Dr. Avinash Pol, fondly called the Water Doctor is an extraordinary social reformer.
During his decade long dental practice in the Satara district of Maharashtra he was moved by the stories of many of his patients, who were struggling with drought, poverty and lack of knowledge on government schemes and benefits. In the late 90s, he began his journey in rural social transformation and has been tirelessly working since 25 years to improve the lives and futures of rural populations of Maharashtra.
Dr. Pol began working in the villages with the locals to improve sanitation facilities and gradually making them open-defecation free. He was also instrumental in helping them avail government schemes. He inspired villages to raise funds locally for various projects by holding Gram Sabhas.
On observing drought-struck villages’ dependence on water tankers, he undertook various water projects including building channels, linking wells and rivers that helped in providing sufficient water for farming activities. This revolutionary step taken by him has significantly helped reverse migration.
Since 2016, he has been the ‘Pramukh Marddarshak’ or Chief Advisor to PAANI FOUNDATION, which has trained over 6000 villages of Maharashtra to overcome drought by creating over 550 billion litres of water storage capacity. Currently, PAANI FOUNDATION helps around 40,000 farmers on water conservation and management as well as sustainable agricultural practices.
As a Trustee of the NAAM Foundation, an NGO for rural development and as Chief Advisor to PAANI Foundation, he has rendered valuable service through many innovative ideas. The most famous among these is the Satyameva Jayate Water Cup Contest organized through PAANI Foundation. The contest is between villages to reach the best levels of watershed management and water conservation.
Sambhav conserves and grows more than 500 indigenous paddy varieties using the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) technique which maximises yields, uses less water, and according to Tiki makes the labour process easier for women working in the paddy fields. Many of these seeds are hardy varieties adapted to harsh climatic conditions like drought or flooding. When Odisha was hit by cyclonic storms in 2013 and 2014, 34 varieties of paddy managed to withstand the damage.
He has personally enabled almost a 100 villages to tackle drought and inspired hundreds of young people to offer shramadaan, or voluntary manual labour, to build structures to conserve water.
Dr. Pol has been the recipient of a large number of awards in appreciation of his outstanding works.