https://indianmasterminds.com

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

How a Retired IRS Officer and Hundreds of Volunteers Built 55 Check Dams in 7 Days to Revive the Dying Betwa River

When Dr. R.K. Paliwal swapped tax files for a shovel, a dozen volunteers became hundreds, building 55 check dams in seven scorching days to revive the dying Betwa River
Indian Masterminds Stories

On a blazing May afternoon, while most people hid behind air conditioners, a 64-year-old man stood knee-deep in a dusty trench in Jhiri village, Raisen district, packing stones into a handmade check dam with his bare hands.

He wasn’t a farmer. He wasn’t a contractor. He was Dr. R.K. Paliwal, a 1986-batch IRS officer who recently retired as the Principal Chief Commissioner of Income Tax for Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.

But here, in this forgotten corner of central India, he wasn’t anyone’s ‘sir’. He was just a man trying to save a dying river and, in the process, creating something the government hadn’t managed in years, about which he spoke exclusively to Indian Masterminds.

“NEWS REPORTS DON’T REVIVE RIVERS, PEOPLE DO”

A few months ago, the origin of the Betwa River — the lifeline of Bundelkhand — went dry. Newspapers wrote about it. TV anchors mentioned it. Everyone moved on. Except Dr. Paliwal and his associates, Dr. Suresh Garg, Prof. Arvind Diwedi, Retired IFS Officer Koshlendra Singh, and Mr. Parikshit Singh.

“Everywhere you look, rivers are dying. Everyone talks. No one acts,” he says. “We just decided — enough. Let’s do something.”

And so began one of India’s most audacious citizen-led environmental movements.

THE PLAN: 7 DAYS. 55 CHECK DAMS. 0 EXCUSES.

The idea was wild. Build dozens of check dams at the river’s origin in the last week of May, during Nautapa, the hottest stretch of the year. Not with machines. With volunteers.

“This kind of work usually happens before summer,” Paliwal shares. “But real efforts aren’t made in comfort. We chose the hardest week to show it can be done.”

The plan was hatched by the Betwa River Study and Public Awareness Group, founded by Paliwal after retirement. Over the past three years, they’d been warning the state about the Betwa’s decline. They even walked 200 kilometers along its banks in 2023, speaking to villagers and school kids in every kasba.

“We weren’t collecting data. We were sowing seeds of awareness,” he shared with Indian Masterminds.

When the government delayed action, the group chose action.

MAY 25, DAY 1: FROM 12 PEOPLE TO A RIVER ARMY

It began modestly. On May 25, just 12 people showed up. Two core members, Arvind Dwivedi and Vinod Pateriya, camped overnight in Jhiri. The first to respond weren’t activists — they were children, curious and eager.

Two check dams were built that day. The next day? Three more. And then, the spark caught fire. Newspapers picked up the story. Messages poured in. Groups arrived from Indore, Harda, Betul, and Ganj Basoda.

Some came for a day. Others stayed the whole week. People took leave from work, families joined, and students showed up with backpacks and spades.

“We thought we’d make 20. We made 55,” Paliwal says, eyes wide with disbelief. “In seven days. In 47°C heat.”

A MOVEMENT, NOT A PROTEST

This wasn’t a dharna. It wasn’t a campaign with hashtags. It was a movement of feet on the ground, hands in the dirt, and hearts aligned with purpose.

While the state government built three check dams in three months, this volunteer group built 55 in one week — all by hand.

“We didn’t blame anyone. We just led by doing,” Paliwal says. “And people followed.”

IT’S NOT JUST ABOUT THE DAMS

The check dams were just the beginning. The group has laid out a three-step action plan to revive the Betwa for good:

  1. No Tree Cutting Around the Source
    Forests preserve water. Deforestation near the origin will kill the river faster than any summer ever could.
  2. Water Harvesting Through Hillside Dams
    More check dams will be built in the surrounding hillocks to capture rainwater and recharge groundwater.
  3. Shift from Water-Guzzling Crops to Fruit Orchards
    Farmers will be encouraged to grow mango, guava, jackfruit, and lemon, instead of wheat and moong, to reduce groundwater strain and increase green cover.

NEXT PHASE: PLANTING SAPLINGS, PLANTING HOPE

In June–July 2025, the group will distribute 10 fruit saplings per family to those living around the Betwa’s source. Cost: ₹1,100 per family. Many volunteers are sponsoring entire families.

“We want everyone to own a tree. When you plant something, you protect it,” says Paliwal. “And what better gift than fruit-bearing trees for future generations?”

Change has become contagious. As of June, schools, citizen groups, and village panchayats from across MP have reached out, asking: Can we do this in our area too?

FROM BHOPAL TO BETWA: A STORY THAT FLOWS

This isn’t just the story of one river. It’s the story of a retired officer who refused to retire from his responsibility. It’s about a group of people who didn’t wait for permission to care. It’s about children who picked up shovels because they were curious and became part of history.

And if the Betwa flows again this monsoon, it will carry more than water. It will carry the proof that when people come together, they can move mountains, build dams, and even wake a river from the dead.


Indian Masterminds Stories
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Related Stories
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
NEWS
Mohan Yadav
Jal Ganga Conservation Campaign Becomes a People's Movement for Water Preservation
Uttar Pradesh UP Government
Uttar Pradesh Government Transfers Eight IAS Officers in Major Administrative Reshuffle; Check Names Here
Uttar Pradesh CM resized
Uttar Pradesh Govt Transfers 15 PCS Officers, Key Appointments in Lucknow, Gorakhpur, and Ayodhya; Details Here
Rath yatra Stampede
Odisha Tragedy Sparks Administrative Shakeup and High-Level Probe; Collector and SP Removed
Uttar Pradesh UP Government
UP Government Reshuffles Five IPS Officers in Key Administrative Changes; Check Names Here
government-of-haryana
Haryana Government Announces Major Pension Reforms for Pre-2016 Retirees
SSB
IPS Officer Shashvat Kumar Appointed as Commandant in SSB
bhajanlal-sharma-2024-06-c48355f4a09ac40a1c3b9d1bea89a474
Action Against Corrupt Officers Approved by CM Bhajanlal Sharma
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Videos
Ex IRS C Rajendiran
Ex-IRS Officer C. Rajendiran Illuminates Thirukkural’s Timeless Wisdom in Exclusive Interview
WhatsApp Image 2025-06-25 at 5.07
Why Has the DGCA Fined Air India Rs 5 Crore Since Privatisation?
Former Diplomat Ashok Sajjanhar
Iran Is Weakest Now, Needs a Face-Saver
ADVERTISEMENT
UPSC Stories
IPS Deepak Meghani
Deepak Meghani, IPS: A Journey of Focus, Failure, and Quiet Discipline
A passionate writer, he has authored several books in Gujarati, ranging from exam strategy guides to...
Sanish Kumar Singh
“If you want it badly enough, you’ll find a way,” Sanish Kumar Singh AIR 8, UPSC IFS 2024 
The real interview, he says, was much more humane. “The board was conversational. The chairman opened...
Raju Wagh
When the Battlefield Became a Study Room and a Dream Took Flight
Amid IED blasts and anti-Maoist operations in Bastar, CRPF Commando Raju Wagh taught village kids, studied...
Social Media
Shailaja Chandra
“Nanis & Dadis Have a Brain”: Former IAS Officer Shailaja Chandra Weighs in on 1970s vs 2025 Life Debate - “This Generation Has It Better”
Responding to Viral Post on Middle-Class Struggles, Ex-Bureaucrat Offers Candid Reflection on Then and...
Tigress Arrowhead
The End of an Era: A Queen Falls - Ranthambore’s Iconic Tigress Arrowhead (T-84) Passes Away at 14, Hours After Daughter’s Relocation
Ranthambore mourns the loss of one of its fiercest and most beloved tigers, Arrowhead, the granddaughter...
Screenshot 2025-06-13 194001
Wild Elephant Disrupts Riverside Picnic, Sparks Debate on Human Encroachment; IFS Parveen Kumar Shares the Video - Watch Here!
Mr. Kaswan used the viral video, which has garnered over 1.5 lakh views, to highlight the risks of human...
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Latest
Mohan Yadav
Jal Ganga Conservation Campaign Becomes a People's Movement for Water Preservation
Khushboo Upadhyay
The Woman Who Listened to the Forest: Meet 'The Tiger Woman' Khushboo Upadhyay, Who Rescued 18 Leopards
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Videos
Ex IRS C Rajendiran
WhatsApp Image 2025-06-25 at 5.07
Former Diplomat Ashok Sajjanhar
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT