Anupam Mishra (1948 – 19 December 2016) was an Indian

Gandhian The followers of Mahatma Gandhi,one of the prominent figure of the Indian independence movement, are called Gandhians. Gandhi's legacy includes a wide range of ideas ranging from his dream of ideal India (or ''Rama Rajya)'', economics, environ ...

, author, journalist, environmentalist, TED speaker, and water conservationist who worked on promoting water conservation, water management and traditional

rainwater harvesting Rainwater harvesting (RWH) is the collection and storage of rain, rather than allowing it to run off. Rainwater is collected from a roof-like surface and redirected to a Rainwater tank, tank, cistern, deep pit (well, shaft, or borehole), Aquifer s ...

techniques. He had been awarded the 1996 ''Indira Gandhi Paryavaran Puraskar'' (IGPP) award instituted by the

Ministry of Environment and Forests The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) is an Government of India, Indian government Ministry (government department), ministry. The ministry Portfolio (government), portfolio is currently held by Bhupender Yadav, Union ...

Government of India The Government of India (ISO 15919, ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of States and union t ...

.List of Indira Gandhi Paryavaran Purashkar Awardees
Indira Gandhi Paryavaran Puraskar, Official website. 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'' (Ponds Are Still Relevant, 1993) and ''Rajasthan Ki Rajat Boondein'' (Radiant Raindrops of Rajasthan, 1995), landmark works in the field of water conservation. An extensive interview with Mishra about the history and future of the

Yamuna River The Yamuna (; ) is the second-largest tributary river of the Ganges by discharge and the longest tributary in List of major rivers of India, India. Originating from the Yamunotri Glacier at a height of about on the southwestern slopes of B ...

occupies the last chapter of Rana Dasgupta's book '' Capital: The Eruption of Delhi''.

Biography

Mishra was born in

Wardha Wardha is a city and a municipal council in Wardha district in the Indian state of Maharashtra. The administrative headquarter of Wardha district is situated here. Wardha gets its name from the Wardha River which flows on the northern, western ...

Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...

state,

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

in 1948. He worked at the

Gandhi Peace Foundation The Gandhi Peace Foundation is an Indian organisation that studies and develops Mahatma Gandhi's thought. History The foundation was established on 31 July 1958 to preserve and spread Gandhi's thought. It began with donation of 10 million rup ...

in New Delhi in varying capacities since completing his college education in 1969. He promoted the use of indigenous or

traditional knowledge Traditional knowledge (TK), indigenous knowledge (IK), folk knowledge, and local knowledge generally refers to knowledge systems embedded in the cultural traditions of regional, indigenous, or local communities. Traditional knowledge includes ...

to solve water problem via preservation, maintenance and regeneration of ponds,

water management Water resources are natural resources of water that are potentially useful for humans, for example as a source of drinking water supply or irrigation water. These resources can be either freshwater from natural sources, or water produced artificia ...

and rain water harvesting. Working with

Chandi Prasad Bhatt Chandi Prasad Bhatt (born 23 June 1934) is an Indian environmentalist and social activist, who founded Dasholi Gram Swarajya Sangh (DGSS) in Gopeshwar in 1964, which later became a mother-organization to the Chipko Movement, in which he was o ...

, he was one of the early chroniclers of the

Chipko movement The Chipko movement () is a forest conservation movement in India. Opposed to commercial logging and the government's policies on deforestation, protesters in the 1970s engaged in tree hugging, wrapping their arms around trees so that they coul ...

that flourished through the 1970s in

Uttarakhand Uttarakhand (, ), also known as Uttaranchal ( ; List of renamed places in India, the official name until 2007), is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. The state is bordered by Himachal Pradesh to the n ...

, and published ''Chipko movement: Uttarakhand women's bid to save forest wealth'' in 1978. In 1993, he published ''Aaj Bhi Khare Hain Talaab'' (''

Ponds Are Still Relevant A pond is a small, still, land-based body of water formed by pooling inside a depression (geology), depression, either naturally or artificiality, artificially. A pond is smaller than a lake and there are no official criteria distinguishing ...

''), written after eight years of field research on traditional pond and water management. Soon, it became a handbook for many

non-governmental organizations A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an independent, typically nonprofit organization that operates outside government control, though it may get a significant percentage of its funding from government or corporate sources. NGOs often focus ...

(NGOs) working on water-harvesting projects. Subsequently, it was translated into 19 languages, including

Braille Braille ( , ) is a Tactile alphabet, tactile writing system used by blindness, blind or visually impaired people. It can be read either on embossed paper or by using refreshable braille displays that connect to computers and smartphone device ...

, and sold over 100,000 copies, out of which the

National Book Trust National Book Trust (NBT) is an Indian state-owned publishing house, headquartered in Delhi, India, founded in 1957 as an autonomous body under the Ministry of Education of the Government of India. NBT publishes reading material in several Indi ...

published 13 languages, including English. His next book, ''Rajasthan Ki Rajat Boondein'' (''The Radiant Raindrops of Rajasthan''), also documented water harvesting and water management in Western

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; Literal translation, lit. 'Land of Kings') is a States and union territories of India, state in northwestern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the List of states and union territories of ...

. All his books are copyright free. Mishra was awarded the 'Amar Shaheed Chandrasekhar Azad National Award' of 2007–08, instituted by the

Government of Madhya Pradesh The Government of Madhya Pradesh (abbreviated as MP) or Madhya Pradesh Government, is the supreme governing authority of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh and its 55 districts. It consists of an executive, led by the governor of Madhya Prade ...

, Culture Department to "propagate and publicise ideals of freedom struggle, patriotism and social service". He spoke on the topic "The ancient ingenuity of water harvesting" in 2009 TED conference. He is the recipient of

Jamnalal Bajaj Award Jamnalal Bajaj Award is an Indian award, for promoting Gandhian values, community service and social development. Established in 1978, by the Jamnalal Bajaj Foundation of Bajaj Group, it is given annually in four categories, and usually pres ...

for the year 2011. He was editor of the bi-monthly Gandhi Marg, published by the

. Mishra was a true Gandhian in philosophy and practice. Known to be warm and engaging in his demeanor and maintaining his principles throughout his life, he was a role model to many. He died on 20 December 2016 after a 10-month battle with cancer.

Works

* ''Aaj Bhi Khare Hain Talaab'' (in Hindi), (English title: ''Ponds Are Still Relevant''), published by Gandhi Shanti Pratishthan, New Delh
On line text
1993. * ''Radiant Raindrops of Rajasthan'', translated by Ms. Maya Jani, Research Foundation for Science Technology and Ecology, 199
On line text
* ''Chipko movement: Uttarakhand women's bid to save forest wealth'', with Satyendra Tripathi. People's Action, 1978. * '' Safa Mathe Ka Samaja '', Penguin India (3 October 2006)

References

External links

*
gandhipeacefoundation
at

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...

Select writings and speeches
a
मनसंपर््क
* A few articles relating Anupam Mishra a
Pani Post
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mishra, Anupam 1948 births 2016 deaths Indian conservationists Writers from Maharashtra Indian non-fiction environmental writers Gandhians Sustainability advocates Water conservation in India People from Wardha Activists from Maharashtra Indian editors 20th-century Indian non-fiction writers 21st-century Indian non-fiction writers