| Anupam Mishra | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1948 (age 63–64) Madhya Pradesh, India |
| Occupation | environmentalist |
| Known for | water conservation, rainwater harvesting |
Anupam Mishra (born 1948) is an Indian Gandhian and environmentalist, and water conservationist who works on promoting water conservation, water management and traditional rainwater harvesting techniques. [1] He had been awarded the 1996 Indira Gandhi Paryavaran Puraskar (IGPP) award instituted by the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India. [2] He travels to villages across Indian states like Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, advocating water harvesting, and has been advocating conservation of traditional water structure in India as well as abroad.[3][4] He has written books, like Aaj Bhi Khare Hain Talaab (Lakes are still Standing, 1993) and Rajasthan Ki Rajat Boondein (Radiant Raindrops of Rajasthan, 1995), landmark works in the field of water conservation.[5][6][7]
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Born in Madhya Pradesh, he is a member and secretary of 'Gandhi Peace Foundation' and the editor of foundation's magazine 'Gandhi Marg'.[3][2], and a founding member of 'Centre for Environment and Food Security' (CEFS), founded in 2001 in Delhi.[8] He has been promoting used of indigenous knowledge to solve water problem via preservation, maintenance and regeneration of ponds, water management and rain water harvesting.[7]
Working with Chandi Prasad Bhatt, he was one of the early chroniclers of the Chipko movement that flourished through the 1970s in Uttarakhand, and published Chipko movement: Uttarakhand women's bid to save forest wealth in 1978. [9]
In 1993, he published, Aaj Bhi Khare Hain Talaab, written after eight years of field research on tradition ponds and water management, soon it became a handbook for many NGOs working on water-harvesting projects. Subsequently, it was translated into 19 languages including Braille, in 100,000 copies, out of which the National Book Trust published 13 languages, including English. His the next book, Rajasthan Ki Rajat Boondein, also documented water harvesting and water management in Western Rajasthan. All his books are copyright free.[5][7]
He was awarded the 'Amar Shaheed Chandrasekhar Azad National Award' of 2007-08, instituted by the Government of Madhya Pradesh, Culture Department to "propagate and publicise ideals of freedom struggle, patriotism and social service". [3]
He spoke on the topic "The ancient ingenuity of water harvesting" in 2009 TED conference.
He is the recipient of Jamnalal Bajaj award for the year 2011.[10]