SPECS honours Jal Praharis for contribution to water campaign

By Arun Pratap Singh
Dehradun, 16 Apr: The Society of Pollution and Environmental Conservation Scientists (SPECS) is a leading organisation that has been working towards creating awareness about the cleanliness and quality of drinking water for past 30 years now. At a function organised by it, SPECS today honoured about 100 persons including several media persons and leading social activists who have played a key role in publishing its reports related to quality of water being supplied in houses in Dehradun, Mussoorie and other parts of Uttarakhand as well as those who through their direct or indirect association with SPECS have contributed to its movement during all these years including scientists, and social activists.
Those honoured today were given the title of ‘Jal Prahari’ or water guardians. On this occasion, Dr Brij Mohan Sharma, founder of SPECS announced that a new campaign will be started called ‘Jal Ki Kifayat’ or Save Water campaign. He said that every single drop of water saved will ensure a brighter future ahead for future generations. On this occasion, an Android App called Jal Prahari or Water Guardian was also launched by chief guest and environmentalist Sacchidanand Bharti who has worked towards saving water in Kotdwar region of Pauri district and is now an internationally renowned figure.
Sharma also recalled his earlier days as an activist and remembered how he had been helped by journalists like Ashok Misra, Jai Singh Rawat, Satish Sharma, Vijay Pandhi and Subhash Gupta.
Speaking as the Chief Guest, Bharti recalled how he had started his work on  a very small scale in Ufrainkhal forests in the state and over a period of several decades, his organisation managed to build 37,000 water bodies in the forests and as  a result, Ufrainkhal forests have never caught fire even during peak summer time since then. The moisture and the dampness in the forests due to the water bodies and due to plantation of broad leaved trees have prevented fires there.
Bharti reminded the gathering that all large campaigns have had a small beginning. Small but consistent and perseverant efforts over a long period of time can only make the campaigns successful and he congratulated Sharma for his success and perseverance.
Dr Rajendra Dobhal, former Director General of UCOST, also congratulated Sharma and the SPECS team for the work done in past 30 years. In a lighter vein he added that BM Sharma’s wife Mona Bali had also played a key role in the success of SPECS. He also stressed on the importance of saving water and cited the example of Cape Town which has now been declared as a no water city.  Former member of Planning Commission and former MD of Uttarakhand Jal Sansthan Harshpati Uniyal reminded the gathering how as a head of the department of Jal Sanshtan he had initially resisted the reports on the poor quality of water being supplied in Dehradun prepared by SPECS. However, later he mulled over the problem and in the following years, he tried to improve the quality of water supplied in the cities. He also called upon Sharma to collaborate with Swami Rama Himalyan University for research related to water saving, etc., and assured Sharma of all help towards this.
Dr Ravi Chopra, a leading scientist and former director of People’s Science Institute reminded that though Dr BM Sharma had started his professional career with PSI, but once he left PSI to follow his own dreams, he did not get many opportunities to meet Sharma but nevertheless he did follow Sharma’s activities through newspapers etc.
Among those honoured today as Jal Praharis included Dr Ravi Chopra, Dr Rajendra Dobhal, Harsh Pati Uniyal, Dr Devendra Bhasin, Editor of Garhwal Post Satish Sharma, News Editor of Garhwal Post Ashok Misra, Special Correspondent of Garhwal Post Arun Pratap Singh, senior journalists Anjali Nauriyal, Ravindra Kaushik, Shishir Prashant, Arvind Shekhar, Raju Gusain, Ram Pratap Saketi, Bhumesh Bharti, Anupam Trivedi and Jyotirmaya Thapliyal.
Earlier, the programme had begun with water offering called Jalanjali. The app Jal Prahri launched today can be downloaded from Google Play Store and used to join the campaign to save the water. A song titled ‘Jal Ki Kifayat’ was also played on the screen during the programme. Wife of Dr BM Sharma, Mona Bali compered the programme and regaled the audience with her consummate skill with words.