Rebuilding Rajasthan's Rivers, One Earthen Dam at a Time

Founded in 1975 and based in Bheekampura, Alwar district, Tarun Bharat Sangh works with village councils to rebuild johads — traditional earthen check dams that catch monsoon runoff and let it soak back into the water table. Since constructing its first johad in 1986, the organization has helped villagers across Rajasthan's Aravalli region build thousands of these structures, reviving several seasonal rivers that had run dry for decades. Founder Rajendra Singh won the 2015 Stockholm Water Prize, often called the 'Nobel Prize for water,' for a model now studied and replicated across drought-prone India.