Arun Krishnamurthy.

Meet Arun Krishnamurthy, winner of the 2012 Rolex Award for Enterprise for his work on restoring the Kilkattalai Lake.

Growing up in suburban Mudichur, 6 km from Tambaram and near the Mudichur Lake, taking in the sight of birds like cormorants, egrets and herons, and even animals like wild dogs, almost every year during 1993-2007, Arun Krishnamurthy was inspired by Nature. When he was 13, he became a volunteer at the Vandalur Zoo, educating people on how to/not to interact with the captive animals. A self-motivated 'environment volunteer' as he likes to call himself, he has always taken up tasks without waiting for others to take them up.

His education at Madras Christian College strengthened his resolve to work for the cause of environment. As a member of the campus' Scrub Society, he was able to indulge in his favourite interests. He graduated in Microbiology and completed a postgraduate diploma at the Indian Institute of Mass Communication in Delhi. After his studies, he joined the Media Marketing and Sales Acquisition team of Google. In 2008, he went to Florida in the US for the Global Youth Summit where he met the world famous expert on chimpanzees, Jane Goodall. She wrote in his diary that he should continue working on environment and stay focussed.

When the urge to go full throttle ahead for the sake of the environment became too much, he quit his job and founded the Environmentalist Foundation of India (EFI) in 2011. Even while working at Google in Hyderabad, Arun did his bit for the environment by cleaning up a local lake, the Gurunadham Cheruvu, with help of young volunteers and a Corporation lorry to clear the garbage. Today, three lakes, Alwal, Kapra and Gurunadham, are poised for full-fledged restoration, the garbage removed and the lakes desilted, native trees planted on the banks and each lake fenced. Once restored, EFI will maintain these lakes. "The lakes that we cleaned are comparitively cleaner but need more people participation to keep them trash-free," says Arun.

In Chennai, the virtual swallowing up of the Mudichur lake by the Highways Department before his eyes for the construction of the New Outer Ring Road (Vandalur-Minjur) was an act of environmental degradation he found impossible to digest. The local body was not consulted and this only reflected the short-sightedness of the planners.

Arun closely follows Indian and international politics. "If we are able to build a strong team that believes in contesting elections we will do so; else, believing as we do in democracy, we will actively participate," he says.

In October 2012, he took up conservation work on the Kilkattalai Lake, a lake which feeds the Pallikaranai marshland, home to many species of birds and the pond turtle. "Lakes are responsible for groundwater stabilisation, temperature regulation and maintaining biodiversity. Thus, it becomes important to protect them," says Arun whose work on this project won him the Rolex Award with its prize money of 100,000 Swiss Francs.

Cleaning the surroundings of the restored Kilkattalai Lake

EFI's core team comprises 47 members who manage and run the organisation across nine cities. In Chennai, the Madambakkam, Arasankhazani and Mudichur Lakes are being restored. Depending on the size of the lake and the amount of garbage that it has accumulated, it takes between two to eight months to work on restoring a lake. Arun feels that while Government is keen on restoring water bodies, people need to cooperate and participate in this nation-building effort. Otherwise, all Government's efforts will go in vain.

The EFI seeks only voluntary participation from people to make a collective difference. Their recent 12-hour overnight-clean-up of the Madras beaches – from Ashtalakshmi Temple Beach, Besant Nagar, to Tiruvanmiyur New Beach (6-10 pm), Tiruvanmiyur New Beach to Palavakkam (10 pm to 2 am) and Palavakkam Beach to Neelangarai (2 am to 6 am) – with the help of volunteers and with participation from the public and approved by the Corporation was a noteworthy initiative on their part. On an average, around 70 volunteers turn up for a clean-up campaign. Only people's mindset and their discouraging attitude towards the environment and natural resources are the biggest opposition to his work. Otherwise, his routine day is filled with joy, work and responsibilities.

Arun's vision for EFI is to establish and grow it into a result-delivering conservation group. EFI intends to restore 45 lakes in the next ten years, have four animal homes, and cater to all life forms possible. EFI also plans to establish its educational services to build a socially sensitive society.

Arun also runs Krish Info Media, advising companies on how to achieve their Corporate Social Responsibilities.

EFI's website is www.indiaenvironment.org.