Balbir Singh Seechewal (born 2 February 1962) is a Nirmala Sikh who spearheaded an anti-river pollution campaign in

Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

, India. By combining his assiduously cultivated self-help philosophy with the environmental essence of the

Gurbani Gurbani (, pronunciation: , lit. the Guru's words) is a Sikh term, very commonly used by Sikhs to refer to various compositions by the Sikh Gurus and other writers of Guru Granth Sahib. In general, hymns in the central text of the Sikhs, the Gu ...

, he has resurrected the long

Kali Bein Kali Bein is a rivulet in Punjab, India that flows into the confluence of the rivers Beas and Satluj at Harike. Guru Nanak attained enlightenment after taking a bath in the Kali Bein, and despite its religious history in Sikhism, the rivulet is ...

rivulet. He received Indian civilian award

Padmashri The Padma Shri ( IAST: ''padma śrī'', lit. 'Lotus Honour'), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 Janu ...

in 2017. He is also known as ''Eco Baba''. In his latest project in early 2009, taking up the cudgels to save

Buddha Nullah Buddha Nullah or Buddha Nala () is a seasonal water stream or nullah, which runs through the Malwa (Punjab), Malwa region of Punjab, India, and after passing through highly populated Ludhiana district, Punjab, India, it drains into Sutlej River, ...

, Seechewal has initiated a campaign for generating awareness amongst different sections of the society to solve the problem of desilting the water body following the failure of the Punjab Pollution Control Board's (PPCB) and industries in complying with the High Court's orders in this regard. He cleaned and restored

river, a 160 km long tributary of Beas in

Doaba Doaba, also known as Bist Doab or the Jalandhar Doab, is the region of Punjab, India that lies between the Beas River and the Sutlej River. People of this region are given the demonym "Doabia". The dialect of Punjabi spoken in Doaba ...

region of Punjab. Seechewal says that when he started the water-cleaning project of

in 2007, it was a challenging task. But, as people became aware of its importance, they joined in cleaning the rivulet, which had become a dried-up drain and had been reduced to a garbage dump with its historic and religious significance long forgotten. He is a

Rajya Sabha Rajya Sabha (Council of States) is the upper house of the Parliament of India and functions as the institutional representation of India’s federal units — the states and union territories.https://rajyasabha.nic.in/ It is a key component o ...

member from Punjab.

Aam Aadmi Party The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP, ) is a List of political parties in India, political party in India. It was founded on 26 November 2012 by Arvind Kejriwal and his then-companions, following the 2011 Indian anti-corruption movement against then gover ...

has selected him for his contributions on environment.

Life

He was born in a

Sikh Sikhs (singular Sikh: or ; , ) are an ethnoreligious group who adhere to Sikhism, a religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Guru Nanak. The term ''Si ...

, agricultural family in Seechewal in Jalandhar district in Punjab, India to Chanan Singh and Chanan Kaur. He studied at

DAV College The D.A.V. College Managing Committee, commonly known as DAVCMC, is a non-governmental educational organisation in India and overseas with over 900 schools, 75 colleges and a university. It is based on the ideals of Dayananda Saraswati and Ar ...

, Nakodar. He put on saffron robes in 1981 after dropping out of college. He was twice a

sarpanch A sarpanch, gram pradhan, mukhiya, or president is a decision-maker, elected by the village-level constitutional body of local self-government called the gram sabha (village government) in India. The sarpanch, together with other elected panchay ...

of Seechewal.

Awards and honors

Balbir Singh Seechewal (left) receiving

Padma Shri The Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī'', lit. 'Lotus Honour'), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. In ...

award from the

President of India The president of India (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the head of state of the Republic of India. The president is the nominal head of the executive, the first citizen of the country, and the commander-in-chief, supreme commander of the Indian Armed ...

Pranab Mukherjee Pranab Kumar Mukherjee ( ; born, 11 December 1935 – 31 August 2020) was an Indian statesman who served as the president of India from 2012 until 2017. He was the first person from West Bengal to hold the post of President of India. In a pol ...

(right) on 30 March 2017. * Hero of Environment by ''Time'' magazine

References

External links

Heroes of the Environment 2008Nirmal Kuteya Ek Onkar Charitable Trust
set up by Seechwal {{DEFAULTSORT:Seechewal, Balbir Singh Living people Indian environmentalists Activists from Punjab, India Recipients of the Padma Shri in social work Water conservation in India 1962 births Scholars from Punjab, India 20th-century Indian scholars 21st-century Indian scholars Aam Aadmi Party politicians Rajya Sabha members from Aam Aadmi Party