Rajendra Singh (born 6 August 1959) is an Indian water conservationist and environmentalist from Alwar district, Rajasthan in India. Also known as "waterman of India", he won the Magsaysay Award in 2001 and Stockholm Water Prize in 2015. He runs an NGO called 'Tarun Bharat Sangh' (TBS), which was founded in 1975. The NGO based in village hori-Bhikampura in Thanagazi tehsil, near Sariska Tiger Reserve, has been instrumental in fighting the slow bureaucracy, mining lobby and has helped villagers take charge of water management in their semi-arid area as it lies close to Thar Desert, through the use of johad, rainwater storage tanks, check dams and other time-tested as well as path-breaking techniques. Starting from a single village in 1985, over the years TBS helped build over 8,600 johads and other water conservation structures to collect rainwater for the dry seasons, has brought water back to over 1,000 villages and revived five rivers in Rajasthan, Arvari, Ruparel, Sarsa, Bhagani and Jahajwali.[1][2][3] He is one of the members of the National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA) which was set up in 2009, by the Government of India as an empowered planning, financing, monitoring and coordinating authority for the Ganges (Ganga), in exercise of the powers conferred under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.[4]
The struggle for the life and devoted water conservation efforts of Rajendra Singh is being produced by the film producer and director Ravindra Chauhan under the name of the documentary Jal Purush Ki Kahani
Early life
Rajendra Singh was born at village Daula in Bagpat district in Uttar Pradesh near Meerut. He was the eldest of seven siblings. His father was an agriculturist and looked over their 60 acres of land in the village and where Rajendra did his early schooling.[5]
An important event in his life came in 1974, when he was still in high school, Ramesh Sharma, a member of Gandhi Peace Foundation visited their family home in Meerut, this opened up young Rajendra's mind, to issues of village improvement, as Sharma went about cleaning the village, opened a vachnalaya (library) and even got involved in settling local conflicts; soon he involved Rajendra in an alcoholism eradication program.[5] Another important influence was an English language teacher in school, Pratap Singh, who started discussing politics and social issues with his students after class. At this time Emergency was imposed in 1975, making him aware about the issues of democracy and formulate independent views.[5]
The documentary film depicting the life of Jal Purush Dr Rajendra Singh has been produced and directed by Ravindra Chauhan under the banner of Chambal Cine Production named 'Bhai Saheb Jal Purush Ki Kahani'. Your life story has been written in the book named Johad.
Career
After completing his studies, he joined government service in 1980, and started his career as a National Service Volunteer for education in Jaipur, from where he was appointed to oversee adult education schools in Dausa district in Rajasthan.[5] Meanwhile, he joined Tarun Bharat Sangha (Young India Association) or TBS, an organization formed by officer and students of Jaipur University to aid victims of a campus fire. Subsequently, after three years when he became General Secretary of the organisation, he questioned the organisation, which had been dabbling with various issues, for its inadequacy in having a substantial impact. Finally in 1984 the entire board resigned leaving the organization to him. One of the first tasks he took up was working with a group of nomad blacksmiths, who though traveled from village to village had little support from anyone. This exposure inspired him to work closely with people. However back at work, he was feeling increasingly frustrated by the apathy of his superiors towards developmental issues and his own inability to have a larger impact, he left his job in 1984. He sold all his household goods for Rs 23,000 and took a bus ticket for the last stop, on boarded bus going into interior of Rajasthan, along with him were four friends from Tarun Bharat Sangha. The last stop turned out to be Kishori village in Thanagazi tehsil in Alwar district, and the day was 2 October 1985. After initial skepticism, the villagers of neighboring village Bhikampura accepted him, and here they found a place to stay. Soon, he started a small Ayurvedic medicine practice in nearby village Gopalpura, while his colleagues went out about promoting education in the villages.[5]
Rajendra Singh educating the students of Teri University, New Delhi about his projects at Alwar, Rajasthan.
Alwar district, which once had a grain market, was at the time largely dry and barren, as years of deforestation and mining had led to a dwindling water table, minimal[clarification needed] rainfall followed by floods. Another reason was the slow abandoning of traditional water conservation techniques, like building check dams, or johad, instead villagers started relying on "modern" bore wells, which simply sucked the groundwater up. But consistent use meant that these bored wells had to be dug deeper and deeper within a few years, pushing underground water table further down each time, till they went dry in ecologically fragile Aravalis. At this point he met a village elder, Mangu Lal Meena, who argued "water was a bigger issue to address in rural Rajasthan than education".[3] He chided him to work with his hands rather than behaving like "educated" city folks who came, studied and then went back; later encouraged him to work on a johad, earthen check dams, which have been traditionally used to store rainwater and recharge groundwater, a technique which had been abandoned in previous decades. As a result, the area had no ground water since previous five years and was officially declared a "dark zone". Though Rajendra wanted to learn the traditional techniques from local farmers about water conservation, his other city friends were reluctant to work manually and parted ways. Eventually with the help of a few local youths he started desilting the Gopalpura johad, lying neglected after years of disuse. When the monsoon arrived that year, the johad filled up and soon wells which had been dry for years had water. Villagers pitched in and in the next three years, it made it 15 feet deep.[5][1]
Tarun Ashram in Kishori-Bhikampura in Thanagazi tehsil bordering the Sariska sanctuary, became the headquarters of Tarun Bharat Sangha. He started on his first padayatra (walkathon) through the villages of the area in 1986, educating to rebuild villages' old check dams. Yet their bigger success was yet to come, as inspired by the walkathon and success at Gopalpura, 20km away, in 1986, people of Bhanota-Kolyala village with through shramdaan (voluntary labour) and with the help of TBS volunteers, constructed a johad at the source of a dried Arvari River, following this villages that lay in its catchment area, and along it also built tiny earthen dams, with largest being a 244-meter-long and 7-meter-high concrete dam in the Aravalli hills; eventually when the number of dams reached 375, the river started to flow again in 1990, after remaining dry for over 60 years. Yet the battle was far from over, even after constructing johads, the water level in the ponds and lakes around Sariska didn't go up as expected, that it went they discovered that missing water got evaporated from mining pits left unfilled by the miners after their operations in the area. A legal battle ensued, they filed public interest petition in the Supreme Court, which in 1991 banned mining in the Aravallis. Then in May 1992, Ministry of Environment and Forests notification banned mining in the Aravalli hill system all together, and 470 mines operating within the Sariska sanctuary buffer area and periphery were closed. Gradually TBS built 115 earthen and concrete structures within the sanctuary and 600 other structures in the buffer and peripheral zones. The efforts soon paid off, by 1995 Aravri became a perennial river.[1][6] The river was awarded the `International River Prize', and in March 2000, then President, K. R. Narayanan visited the area to present the "Down to Earth — Joseph. C. John Award" to the villagers.[6] In the coming years, rivers like Ruparel, Sarsa, Bhagani and Jahajwali were revived after remaining dry for decades. Abandoned villages in the areas got populated and farming activities could be resumed once again, in hundreds of drought-prone villages in neighbouring districts of Jaipur, Dausa, Sawai Madhopur, Bharatpur and Karauli, where work of TBS gradually spread.[1]
By 2001, TBS had spread over an area of 6,500km2, also including parts of Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh. It had built 4,500 earthen check dams, or johads, to collect rainwater in 850 villages in 11 districts of Rajasthan, and he was awarded the Magsaysay Award for Community Leadership in the same year.[1] Reforestation has been taken up by numerous village communities, and Gram sabha have been set up especially to look after community resources. A notable example is the Bhairondev Lok Vanyajeev Abhyaranya (people's sanctuary), spread over 12km2 near Bhanota-Kolyala village at the head of Arvari. He has also been organizing Pani Pachayat or Water Parliament in distant villages in Rajasthan to make people aware of the traditional water conservation wisdom,[7] the urgency of groundwater recharge for maintaining underground aquifers and advocating community control over natural resources.[2] In 2005, he was awarded the Jamnalal Bajaj Award.[8]
He also played a pivotal role in stopping the controversial Loharinag Pala Hydro Power Project over river Bhagirathi, the headstream of the Ganges River in 2006, even as G. D. Agrawal, environmentalist from IIT Kanpur went on a hunger strike.[9]
In 2009, he led a pada yatra (walkathon), a march of a group of environmentalists and NGOs, through Mumbai city along the endangered Mithi river.[10] On Jan 2014, he did a parikrama along the banks of Godavari river, from Trimbakeshwar to Paithan to urge people to make the river pollution free. Recently he gave lecture on water and its conservation and values of water at Atomic Energy Regulatory Board, Mumbai.[11]
Murlidhar Devidas Amte, popularly known as Baba Amte, was an Indian social worker and social activist known particularly for his work for the rehabilitation and empowerment of people suffering from leprosy. He has received numerous awards and prizes including the Padma Vibhushan, the Dr. Ambedkar International Award, the Gandhi Peace Prize, the Ramon Magsaysay Award, the Templeton Prize and the Jamnalal Bajaj Award. He is also known as the modern Gandhi of India.
The Gambhir River, which is also known as the Utangan River, is an ephemeral (seasonal) river in India which originates in Rajasthan state and confluences with Yamuna in Uttar Pradesh state. Important tributaries of the Gambhir are Banganga, Sesa, Kher, Churaho and Parbati.
Jamnalal Kaniram Bajaj was an Indian businessman and politician. He founded the Bajaj Group of companies in the 1920s, and the group now has 24 companies, including six that are listed on the bourses. He was also a close and beloved associate of Mahatma Gandhi, who is known to have often declared that Jamnalal was his fifth son.
Manibhai Bhimbhai Desai was an Indian social activist, associate of Mahatma Gandhi, and a pioneer of rural development.
A johad, also known as a pokhar or a percolation pond, is a community-owned traditional harvested rainwater storage wetland principally used for effectively harnessing water resources in the states of Haryana, Rajasthan, Punjab, and western Uttar Pradesh of North India, that collects and stores water throughout the year, to be used for the purpose of recharging the groundwater in the nearby water wells, washing, bathing and drinking by humans and cattle. Some johads also have bricked or stones masonry and cemented ghat.
A padayatra is a journey undertaken by politicians or prominent citizens to interact more closely with different parts of society, educate about issues concerning them, and galvanize his or her supporters. Padayatras or foot pilgrimages are also Hindu religious pilgrimages undertaken towards sacred shrines or pilgrimage sites.
The Arvari River, which originates in Aravalli range, is a small river flowing through the Alwar District of Rajasthan, India. It has a total length of 45 km (28 mi) and a total basin area of 492 km2 (190 sq mi). Downstream of the Sainthal Sagar dam on Arvari, the Arvari river meets Sarsa River to become the Sanwan River. The Sanwan meets the Tildah and Banganga rivers to converge with the Gambhir. Gambhir then converges with the Yamuna in Mainpuri district of Uttar Pradesh, Yamuna converges with Ganges at Triveni Sangam in Prayagraj.
Rajiasar Meetha is a cluster of three villages located in the Churu district of Rajasthan.
A taanka or paar, is a traditional rainwater harvesting technique, common to the Thar desert region of Rajasthan, India. It is meant to provide drinking water and water security for a family or a small group of families. A taanka is composed of a covered, underground, impermeable cistern on shallow ground for the collection of rainwater. The cistern is generally constructed out of stone or brick masonry, or concrete, with lime mortar or cement plaster. Rainwater or surface run-off from rooftops, courtyards, or artificially prepared catchments flow into the tank through filtered inlets in the wall of the pit.
Asola-Bhati Wildlife Sanctuary covering 32.71 km2 area on the Southern Delhi Ridge of Aravalli hill range on Delhi-Haryana border lies in Southern Delhi as well as northern parts of Faridabad and Gurugram districts of Haryana state. Biodiversity significance of Ridge lies in its merger with Indo-Gangetic plains, as it is the part of the Northern Aravalli leopard wildlife corridor, an important wildlife corridor which starts from the Sariska National Park in Rajasthan, passes through Nuh, Faridabad and Gurugram districts of Haryana and ends at Delhi Ridge.
Anupam Mishra was an Indian Gandhian, author, journalist, environmentalist, TED speaker, and water conservationist who worked on promoting water conservation, water management and traditional rainwater harvesting techniques. He had been awarded the 1996 Indira Gandhi Paryavaran Puraskar (IGPP) award instituted by the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India. He travelled to villages across several Indian states, especially Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Uttar Pradesh, describing the value of time-tested systems of water harvesting. He advocated conservation of traditional water structures in India as well as abroad. He wrote books like Aaj Bhi Khare Hain Talaab and Rajasthan Ki Rajat Boondein, landmark works in the field of water conservation. An extensive interview with Mishra about the history and future of the Yamuna River occupies the last chapter of Rana Dasgupta's book Capital: The Eruption of Delhi.
Tarun Bharat Sangh (TBS) is a non-profitable environmental NGO; with its headquarters in Bheekampura, Alwar, Rajasthan. Rajendra Singh has been the incumbent chairman of TBS since 1985. TBS started their work with mobilizing communities around the issue of water, and supporting them in reviving and revitalising the traditional systems of water management through construction of johads, anicuts, and bunds for rainwater harvesting from shramdan and partly by TBS. TBS has built on existing cultural traditions of the area to revive the feeling of oneness with nature which existed in the village communities and to create an understanding and ethos of integrated ecosystem development. At present, the contribution of the organisation is spread around 1000 villages of 15 districts of the state of Rajasthan. The organisation has rejuvenated and revived 11 rivers in the state of Rajasthan naming, Ruparel, Sarsa, Arvari, Bhagani, Jahajwali, Shabi, and has established about 11,800 johads. As a result of these contributions TBS was awarded with Stockholm Water Prize in 2015. Presently, TBS’ focus rests upon access to water by rejuvenation of water resources, tackling issues like human and wildlife conflicts, and combating the mining mafias for the benefit of the local community located there.
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Gutta Muniratnam was an Indian social worker, a member of the National Planning Commission of India and the founder of Rashtriya Seva Samithi (RASS), a non governmental organization engaged in the social welfare activities in over 2500 socio-economically backward villages in the Rayalaseema region, spread across the present day states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. He was honored by the Government of India, in 2012, with the fourth highest Indian civilian award of Padma Shri.
Rabindra Nath Upadhyay (1923–2010) was an Indian social worker, Gandhian and the founder of Tamulpur Anchalik Gramdan Sangha (TAGS), a non governmental organization working for the social development of the rural people in the Kumarikata village of Assam. He was a recipient of the 2003 Jamnalal Bajaj Award. The Government of India awarded him the fourth highest civilian award of the Padma Shri, in 2000, for his services to the society.
Banganga River, an 240 km long tributary of Gambhir river in India, originates from the hills of Aransar and Bairath in Jaipur region of Rajasthan state and converges with Yamuna near Fatehabad in Agra district of Uttar Pradesh state. Its main tributaries are Gumti Nalla and Suri River on right bank, and Sanwan and Palasan Rivers on left bank. Banganga's tributary Sanwan after converging with Tildah river then converges with Banganga river which in turn then converges with the Gambhir river which in turn converges with the Yamuna in Mainpuri district of Uttar Pradesh. Finally, Yamuna converges with Ganges at Triveni Sangam in Prayagraj.
Masani barrage, also Masani bridge, a barrage on the seasonal Sahibi River completed in 1989, is named after the Masani village in Rewari District of Haryana in India. Masani barrage also serves as a bridge on NH 919. Water storage in the barrage was made perennial in 2017 after a gap of 50 years. This barrage is important part of ecological corridor along the route of Sahibi river which traverses from Aravalli hills in Rajasthan to Yamuna via Matanhail forest, Chhuchhakwas-Godhari, Khaparwas Wildlife Sanctuary, Bhindawas Wildlife Sanctuary, Outfall Drain Number 8 and 6, Sarbashirpur, Sultanpur National Park, Basai and The Lost Lake (Gurugram).
Jahajwali River is one of the smallest rivers in the Aravalli hills of Rajasthan. It originates in Umri Deori, Guwada in Rajgarh Tahsil of Alwar district in Rajesthan state, India. It covers total geographic area of 89 km2.
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