Indian
Entrepreneur, Water Activist and Educationist
Amla Ashok Ruia is an Indian social activist 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] 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
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 ‘Water Mother’ Amla Ruia, transformed over 100 villages of Rajasthan using traditional water harvesting. Vishwa Samvad Kendra(18 April 2017). Retrieved 9 February 2019.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Healing Drought. Business Today(8 October 2017). Retrieved 10 February 2019.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Water idea, sir ji!. The Times of India(23 September 2012). Retrieved 16 January 2015.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 Meet India's dam-building grandmother. BBC News(12 September 2017). Retrieved 9 February 2019.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 Meet The Woman Who Rescued 2 Lakh Villagers From Poverty And Tripled Their Revenue In 10 Years. The Logical Indian(5 August 2018). Retrieved 9 February 2019.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Women of Worth: About the Nominee - Amla Ruia. Women Of Worth(2016-02-11). Retrieved 2017-12-16.
- ↑ One Woman Made 100 Villages in Rajasthan Fertile Using Traditional Water Harvesting Methods. The Better India(2015-12-15). Retrieved 2017-12-16.
- ↑ Leadership Awards. Retrieved 16 January 2015.
- ↑ LAKSHMIPAT SINGHANIA - IIM, LUCKNOW NATIONAL LEADERSHIP AWARDS - 2013. www.lpsiimlawards.in. Retrieved 2015-09-18.
- ↑ IHRO to celebrate World Environment Day. The Sunday Guardian(14 April 2018). Retrieved 9 February 2019.
- ↑ About the Trust. Aakar Charitable Trust. Retrieved 2015-09-18.
- ↑ Brightly flows the river. Marwar(18 May 2016). Retrieved 10 February 2019.