Manish Rajankar and Shalu Kolhe to receive 21st T. N. Khoshoo Memorial Award by ATREE

The duo would receive the awards at the 21st T. N. Khoshoo Memorial lecture slated to be held on December 3 at the Bangalore International Centre.  

The Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and Environment (ATREE) has announced Manish Rajankar and Shalu Kolhe as the recipients of the 21st T. N. Khoshoo Memorial Award.

Mr. Rajankar is the director at the Maharashtra-based Foundation for Economic and Ecological Development. Ms. Kolhe represents the Dhivar fishing community in Vidarbha. 

The award is in recognition of the critical work of the duo in terms of ecological restoration of waterbodies in the region and empowerment of the Dhivar community. Rajankar and Kolhe would receive the awards at the 21st T. N. Khoshoo Memorial lecture slated to be held on December 3 at the Bangalore International Centre.  

The memorial lecture will be delivered by writer, naturalist and filmmaker Pradeep Krishen. The event will also see book launches, panel discussions and a performance by Carnatic vocalist T. M. Krishna. 

Mr Rajankar, who is also a birder, has been instrumental in reviving the water tanks in eastern Vidarbha with the help of modern science and community knowledge.  

According to him, the Gond kings, during the sixteenth century, brought people from the Kohli community from Banaras to build these traditional tanks for irrigation purposes. As per the British records, there were about 12,000 such tanks.  

After Independence, the government took over the ownership and management of the tanks. This alienated local communities from the tanks, which deteriorated and dwindled to 2,700 over time.