Know our Community
Barnyard Millet, Mandua Flour
Uttarkashi, Uttarakhand
Umma Devi ji dwells from Uttarkashi in the state of Uttarakhand. She owns a water mill, locally known as Gharat, one of the earliest machines known to humankind. She mills cold pressed flour of Finger Millet also known as Ragi and Barnyard millet. The cold pressed technique of milling flour keeps intact the nutritional value of the millets. She has been practicing this method since past 50 years, and through Jalaj Kendraj, she got the opportunity to generate livelihood from gharat for herself and other women Ganga Prahari making them independent and proud on their traditional practices.
Chorgalia Gharat
Uttarakhand
The Gharat or the traditional water mills of Chorgalia has been part of local life, grinding grains with the flow of the Nandhaur River since time immemorial. Though once neglected, it has been beautifully cultural heritage has been restored through the National Mission for Clean Ganga’s Jalaj project. This restored traditional water mill/Gharat is a live example of self-sustaining and self-sufficient rural set up that defines humble nature based solution to fulfill human needs while ensuring no negative impact on the environment.
Crochet Art
Haryana
Ms. Reeta Devi, a homemaker from Jairampur village in Pratap Nagar, Haryana, discovered her passion for crochet through social media tutorials. From crafting delicate home decor to Laddu Gopal dresses, her creations soon gained recognition, through Jalaj exhibition stall during the ICCON fest hosted at the Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun. In a place where women are often confined to household duties, Ms. Devi has risen as a community champion inspiring other community member.
Munj Basket
Bijnor, Uttar Pradesh
Ms. Archana Roy from Bijnor, Uttar Pradesh, joined the Ganga Prahari cadre in the year 2020. With an initial hand holding through the project today, she has successfully established a Health and Wellness Centre, enhanced her household income and created community awareness on freshwater ecosystem. Later, she further enhanced her skills during onsite workshop in tie-and-dye technique, cloth bag making, and munj basket making. By involving other women from her community, she sensitised them on the importance of being self-reliant and adopting sustainable livelihoods. Today, Ms. Roy is the star of her family adding to the household income and uplifting the family name as “Guardian of Ganga River" and the resources associated with it.
Waste Cloth Krishna Apparel
Bulandshahr, Uttar Pradesh
Hailing from Talwar village in Bulandshahr district, a small community is blending devotion with sustainability. Using leftover fabric collected from local tailor shops, they hand-stitch vibrant, eco-friendly dress material for idol of deity. Each piece is a unique blend of colors and textures, upcycling waste into artistry while preserving authenticity and skill.
Nishad Community
Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh
More than 50 members belonging to the Nishad
community of Nirmalikund Guptaar Ghat, Ayodhya, once reliant on fishing and
boat services, associated themselves as custodian of protecting the biodiversity
of the Ganga River. Under the guidance of the National Mission for Clean Ganga
Jalaj Project, they regularly patrol and monitor nesting sites and act as first
responders to species rescue including Ganga River dolphin rescues under the
supervision of State Forest Department. Their selfless efforts are safeguarding
freshwater biodiversity including threatened species namely Three-Striped
Roofed Turtle, Indian Softshell Turtle, Gharial, and Ganga River Dolphin. Till
date they have been involved in successful rescue of over 8,000 turtles, 100+
crocodile hatchlings, and 50+ dolphins.
With deep sense of ownership towards their
natural resource and knowledge rooted in tradition they keep a check on the
slightest of unusual development in the surroundings, along with regular awareness
activities in villages and schools.
Cloth Bags
Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh
Smt. Sangeeta Nishad, a leading Ganga Prahari from Varanasi, has adopted the concept of conservation-based livelihood. What began as a tool to involve her into freshwater conservation initiative today supports her family, tailoring beautiful cloth bags, she is an inspiration to other women in her community to adopt eco-friendly alternatives and contribute to reduce the use of Single use plastic. Her commendable efforts include her contribution during the COVID-19 pandemic, when she extended her support to her community members, stitching and distributing masks to keep them safe. Today, she stands out as a flag barrier training other women and encouraging them to contribute to our aviral and nirmal rivers.
Herbal Soap
Bhagalpur, Bihar
The women from Kadwa Diyara, a remote village in Bhagalpur district of Bihar are committed to strengthen themselves and other women in the village. Despite coming from conservative rural background, they did not only create livelihood opportunities for themselves but also participate actively in conservation of Greater Adjutant Stork (Garuda) in Naugachia block of Bhagalpur. Due to dynamic role of these communities at grassroot level along with the management, the population of Greater Adjutant Storks have risen significantly. The women group are making handcrafted soap bars from natural ingredients like turmeric, orange peel, milk, beetroot, neem and charcoal to prevent lather, polluting River Ganga. Their initiative towards conservation has empowered them along with creating symbiotic linkages between people and nature.
Batik Print Work
Sunderban West Bengal
The women Ganga Prahari of Sunderban, West Bengal are empowering themselves by generating sources of livelihood simultaneously with creating awareness among people for the conservation of River Ganga and its biodiversity through batik print sarees and uttarios. Many women in the group, being sole breadwinner of the family have responsibility of preschoolers and they are efficiently fulfilling their responsibility with the help of this batik art work, making them financially and socially independent.
Cotton Hand Bag
Diamond Harbour, West Bengal
Suprava Bera, one of the Ganga Prahari, is a native of the district 24 Parganas (South), West Bengal. During COVID-19 pandemic, they lost their only source of sustenance, but she never loses her anticipation and subsequently receive training in a workshop under Jalaj Aarya. Similarly, many women Ganga Prahari are sole breadwinner of the household that sustains financially through their skill. The beautifully stitched cloth bags are being sold in the market to promote the less use of plastic bags.
Hand Painted Cotton Saree with blouse piece
Diamond Harbour, West Bengal
A group of Ganga Prahari including both men and women are preparing these sarees in West Bengal, to reviving their old traditions in a modern form along with conveying their message of biodiversity conservation of River Ganga. Tanay Mondol, an art teacher used to teach drawing to children and due to lack of sufficient resources, he struggled to provide for his family. The opportunity with Jalaj Aarya, provides him and the group, a chance to hand-paint sarees and make a good living to support their families.