Introduction
Dewas, Madhya Pradesh, stands today as a powerful example of how collective action, visionary leadership, and community participation can create lasting environmental change. What began as small-scale water conservation efforts in rural villages gradually evolved into a city-wide groundwater recharge movement. Guided by Vibhavari and led by District Collector Shri Rishav Gupta, the Dewas Water Movement focused on practical, low-cost solutions such as Rain Roof Water Harvesting systems and recharge pits. With active participation from industries, institutions, and households and without government funding hundreds of water structures were created, conserving billions of liters of groundwater. This initiative reflects a scalable, people-driven model of sustainable development.
Scaling Up: The Dewas Water Movement
Building on such grassroots successes, the Dewas district administration and volunteers launched a city-wide water movement known as the “Dewas Water Movement: A Community-Driven Model of Groundwater Recharge.” Under the guidance of Vibhavari, and with the leadership of Collector Shri Rishav Gupta, the initiative focused on enhancing groundwater levels through low-cost Rain Roof Water Harvesting (RWH) systems, recharge pits, and other techniques.
The campaign mobilized industries, warehouses, government and private buildings, hospitals, nursing homes, hotels, and households to conserve rainwater. Remarkably, without any government funding, 700–800 water structures were built with strong community participation, leading to the conservation of nearly 22.5 billion liters of groundwater.