to various part of
the country, especially Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra
and Uttar Pradesh, visiting various water harvesting systems
managed by people.
He has also interacted with grassroot-level water harvesters,
inspired and supported them and helped them in their traditional
water harvesting systems campaign. He has written two
books on traditional tank management in India and various traditional
water harvesting systems in Rajasthan titled Aaj bhi khare
hai talab and Rajasthan ki rajat boonde. Mishra continues
to travel to different parts of the country, while keeping in
touch with grassroot-level water harvesters and NGOs and inspiring
them. The mission of the Gandhi Peace Foundation is to promote
the environmental activities of rural development agencies;
to prepare survey reports on distressed areas and place them
before concerned authorities; to disseminate environmental information
through the publication of up-to-date reports on environmental
issues; to organise workshops and seminars for environmental
experts, policy makers, individuals and organisations engaged
in environmental issues.
For details:
Gandhi Peace Foundation
221 - 223, Deendayal Upadhyaya Marg
New Delhi 110 002
Tel: 23237491, 23237493
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Pandit
Punyadhar Jha
Pandit Punyadhar Jha alias Bol Bam. A resident of Andhra Tharhi
village of Madhubani district in Bihar, the octogenarian has
spent a good part of his life planting trees. Jha has planted
a record 10,000 trees in various districts of Bihar till now.
And plans to continuing doing so in the future.
His knowledge bank: the
Agni Puranas, which detail traditional plantation methods.
His motto: one tree is equal
to 10 sons. |
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Vijay
Kedia
'Where there is a will there is a way', goes a popular saying,
which perfectly applies to Vijay Kedia, an Aurangabad-based
mechanical engineer/builder. While working on his family farm,
his improved his understanding of water and its various facets.
Further, the knowledge of raditional rainwater harvesting systems
of Rajasthan encouraged him to innovatively modify the existing
techniques to suit the local context. The Dewas roof water filter,
Kedia-farm pattern bandhara (an earthen dam, commonly
found in Maharashtra) and a rain gauge are the result of eight
years of exploration. The potential of these low cost structures
in eradicating ecological and economic poverty has been widely
acknowledged.
A Kedia bandhara costs only Rs 5,000 and can capture
70 - 80 per cent of the monsoon runoff, while keeping the soil
moist for next five to six months. It is constructed by digging
a two feet wide and eight to ten feet deep trench before the
bandhara, and refilling it with soil after vertically
lining it with a PVC sheet. The trench acts as a vertical aquifer.
The PVC sheet stops the water from percolating outside. In his
farm, following the seventh century model at Ghadasisar in Jaisalmer,
the bhandaras are constructed in a series - thus, preventing
the runoff going waste. The wells are constructed in the bottom
of the bhandara - ensuring a sustained availability of water.
These days he is actively spreading the knowledge around with
one message - "Sai jitna dee jiye, wame kutumb samaye"
(the rain god is giving us enough water, it has to be managed
intelligently), which Kedia believes can sustainably solve the
water scarcity.
He has also designed a simple rain gauge, which
costs only Rs 2, with a two-litre plastic bottle.
For details:
72, Pannalal Nagar
Aurangabad 431 005
Maharashtra
Tel: 0240-2337974 / 2339934
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