An Indian campaigner who brought water to 1,000 villages using ancient methods wins a prize known as the “Nobel Prize for water”.
An award known as “the Nobel Prize for water” has been given to an Indian campaigner who has brought water to 1,000 villages.The judges of the Stockholm Water Prize say his methods have also prevented floods, restored soil and rivers, and brought back wildlife.
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
The judges of the Stockholm Water Prize say his methods have also prevented floods, restored soil and rivers, and brought back wildlife.
The prize-winner, Rajendra Singh, is dubbed “the Water Man of India”.
The judges say his technique is cheap, simple, and that his ideas should be followed worldwide.
Mr Singh uses a modern version of the ancient Indian technique of rainwater harvesting.
It involves building low-level banks of earth to hold back the flow of water in the wet season and allow water to seep into the ground for future use.
Origins of Rajendra Singh
Rajendra Singh first trained as a medic, but when he took up a post in a rural village in arid Rajasthan he was told the greatest need was not health care but drinking water.
Groundwater had been sucked dry by farmers, and as water disappeared, crops failed, rivers, forests and wildlife disappeared and people left for the towns.