How a Drought-Prone Village’s Residents Turned Millionaires!

One man’s determination and dedication are enough to transform a village ravaged by drought and poverty into a rich one that houses more than 50 millionaires. The story is about a village named Hiware Bazaar which is situated in the Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra. Decades ago, the village repeatedly suffered drought conditions and people were staring at acute poverty. The complete turnaround of this village happened due to one person - Popatrao Baguji Pawar. He contested the Panchayat elections in 1989 and won unopposed. His win brought about an impressive development in the village which was nothing short of a miracle. First of all, he closed down all the liquor retail outlets. Children, being the foundation of a nation, he upgraded all the schools so that kids could get quality education. The water scarcity problem loomed large over the village and to address this issue, he banned tube wells so that groundwater is not exploited. Farmers were also advised to stop cultivating water-gobbling crops like sugarcane and banana. With such an able leader, the villagers implemented the drip irrigation system to conserve water and soil. Popatrao Ji banned deforestation and arranged for the plantation of more than 10 lakh trees. This enriched the soil which in turn increased food production.  Today, many people who had migrated from Hiware Bazaar to other cities have returned and are leading a comfortable life. At present, there are only three families are below the poverty line. More than 50 families are millionaires and it may be hard to believe that they are all farmers!   

From Holy Waste to Flower Power, These Eco-Warriors Are Doing Commendable Work

Maya Vivek and Minal Dalmia from Gundlapochampally village in Kompally are good friends who wanted to do something together. Their enthusiasm and efforts led to the inception of ‘Holy Waste’- a social enterprise that ensures the flowers from temples are processed productively and don’t clog water bodies. Maya and Minal got the idea to start this venture from Kanpur-based brand ‘Help us green’ that process flowers from temples. How the Enterprise Started Maya and Minal would forage the colony’s gardens for flowers and began experimenting at home to understand the process. They finally got a hold of the process by the end of the month and set their first bin at Skandagiri Temple in Secunderabad. Currently, the Holy Waste has 20 bins situated at 20 different temples in the city. They have an auto trolley that empties the bins at their centre four times a week. They also answer emergency calls to pick up flowers from flower shops, wedding venues,  or functions by staying in touch with event managers. Flower Power The flowers thus collected are lugged up in bedsheets and carried to the third floor of their processing unit. A team of women pluck the petals from the semi-dried and wilted flowers. The petals are then dried and powdered to be made into soaps and incense sticks. The stalk and bulbs of flowers are put into compost drums to form natural compost. There is a steady workforce of seven women who have now become experts in their work. The incense sticks and soaps are sold online and at organic bazaars. They also make personalized gifts for occasions. During festival season, Holy Waste processes at least 50 kg of flowers daily. Due to the friends’ efforts, the flowers and garlands don’t end up in the already polluted Hussain Sagar lake. The duo also won the Best Green Startup award under Eco Ideas by Green India Awards 2019.