Currently, India is facing major water-related problems. Pollution of water bodies and depleting groundwater resources in the country has taken a severe turn. Major Indian cities dried up, even after a month of the monsoon season. However, some heroes have pledged to revive the dying water bodies to save the future of humanity.
Arun Krishnamurthy is an environmental activist from Chennai. Formerly, he used to work with google. However, he always had a mental space occupied with the thought of conservation of natural heritage. One day he got severely obsessed with the pitiable condition of a pond in his locality. People would throw garbage into the pond. Even the local authorities did not understand their responsibility to maintain the cleanliness and hygiene at and around the water body.
As a result, Arun made up his mind and decided to quit his job at google to fulfil his self-endowed responsibility of conserving the environment. The 32-year-old says that leaving the job from google was not a tough decision for him because he takes calculated decisions and has never been uncertain about whatever he does with his life.
After quitting a job that paid a handsome comfort for the activist, this guy went on to undertake one of the biggest environmental focused campaigns of the nation. Arun launched a movement to conserve the water bodies from getting converted into a marsh of garbage. Arun has reportedly cleaned 93 freshwater bodies across 14 different states of India up till now.
Initially, it was tough to work alone. He approached some authorities and was able to bag some help from local Panchayat. Primarily he focused on cleaning the local water bodies which were being converted into a garbage dump by the local authorities and residents. With successful outputs at the initial stage of his eco-movement, Arun expanded his conservative efforts to other cities of State and then to other states as well. Soon, a large number of
Until now many people have come forward to support Arun in his noble mission. His efforts have been recognised nationally. He has set-up an NGO which works by the name of Environmentalist Foundation of India (EFI). It is a Not for profit organisation which works for wildlife conservation and restoration of natural habitats. The Slogan of EFI is “Volunteer for India and her Environment with EFI”.
The NGO is run by Arun and his fellows who have a similar vision. People of all ages from school going students to college youngsters to working people to retired oldies form part of this NGO.
Not only individuals and local authorities but recognised organisations like The Hinduja Foundation, The Murugappa Group, and Shriram Group have also come forward to aid EFI in its motive. The NGO has received funding from various national level corporate entities to serve for the noble cause.
Arun has also won The Rolex Award for Enterprise in 2012 for his efforts in conservation of water bodies. The Rolex Award recognises and supports Individuals who have innovative ideologies and projects that can improve the life of Planet Earth. The award emphasises on the expansion of knowledge to preserve and conserve natural and cultural heritage for the forthcoming generations as well as support solutions to major challenges of society.
EFi has been successful in creating a positive impact on nature by reviving water bodies in Chennai, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Pune, Delhi, Kolkata, Coimbatore, Punudcherry, Thiruvananthapuram, Tirunelveli, Bengaluru and Ahmedabad. The NGO aims to start conducting full-time drives and operations to clean the water-bodies in Vijayawada, Mysuru, and Kanyakumari.
There are several such water-bodies in the country which need an immediate solution before they are converted into a garbage marsh permanently. No single man is enough to bring life to the whole nature which has been severely affected by human activities. We all need to make combined efforts as well as take steps at the individual level to leave a positive impact on the environment and revive the dying nature.
