Lucknow: He was a student when he saw ponds and lakes in Gautam Buddha Nagar gradually shrinking and then vanishing. Ramveer Tanwar, now 29, felt that if the local people took the initiative, they could save the water bodies in their areas.
“I had an unexplained fascination for water. I would take my herd of cattle for grazing in my village Dadha. I would sit by the local pond to leisurely finish my schoolwork, even as the animals munched on the grass,” recalls the resident of Gautam Buddha Nagar.
Tanwar, who went on to pursue his Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering also witnessed the urbanisation of his village and all the areas of Greater Noida, over the years.
The urbanisation resulted in population growth, which further resulted in the shrinking of water bodies and forests, as the tall buildings were constructed on those lands.
Since it was mandatory for students pursuing the course to participate in social and environmental activities and provide viable solutions for issues related to them, Tanwar decided that he would address the concern of disappearing water bodies and forest lands.
Tanwar and his batch mates started an informal campaign on water conservation called ‘Jal Chaupal’ with local communities. He started from his village Dadha, but soon visited other villages in Uttar Pradesh, including Dabra, Kulipura, Chauganpur, Raipur, Sirsa, Rampur, Salempur.
The student group was also accompanied by several environmentalists and they held meetings with the villagers. In these ‘Jal Chaupals’, villagers shared their experiences on water quality issues, and the student group and experts discussed mitigation measures.
He urged the people to conserve water and save natural resources like ponds, lakes and wetlands. Tanwar started off by giving lessons to children from his village, who in turn, began to feel like they had to do something about their dying water sources.
Later, he told the students to come with their parents every Sunday and he would facilitate a discussion and suggest methods to conserve water.
The message finally started to sink in, and the villagers were really starting to grasp the problem they were facing.
His effort was appreciated by the district authorities, and these ‘Jal Chaupals’ were officially recognised.
In 2015, Tanwar and his team of volunteers, students, and their parents removed all the garbage from the first pond. Not only did they clean it, they also planted some trees around it.
Later on, they invited the local administration to come and see the glorious restoration. The good news spread fast and soon enough, people from other villages and districts started to come to Tanwar to ask for help with the restoration of local lakes.
He roped in more people and went on to restore dozens of lakes and ponds in the region. Soon after he completed his graduation, Tanwar got a job in a multinational company, where he worked for nearly two years.
However, he could not get ‘Jal Chaupal’ out of his mind and heart all that while and soon Tanwar quit his plush job to dedicate his time and energy in saving the parched water bodies and promoting afforestation.
Finally, Tanwar became a full-time conservationist in 2016. Tanwar says that more than 60 per cent of the water bodies in India are either filled with garbage or solid waste or those areas have been encroached upon.
“This is more prevalent in areas where urbanisation is taking place. The wetlands in the rural areas are comparatively in a better position. Whichever area is urbanised, rest assured the wetlands of the area will be damaged,” he says.
Tanwar says the lack of solid waste management is another reason for the deterioration of the water bodies, and this factor is prevalent in both urban and rural areas.
In rural areas, he says, the management is more difficult because there are no dedicated landfill sites or garbage collection vans, and nobody likes to keep the waste inside the house. So, the villagers dump the waste in the nearby water body, most of which is non-biodegradable.
Besides, the water bodies that are no longer a source of income for the villages or communities, are not taken care of, he adds.
He further says that when water bodies become contaminated with dangerous bacteria, it results in devastating health effects in humans. Symptoms may include an array of health issues, such as diarrhoea and neurological problems.
Tanwar’s moment of glory however came when he was praised by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in ‘Mann Ki Baat’ and also by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.
He has been declared as the Brand Ambassador of the Swachh Bharat Mission, Ghaziabad and has been appointed as the District Coordinator of the ‘BhuJal Sena’, Noida (Groundwater Force) by the Government of Uttar Pradesh.
(IANS)
