From watchmaking and reforming prisoners to reviving rivers, this man is now solving water crisis in Karnataka

In summer, water scarcity is one of the most common problems faced by many cities and towns across India. According to a study by the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), in a few years, Bengaluru will turn out to be uninhabitable due to its increasing population and depleting ground water levels.

Realising the intensity of the problem, Nagaraj Gangolli, a former watchmaker at HMT wristwatches, has come up with a solution to rejuvenate rivers across Karnataka.

While helping around 100 farmer families to get better access to groundwater in his hometown, a village called Lakshmipura, Nagaraj came up with an innovative solution to solve the problem of water scarcity permanently. 

According to Nagaraj, micro watersheds can be created in such a manner that it will feed the first and second order streams, and after it fills, the water will be supplied to the non-perennial rivers. After he found out this solution, Nagaraj started working on the “Vedavathi Basin Project” under the River Rejuvenation Project of The Art of Living. The project was a success in two years, and Nagaraj says he used just Rs 3 crore against an initial estimation of Rs 6 crore.

Also read: Meet the Noida-based engineer who is reviving dying lakes to help avert India’s water crisis 

By using the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005 (MGNREGA) scheme, Nagaraj tackled the problem of funding of these projects, where the government funds for the infrastructure of the projects and the local people working on these projects have now been guaranteed employment.

“We work with the local governments to make an action plan for each district. We then make teams comprising the district/ taluk coordinator, and the panchayat/village coordinators. We give them training on the execution process. We teach the village coordinator different ways to mobilise people and implement capacity building,” said Nagaraj to The Hindu.

The first phase of the project was completed by covering over 49 villages, 9,992 families, and a population of over 49,000. Nagaraj aims to complete the second phase of this project by June 2019, covering 1,097 villages and 24 village panchayats.

Also read: This Gujarat-based businessman has planted 40 forests across India in a bid for a greener tomorrow

Currently working as a full-time advisor at The Art of Living in Bengaluru, Nagaraj has also been responsible for changing the lives of many prisoners and unemployed people in villages and slums by employing them in his projects. 

AV Praveen, once a wanted criminal held for chain-snatching and robbery, is a reformed person today, thanks to Nagaraj. He has worked as one of the key coordinators in the ‘Vedavathi Project’ under Nagaraj, and is now leading a respectable life and has also earned much appreciation from police personnel for improved behaviour, reports The Logical Indian.

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