Amla Ruia
Amla Ruia | |
|---|---|
 Ruia in 2010 | |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Occupation(s) | Entrepreneur, Water Activist and Educationist |
Amla Ashok Ruia is an Indian environmentalist known for her work in water harvesting.
Career
Ruia was inspired by severe droughts in 1999/2000 and 2003 to improve water harvesting in Rajasthan villages.[1][2] She founded the Aakar Charitable Trust(ACT) to partner with villages to build check dams that provide water security.[3]
Her first check dam project was in Mandawar village,[1] Rajasthan, which was a success. Farmers managed to earn up to 120 million rupees in a year via the two check dams built by Aakar Charitable Trust.[1] By the end of 2017, Aakar Charitable Trust had built more than 200 check dams in more than 115 villages in Rajasthan, with flow-on effects to almost 200 other villages.[4][5][6] The Trust provides 60-70% of the resources required to construct each check dam, while the village where the dam is sited provides 30-40% of resources, participates in its construction, and is responsible for its maintenance.[3][4] The check dams allow the aquifers to be replenished during the monsoon, so that bore wells and hand-pumps are recharged.[4] Villagers have been able to grow up to three crops per year and keep livestock.[1][3][4] Ruia estimates that the resulting increased income gives a 750% return on the investment in the check dams.[3] |Girls are able to attend school, as they no longer need to help their mothers carry water from long distances,[4] and students can undertake tertiary education.[3] Ruia is popularly known as Paani Mata ("Water Mother").[1][7]
Ruia and her team have extended their efforts in other states such as Madhya Pradesh,[1][5] Maharashtra,[1][5] Odisha,[5] and the Dantewada district in Chhattisgarh,[1][5] and have plans to expand into Bihar,[2] Haryana,[2] Uttaranchal and Uttar Pradesh.
In 2011, Ruia was awarded a Lakshmipat Singhania - IIM Lucknow National Leadership Award in the category of Community Service and Social Upliftment.[8][9] In 2016, she was nominated for the Women of Worth Social Award category.[6] In 2018, she received the India Eye International Human Rights Observer Achievement Award 2018.[10]
Personal life
Amla Ruia was born in Uttar Pradesh.[11] She currently lives in Malabar Hill, Mumbai, Maharashtra.[12]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h "'Water Mother' Amla Ruia, transformed over 100 villages of Rajasthan using traditional water harvesting". Vishwa Samvad Kendra. NewsBharati. 18 April 2017. Retrieved 9 February 2019.
- ^ a b c Jayakumar, P.B. (8 October 2017). "Healing Drought". Business Today. India. Retrieved 10 February 2019.
- ^ a b c d e Dey, Anindo (23 September 2012). "Water idea, sir ji!". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 16 February 2013. Retrieved 16 January 2015.
- ^ a b c d e Peerzeda, Aamir Rafiq (12 September 2017). "Meet India's dam-building grandmother". BBC News. Retrieved 9 February 2019.
- ^ a b c d e Kumar, Pavan Manikanta (5 August 2018). "Meet The Woman Who Rescued 2 Lakh Villagers From Poverty And Tripled Their Revenue In 10 Years". The Logical Indian. Retrieved 9 February 2019.
- ^ a b "Women of Worth: About the Nominee - Amla Ruia". Women Of Worth. 11 February 2016. Retrieved 16 December 2017.
- ^ "One Woman Made 100 Villages in Rajasthan Fertile Using Traditional Water Harvesting Methods". The Better India. 15 December 2015. Retrieved 16 December 2017.
- ^ "Leadership Awards". Hindustan times. Archived from the original on 18 January 2015. Retrieved 16 January 2015.
- ^ "LAKSHMIPAT SINGHANIA - IIM, LUCKNOW NATIONAL LEADERSHIP AWARDS - 2013". www.lpsiimlawards.in. Archived from the original on 9 January 2019. Retrieved 18 September 2015.
- ^ "IHRO to celebrate World Environment Day". The Sunday Guardian. 14 April 2018. Retrieved 9 February 2019.
- ^ "About the Trust". Aakar Charitable Trust. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 18 September 2015.
- ^ Merchant, Cyrus H. (18 May 2016). "Brightly flows the river". Marwar. India. Archived from the original on 10 February 2019. Retrieved 10 February 2019.