Water Man of India gets Stockholm Water Prize

New Delhi, March 20 (IANS) India's Rajendra Singh has been awarded the 2015 Stockholm Water Prize Laureate for his innovative water restoration efforts in rural parts of the country.

Better known as the Water Man of India, Singh, who is currently based in Rajasthan, originally comes from Dollah village of Baghpat district in Uttar Pradesh.

"It's been over 35 years since I shifted. I used to provide medicines to the old in Rajasthan villages. I also used to help children to go to school but one day an elderly man told me that the people there don't need medicine or education but water," he told IANS, adding that from day onwards he started working on water problems in the villages there.

"It's been a long journey. I did not know anything about water harvesting or how to get the ground water table recharged but locals helped me learn and I never looked back after that," he said.

On being chosen for the prize, Singh said this is very encouraging, energizing and inspiring news.

"Through the Indian wisdom of rainwater harvesting, we have made helpless, abandoned, destitute and impoverished villages prosperous and healthy again," he said.

The Stockholm Water Prize is a global award founded in 1991 and presented annually by the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) to an individual, organisation or institution for outstanding water-related achievements.

The prize includes $150,000 and a specially designed sculpture.