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Water Champion

Dear Aabid,

We have published the Water Champion article. You can access the page directly here:
http://www.adb.org/features/aabid-surti-fixing-mumbais-leaks-one-tap-time?ref=sectors/water/features

It also appears in the May issue of ADB’s Water for All News:
http://hosted.comm100.com/KnowledgeBase/Issue-55–India–Will-to-Water-(May-2013)_A299.aspx?id=299&siteid=88094

Thank you very much for your cooperation.

Best  regards,

Cezar R. Tigno

May 2013
Web Writer, Website Manager
Water for All Website
Asian Development Bank
Tel No.: +632 6324444 Local 70189
www.adb.org/water

 

The next generation will have no choice but to fight for every bucket of water.

The Time is Running Out…

Save Every Drop… or Drop Dead

Return To India: r2iclubforums.com is a well known portal that offers information and services to Non Resident Indians worldwide with a focus on returning to India and settling down comfortably. The forum provides a platform for Indians worldwide to interact and communicate on wide range of topics…

As a distinguished Indian painter and author, Aabid Surti has written around 80 books but no story so moved him as the truth about water scarcity on the planet. “I read an interview of the former UN chief Boutros Boutros Ghali,” he recalls, “who said that by 2025 more than 40 countries are expected to experience water crisis. I remembered my childhood in a ghetto fighting for each bucket of water. I knew that shortage of water is the end of civilized life.”

A few days later, he came across a statistic in the newspaper: a tap that drips once every second wastes a thousand litres of water in a month. That triggered an idea. He would take a plumber from door to door and fix taps for free – one apartment complex every weekend.

He began by simply replacing old O-ring rubber gaskets with new ones, buying new fixtures from the wholesale market. He named his one-man NGO ‘Drop Dead’ and created a tagline: Save Every Drop… or Drop Dead.

Every Sunday, the Drop Dead team – which consisted of Aabid himself, Riyaaz the plumber and a female volunteer Tejal – picked the apartment blocks, got permission from the housing societies, and got to work.

By the end of the first year, they had visited 1533 homes and fixed around 400 taps. Slowly, the news began to spread.

It’s hard to say how much water he has saved with his mission, given that the faucets he fixed could have continued leaking for months, and maybe years, had he not rung the doorbell one Sunday morning. But conservatively, it could be estimated that he has single-handedly saved at least 5.5m litres of water till date.

In the summer of 2013, the state (Maharashtra) where Aabid lives is expecting its worst drought in 40 years. Months in advance, the Chief Minister Prithviraj Chauhan has warned citizens to begin conserving water. While ministers lobby for drought-relief packages worth millions of dollars, Aabid sees his own approach as simple and inexpensive.

As he rings another door-bell on yet another Sunday in Mira Road, seven years into his one-man mission, he says: “Anyone can launch a water conservation project in his or her area. That’s the beauty of this concept. It doesn’t require much funding or even an office. And most importantly, it puts the power back in our own hands.”

Portal : Return to India : 24^th Mar 2013

Ekla Chalo Re

Walk Alone

Democratic-World 19th May 2013

Aabid Surti, with his one man brigade called Drop Dead, is fixing every leaky tap which comes his way 

MANJIRI INDURKAR

 

In a very Shah Rukh Khan movie-like moment, writer, painter, cartoonist and environmentalist, Aabid Surti declares: “When you work for the benefit of others, saari kaayanat tumhe apni manzil se milane ki koshish me lag jaati hai.” (When you work for the benefit of others, the whole of creation unites to make you successful.) He also believes that both Ishwar and Allah work in tandem to assist such an effort.

The conviction with which he speaks his words can  make a regular atheist believe in God. And when a man of his age—he is all of 77 years now—starts doing what he does, and that too so relentlessly, one does suspect there is indeed a higher power at play here.

Surti’s environmental journey began five years ago with a leaky tap at a friend’s house. When Surti asked his friend to get the tap fixed, his request was brushed aside. After all the tap was, “too small a matter to call a plumber for”. Surti, who had read in a Hindustan Times article that a tap leaks a drop of water per second, can waste upto a 1,000 litres per month if not mended, could not ignore the problem.

“I grew up on a pavement dwelling fighting for every drop of water. When you live such a life you realise the value of every drop,” he says. Silently, the house guest made up his mind; he had to change things. A question remained—how would he save every drop? The chance came soon enough when the Uttar Pradesh Government decided to honour his contribution to Hindi Literature by bestowing him with the Lifetime Achievement Award, and a cash prize of 1 lakh. “Meri toh maano lottery lag gayi,” (I had hit the jackpot) he says with a chuckle. With that money in hand Surti embarked upon an environmental journey at an age when most people contemplate retirement.

He hired a plumber, bought some washers and began visiting people’s homes with a request—let us fix your taps for free! However, well meaning the two might have been, at the onset they were treated with suspicion. Attitudes changed once Drop Dead— the name of the two-people brigade— recruited a woman volunteer.

“People tend to trust women more than men. Ever since she has joined us, attitudes have changed toward Drop Dead,” he laughs.

The beauty of Drop Dead lay in its simplicity. An elderly gentleman, a plumber and a benign lady volunteer comes knocking on your door and offers to fix your taps; he does not lecture you on the importance of water nor does the charge you a single penny. Probably the man in charge reminds you of your grandfather— why would say no to such a man and his offer?

Surti’s award saw him through three years, and just when he was to worry about the road ahead, the Maharashtra  Government awarded him the Literature Award and gave him `50,000. “Like I said, the forces were with me.” By then the news of his work had spread—and he has gained some well-wishers. For example, an owner of a press offered to print pamphlets for free. “I asked him not to be foolish. Aap kyun mere saath shahid ho rahe hai?” (Why are you turning into a martyr along with me?) But the press proprietor was adamant. He did not know how to help his world—however, if someone else did, no one could stop him from helping such a man out.

Surti says it is this love that has been the best outcome of his endeavour, and he goes on to add that not even a mother’s love could match his supporters’ affections.

Slowly, corporations also came forth to take Surti’s work a step forward. One corporation offered to hire more plumbers so that Surti could spread his work over a wider geography.

Recently, Surti was also invited by the Dainik Bhaskar Group in Bhopal for a two-day water conservation camp, where he, along with the many volunteers, roamed the streets of Bhopal, fixing every leaky tap that came their way. His organisation, Drop Dead (for unless you save every drop of water, you might as well drop dead as you kill the planet, and generations, after you) has been active for almost six years now.

Each year it grows drop by drop.

The great Urdu poet Majrooh Sultanpuri had once said, “Main akela hi chala tha janibe manzil magar, log saath aate gaye aur karvan banta gaya.” (I had started my journey alone, but people joined in to form my caravan) That, in a nutshell, can sum up Surti’s story

 

http://democratic-world-mag.com.php5-11.ord1-1.websitetestlink.com/facebookpage/may_2013/articles/good_karma.html

The director of the German short film on Drop Dead Foundation…

Dear Aabid,

Yesterday the story about you was broadcasted on German TV.

You can watch it here:

http://www.daserste.de/information/politik-weltgeschehen/weltspiegel/sendung/br/indien-wasser-100.html

It;s in german, but hopefully you will understand something.

Thank you again for your help and the hospitality.

Hope to see you once again.

Best regards from Delhi,

Gabor Halasz

12 July 2013

 

 

Mails From Munich

Dear Mr. Aabid Surti, 

First I want to congratulate you for your great idea & job to repair water-taps!!!!!

I saw you in German TV today!

http://mediathek.daserste.de/sendung-verpasst/18397816_weltspiegel/18397986_indien-ein-kuenstler-als-klempner?datum=20131201

What a great idea!  Every year I am in Bombay (and I am shocked how people waste water! )

Second, I like your art.

Third, probably I will be in Bombay middle of January.

Where will I find you? For a coffee, for taking some pics… (if you like)

Lots of greatings from Munich, Germany (a water-saving-country!:-)

Elke Maria

Dr. Elke Maria Deubzer
Lothstr. 18
80335 München, Germany

12 July 13

 

Dear Mr. Surti,

I saw you this evening in German TV (ARD / BR) reparing water pipes etc. in Mumbai.
Congratulation! I am happy to get knowledge about your person and I think more people like you, could change many.
Thank you.

Best Regards
Werner Vogt
Munich, Germany

2^nd Dec  2013

Wr-vogt@t online.de

WALL STREET JOURNAL (INDIA)

Lifestyle & Culture 18^th Dec 13

Famous Writer Fixes Leaky Faucets

NUPUR ACHARYA

Aabid Surti is a famous Indian painter, playwright and cartoonist, creator of one of country’s longest running comic strip: Dhabbuji.

Since 2007, he has also been on a different mission–to save water in his neighborhood in Mumbai’s western suburb called Mira Road.

Almost every Sunday for the past six years, escorted by a plumber and a volunteer, Mr. Surti, 77, has been traversing the residential buildings on Mira Road with the mission of saving water by fixing leaking taps.

“I read somewhere that a tap that drips every second, wastes close to a 1,000 liters of water a month. For me, every drop is precious,” Mr. Surti told Indian Real Time on a recent Sunday.

His non-government organization is called the Drop Dead Foundation, based, he says, on his motto: save every drop (of water) or drop dead.

Mr. Surti says he and his team have fixed nearly 500 leaky taps in close to 950 buildings in Mumbai. By his count, by the end of last year, they had saved 5.6 million liters of water from going down the drain in a country where thousands go without access to clean drinking water.

Mr. Surti’s work has attracted the attention of the city’s top conservationists, who say he serves as an important role model.

“Aabid Surti exemplifies the fact that if all of us do a little, a lot gets done,” said Bittu Sahgal, the editor of Sanctuary Asia, one of India’s leading wildlife, conservation and environment magazines.

Mr. Surti and a volunteer helper record every detail of their efforts in a register. They say they cover about 100 to 150 buildings a year.

It’s a simple drill. On Monday, the Drop Dead volunteer calls the secretary of a housing society and describes the foundation’s work. She puts posters of the Drop Dead Foundation on the notice board or near the elevators of the buildings in the society. On Saturday, she distributes a pamphlet summarizing the work of the foundation to every apartment.

On Sunday, Mr. Surti with his two-member team begin knocking on apartment doors to ask if there are any leaking taps to fix.

On a recent Sunday, Mr. Surti, a volunteer and a plumber, all three sporting white T-shirts with Drop Dead written in white capital letters on a black patch, showed up at a seven-story building called Mercury on Mira Road and began ringing doorbells. They began from the topmost floor. Two of the apartments were locked. In another two, the people answering the door said their taps were fine.

Mr Surti said a humble “shukriya” (thank you) and walked a floor down.

The next resident to open her door, a woman in a tan-colored gown, took Mr. Surti and his team to see the dripping tap at the wash basin outside her bathroom.

As the plumber took the faucet apart and inserted a rubber washer in it, Mr. Surti chatted amicably with the resident, asking about her family. He also handed her a pamphlet and asked her to note down his foundation’s mobile numbers and call if the tap acted up again.

Before leaving, he stuck a, “Save Every Drop or Drop Dead” sticker right above her wash basin.

In another flat, Mr. Surti presented comic books written by him to the children in the house as the plumber went about repairing a tap.

By lunch time, the team had repaired five taps.

Scarcity of water is a major challenge. ‘Twenty-two of India’s 32 big cities face water crises’, the Times of India recently reported, citing government data.

Last year, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh warned that the country’s economic growth could be hampered if the country’s water resources aren’t used in a rational and sustainable manner.

Mr. Surti says the problem is vast, and fixing their own faucets is beyond the pocketbook of many poorer families.

“The leakage problems in ghettos and lower middle class localities are acute,” he said. “A plumber’s visit could cost anywhere between 50 to 100 rupees, which many can’t afford,” he said.

Standing on the staircase outside an apartment where his plumber was fixing a tap, Mr Surti recalled growing up in a Mumbai chawl, or tenement housing, where his mother would wake at the crack of the dawn to stand in line at one of the community taps to get that single precious bucket of water for the family.

“Almost every day, fights will breakout as there was never enough water for everyone,” he says.

Six years ago, when a friend couldn’t find a plumber to fix a dripping tap, Mr. Surti says, he realized there was a need, and he decided to meet it. Funding has never been a problem.

“God has been my fund raiser,” he says with a grin.

Soon after he started his venture, he received a lifetime achievement award for literature from the Uttar Pradesh Hindi Sansthan, including a cash prize of 100,000 rupees, or $1600.

He used the entire amount to print stickers, banners and posters advocating saving water and pay a plumber to accompany him once a week. When this money was exhausted in 2010, another award came his way, and then another.

“If your intentions are honest, help will always be at hand, and sometimes it comes from unexpected quarters,” he said.

However, despite Mr. Surti’s efforts to get government help, there has been no assistance so far from local civic authorities, or the municipal corporation of his neighborhood, where he submitted a proposal for assistance.

To expand his work, he asked for funding to rent an office, purchase a computer and a bicycle, and pay the salaries of an assistant, a plumber and a peon.

Officials at the Mira Bhaindar Municipal Corporation were not immediately available for comment.

Last month, Mr. Surti was invited as a speaker at the World Plumbing Conference in Delhi. According to him, he was the odd man out among the experts. The minute he finished his presentation, many among the audience rushed to donate money to his cause. “I broke into a dance on the stage,” he says, laughing.

Event organizer Kamal Khokhani remembers this fondly.

“We are a country of only talkers- who just talk, while Mr. Surti is a doer,” Mr. Khokhani, who is the managing director of Akar InfoMedia Pvt. Ltd., the publishers of Indian Plumbing Today magazine, said over the phone from Ahmedabad.

He remembers that both Indian and international delegates were amazed to hear about Mr. Surti’s work, and there was a rush of people to donate to his cause.

Among the donors was the Indian chapter of the World Plumbing Conference, which donated 100,000 rupees, or $1600

Dear Vaishnavi, Shruthi, Shanthi and Vijayakumar,

Mr. Aabid Surti is a distinguished painter and writer. He is also the founder of the Drop Dead Foundation which has made such a remarkable difference in water conservancy.

Have enclosed one of the articles narrating his incredible journey.

After reading this article I was moved by this initiative and felt we should also be a part of this.

One of our CSR objectives is Water Conservancy and I felt there is no better way and person to partner and take things further.

We have now partnered with Mr. Aabid Surti and would be implementing this project in Chennai as part of Home Serve CSR in association with the Drop Dead Foundation.

Regards,

B.K.Vijay

Vice President – Customer Relations

May 2013

(This is an introductory mail between my team and yourself. Vaishnavi is the head of Marketing and Activations. Shruthi is our Digital Marketing Manager. Vijayakumar is our Repairs Head. Shanthi is our Customer Care Manager.)

 

Dear Mr. Aabid Surti,

Thanks for your support.

Will keep my staff informed about the washers.

We maintain a Facebook page for our company – Home Serve. I would like to do a feature on this by interviewing you. My Digital Marketing Manager – Shruthi would be in touch with you shortly. Please let me have your contact numbers.

Thank you once again.

Regards,

B.K.Vijay

Vice President – Customer Relations

17^th Aug 2013