National award for groundwater recharge campaigner

Vijaysinh Parmar/TNN/RAJKOT: Shamjibhai Antala, a resident of Dhoraji town, was recently honoured with the 'National Ground Water Augmentation Award' in the individual category by the Union ministry of water resources.

Antala (74) has been actively involved in water resource conservation and the movement to recharge ground water in Saurashtra for the past 25 years. He had to quit farming in the arid Saurashtra region due frequent and worked in various fields for survival. Since the last 25 years he has been tirelessly visiting villages, colleges and educational institutions across the state to spread awareness about the dire ground water scenario in the state and the need to recharge ground water using traditional methods.

Antala, who is a writer despite never having been to school, began his ground water recharge movement in the 1990s when it was evident that the water table had gone down rapidly. "The situation will soon become serious. We need to adopt simple recharge techniques and teach every farmer to use them,'' he said.

According to him, Saurashtra has been drought prone for many years and that had forced people to take up other vocations. It was a matter of life and death for them and people themselves started the water conservation movement, recounts Antala.

"But over the last five years, the people's movement has slowed down, which is a dangerous thing. The rains have been good but one drought can be devastating for the region if people stop ground water conservation,'' Antala warns.

Interestingly, Antala never started any organization. "Now, I want to take up another mission to clean and revive the rivers in the state. We have to conserve and protect our natural resources which are important resources for millions of people's livelihood,'' Antala says.

Antala hit the headlines when he took up the 'red water' issue in Dhoraji town, 70 km from Rajkot, and fought it for 15 years in the Gujarat High Court. Industrial units making sarees were releasing effluents into Bhadar river, the only source of drinking water of Dhoraji. He won the case.

Ironically, a man who brought smiles on the faces of many in the drought prone region is yet to get potable water for his hometown, Dhoraji. "I made several representations to the government about the poor quality of water in our town but no one has taken any steps so far,'' Antala said.