Dr Rajendra Singh, renowned environmentalist and water conservationist,considered as "Waterman of India '' highlighted the significance of community driven decentralized water management system in ensuring proper utilization of water.
Singh was delivering the keynote address at IIT-ISM as part of a lecture series being organized by the Department of Environmental Science and  Engineering under Mission Life here.

Beginning his lecture in interactive way he said that our traditional Indian way of living had the in built system where the community used to ensure effective management of water but as we modern era of development began started on concentrating primarily on extraction of resources without concentrating on rejuvenation or replenishment of the same leading to the generation of problems, like flood, drought etc.

He  stressed upon the need for conservation of rivers and said that making large dams over the rivers are not going to water instead of that small but multiple dams are required in order to conserve water.

He narrated the initial phase of his transformation from a government servant to an environmentalist after leaving his job as an Ayurveda doctor and later working incessantly for conservation of rivers with the help of common people.
Elaborating about the advantages of a community driven decentralized water management system citing the example of Jaisalmer, from where a lot of trade used to take place from the Middle East from than 700 years ago. It throws light on the effectiveness of traditional community driven decentralized water management system.

He further said that during that period there was a community driven system where the common people were informed on a regular basis about the availability of water in their area and that was the reason for the lack of water crisis in those days.
“This is time to nourish water and call upon technocrats to  come forward with innovative ways of nourishing, rejuvenating and replenishing our earth in order to ensure their sustainability," said Singh.
Prof Dheeraj Kumar, Deputy Director informed  that IIT (ISM) has taken a lot of steps towards water conservation and the institute at present has 700 KLD of Sewage Treatment capacity and treated water is used for watering the plants in the institute etc.
Dr Anshumali, HoD Environmental Science and Engineering while delivering the welcome address apprised the gathering about the life of and work of Dr Rajendra Singh.