Hyderabad ‘water warrior’ Kalpana Ramesh awarded Sujal Shakti Samman 2023

Hyderabad: Water conservation, such as rainwater collection, has yet to become a way of life in Hyderabad, which is something Kalpana Ramesh, the founder of Rainwater Project and an interior designer and trained architect dubbed the city’s “water warrior,” has been working for. After working tirelessly on projects around Telangana for eight years she has been awarded the Sujal Shakti Samman 2023 under the Jal Shakti Abhiyan by the Central Government of Hyderabad.

“It was surreal winning this award leading up to women’s day. Meeting so many influential women who are pioneers in their own fields and conversing with them was a very humbling experience. To see women push the narrative and work toward what they believe is inspiring and motivating,” said Kalpana about how she felt receiving the honour.

“Everything I have ever done in terms of water sustainability was never to be awarded or recognised. It was solely to make a change and to fight for what I believe in. But this award has motivated me in ways that I will keep pushing forward. It is a validation that I’m on the right path. It is a testimony that the years of hard work and fighting for my vision was for the right reasons,” she added.

Starting at home…

Kalpana, who has been influential in changing the fate of various water bodies in the city, first successfully established a rainwater collection at her home and then persuaded members of her society to do the same.

“We saw the full impact of rainwater harvesting in 2016, during one of the city’s worst summers in a long time. With the help of rainwater collecting, our society in Gachibowli got through the full summer and beyond that year,” she explained.

…expanding to the community

Soon after, the water warrior began work on rejuvenating the Kudikunta lake. “It took me some time to map out the lake and then understand the many departments that owned the water. So, the water in any lake belongs to the irrigation department, the land is owned by the GHMC, town planning, and revenue departments, and the inlet and outlet pipes are taken care of by the water board,” she explained, adding that once she began working, she created communities around the lake that kept track of any garbage thrown in.

“We also spoke to the local merchants and asked them not to leave their waste anywhere near the lake,” said Kalpana, who has worked on water bodies in Kondapur, Gachibowli, and Chandanagar. She also oversees the Society for the Promotion of Human Endeavor’s water efforts (SAHE). “I was able to widen my worldview after I joined SAHE, and could think beyond lakes. Many new bore wells were drilled throughout the city, while old, dead bore wells may still be revived. We were able to resurrect numerous bore wells and are actively working on many more,” she added.

Even during the pandemic, Kalpana kept working, and she resurrected a massive well in Kondapur just before the city was flooded last October. In addition, the well, which had been in disrepair for some years, captured 13 lakh liters of water during the flood.

Despite restoring lakes, bore wells, and wells, Kalpana admits she was originally dismayed by how people reacted to her efforts.

“I encountered various inquiries, ranging from ‘why are you doing this?’ to ‘how is your family giving you permission to work on a lake for long hours?’,” she said. “Why should we listen to a woman?” some of them asked.

“I was initially disappointed by the attitude. But, as time passed, I realised that my emphasis should be on the job and not on the negativity around me. Therefore, I don’t let these things upset me anymore.”

The Rainwater Project

For a long time, the Rainwater Project Hyderabad has been exporting water from distant dams and reservoirs. Kalpana, on the other hand, believes that the city has the potential to become sustainable. “The Rainwater Project is an endeavor to try to restore the city’s groundwater levels. We were able to divide the entire city into 98 micro watersheds with the support of the IIIT-H agro start-up, and we are working on refilling these. We have worked on restoring many wells in and around Hyderabad but there is a lot more that we have to do,” Kalpana said.