Ramveer Tanwar is a 26 year-old engineer from India who was sick and tired of seeing his country’s rivers and lakes be ruined by pollution and drought, so he decided to do something about it.

Ramveer lives in Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh, a region that has been plagued by 13 droughts in just 15 years. After noticing that many officials were oblivious to the severity of the situation, Ramveer decided to take action himself.

“I had been talking to the kids in the village back then and even they felt that they had to do something about the dying water resources,” Ramveer explained. “When they tried talking to their parents, the adults refused to believe that there could be any such thing as ‘lack of water.’”

Ramveer started his efforts by going from home to home to educate locals about the how important the conditions of local water supplies are. He then recruited his students in helping him get villagers to come to weekly classes, where he could teach them about ways to save the lakes and rivers.

Ramveer and the villagers he had educated soon started coming together to remove trash from the rivers and lakes themselves. They also started planting tree saplings around the water’s perimeter to protect the shoreline from issues in the future.

In addition, Ramveer and his team installed double water filtration systems made of wood and grass to ensure that the rivers and lakes would not be polluted in the future. His efforts have already made a world of difference in the bodies of water in his region.

Ramveer was so successful that the local government soon took notice and started a separate “Groundwater Army” conservation groups in each district of the state, hiring Ramveer to be the program’s coordinator.

Ramveer’s efforts have shown the world how one person can make a huge difference in helping the environment. Keep up the good work, Ramveer!