https://indianpedia.org/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=Balbir_Singh_SeechewalBalbir Singh Seechewal - Revision history2026-07-31T13:08:16ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.45.4https://indianpedia.org/index.php?title=Balbir_Singh_Seechewal&diff=152165&oldid=previmported>SchreiberBike at 22:23, 2 August 20212021-08-02T22:23:23Z<p></p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2020}}<br />
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{{Infobox person<br />
|name = Balbir Singh Seechewal<br />
|image = Balbir Singh Seechewal.jpeg<br />
|image_size = <br />
|caption = <br />
|birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1962|02|02}}<br />
|birth_place = Seechewal, [[Jalandhar district]],<br />[[Punjab, India|Punjab]]<br />
|death_date = <br />
|death_place = <br />
|nationality = [[India]]n<br />
|field = <br />
|organization = <br />
|work_institution = <br />
|known for = [[Community-based conservation]]<br />
|occupation = River conservationist<br />
|prizes = <br />
|alma_mater = <br />
|footnotes = <br />
|website = <br />
}}<br />
'''Balbir Singh Seechewal''' (born 2 February 1962) is a [[Nirmala (sect)|Nirmala]] Sikh who spearheaded an anti-river pollution campaign in [[Punjab, India|Punjab]], India. By combining his assiduously cultivated self-help philosophy with the environmental essence of the [[Gurbani]], he has resurrected the 110-miles long [[Kali Bein]] rivulet.<ref>{{cite web|last=Singh |first=Madhur |url=http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1841778_1841781_1841808,00.html |title=Balbir Singh Seechewal – Heroes of the Environment 2008 |work=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |date=24 September 2008 |access-date=8 April 2017}}</ref> He received Indian civilian award [[Padmashri]] in 2017.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chandigarh/punjabs-green-crusader-balbir-singh-seechewal-gets-padma-shri/articleshow/56789152.cms |title=Punjab's green crusader: Punjab's green crusader Balbir Singh Seechewal gets Padma Shri &#124; Chandigarh News|work=[[The Times of India]] |date=26 January 2017 |access-date=8 April 2017}}</ref> He is also known as ''Eco Baba''.<ref>{{cite web|author=Poulomi Das |url=http://www.businessinsider.in/Meet-Sant-Balbir-Singh-Seechewal-the-baba-who-single-handedly-cleaned-a-160-km-long-river-in-Punjab/articleshow/51775771.cms |title=Meet Sant Balbir Singh Seechewal, the baba who single-handedly cleaned a 160-km long river in Punjab &#124; Business Insider India |publisher=Businessinsider.in |date=11 April 2016 |access-date=8 April 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tribuneindia.com/news/nation/seechewal-model-for-clean-ganga/190021.html |title=Seechewal model for clean Ganga |publisher=Tribuneindia.com |date=31 January 2016 |access-date=8 April 2017}}</ref><br />
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In his latest project in early 2009, taking up the cudgels to save [[Buddha Nullah]], Seechewal has initiated a campaign for generating awareness amongst different sections of the society to solve the problem of desilting the water body following the failure of the Punjab Pollution Control Board's (PPCB) and industries in complying with the High Court's orders in this regard.<br />
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He single-handedly cleaned and restored Kali Bein river{{citation needed|date=May 2020}}, a 160&nbsp;km long tributary of [[Beas]] in [[Doaba]] region of Punjab. Seechewal says that when he started the water-cleaning project of Kali Bein in 2007, it was a challenging task. But, as people became aware of its importance, they joined in cleaning the rivulet, which had become a dried-up drain and had been reduced to a garbage dump with its historic and religious significance long forgotten.<br />
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==Life==<br />
He was born in a [[Sikh]], agricultural family in Seechewal in Jalandhar district in Punjab, India to Chanan Singh and Chanan Kaur.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://indianexpress.com/article/india/environmentalist-baba-seechewal-gets-padma-shri-4492006/ |title=Environmentalist Baba Seechewal gets Padma Shri |work=The Indian Express|date=26 January 2017 |access-date=8 April 2017}}</ref> He studied at [[DAV College]], Nakodar. He put on saffron robes in 1981 after dropping out of college.<br />
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He was twice a [[sarpanch]] of Seechewal.<br />
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==Awards and honors==<br />
[[File:The President, Shri Pranab Mukherjee presenting the Padma Shri Award to Sant Balbir Singh Seechewal, at a Civil Investiture Ceremony, at Rashtrapati Bhavan, in New Delhi on March 30, 2017.jpg|thumb]]<br />
Balbir Singh Seechewal (left) receiving [[Padma Shri]] award from the [[President of India]] [[Pranab Mukherjee]] (right) on 30 March 2017.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hindustantimes.com/videos/india-news/eco-baba-seechewal-wins-padma-shri/video-AuTWeytDTPj2yLr0hjEPEN.html |title='Eco Baba' Seechewal wins Padma Shri |work=[[Hindustan Times]]|date=28 January 2017 |access-date=8 April 2017}}</ref><br />
* Hero of Environment by [[Time (magazine)|''Time'' magazine]]<br />
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==References==<br />
{{Reflist}}<br />
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==External links==<br />
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20081001003309/http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1841778_1841781_1841808,00.html Heroes of the Environment 2008]<br />
*[http://www.nirmalkuteya.com Nirmal Kuteya Ek Onkar Charitable Trust] set up by Seechwal<br />
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{{Padma Shri Award Recipients in Social Work}}<br />
{{Authority control}}<br />
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Seechewal, Balbir Singh}}<br />
[[Category:Living people]]<br />
[[Category:Punjabi people]]<br />
[[Category:Indian environmentalists]]<br />
[[Category:Activists from Punjab, India]]<br />
[[Category:Recipients of the Padma Shri in social work]]<br />
[[Category:Water conservation in India]]<br />
[[Category:1962 births]]<br />
[[Category:Scholars from Punjab, India]]<br />
[[Category:20th-century Indian scholars]]<br />
[[Category:21st-century Indian scholars]]</div>imported>SchreiberBike