Retires; He Got Title Of 'Dewas Ka Bhagirath'
1996-batch IAS officer Umakant Umrao retired on Friday after a distinguished career. Widely known as “Dewas ka Bhagirath”, he transformed water conservation through the 'Paani Bachao, Labh Kamao' campaign. His farm-pond model revived groundwater, benefited farmers and earned United Nations recognition as a best-practice water management initiative.
Retires; He Got Title Of 'Dewas Ka Bhagirath' | FP photo
Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): A 1996-batch IAS officer and principal secretary of the Animal Husbandry Department, Umakant Umrao, retired on Friday.
In his career, Umrao got postings in different departments, but he rose to prominence for his work to save water bodies in Narmadapuram and Dewas, where people called him by the endearing sobriquet, 'Dewas ka Bhagirath'.
When the government posted him to Dewas in 2006, people of the district faced a severe water shortage.
The underground water table depleted, and the farmers did not get a water supply to irrigate their fields for sowing Rabi crops.
Umrao launched a campaign, 'Paani Bachao, Labh Kamao'. According to the campaign, he advised the farmers to set aside 10% of their land for construction of ponds to collect rainwater.
At the outset, 40 farmers constructed ponds in their fields with the help of the administration.
As a result, the rainwater began to gather in the ponds, and the farmers received enough water to irrigate their field.
The Dewas model caught the attention of people across the country, and the United Nations included it in the list of best water management systems.
Afterwards, the government posted him as a commissioner to Narmadapuram, where he began to work to preserve the water bodies, which benefited the farmers.
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