Rajendra Singh, a Magsaysay Award-winning environmentalist known as ‘Waterman of India’, has gained global acclaim for his tireless work in restoring water resources. During his recent visit to Ranchi, Singh spoke to Dhrubajyoti Malakar on his perspectives on conservation and building resilience against climate change. Excerpts:In recent times, many debates surrounding infrastructure development and environmental protection have emerged. Many said that in the pursuit of promoting one, another is being compromised. What is your take?Development projects now lack integration of nature and culture, which was practised in ancient India. Over the years, we have lost respect for our culture and nature, leading to the destruction of environment for the sake of development. Everywhere, this so-called development is giving rise to disaster and displacement issues. India needs to shift its attention to its age-old values that have faith in and respect for its nature and culture, to ensure sustainable development.We worship our water bodies, even though we are polluting our rivers. What is your view on that?Again, it is related to the loss of love and respect for nature, rivers and every natural element. India’s traditional knowledge imparted learning to consider rivers as our saviours, and people respected water bodies. Today, we worship rivers but use them as waste-dumping yards. If we want to rejuvenate the rivers, we have to change our attitude.How important a role do rivers play in combating climate change?For the last 50 years, I have been reiterating that river, soil and greenery are inseparable from each other. When rivers flow, they nourish the soil and revitalise green cover. This in turn will reduce the amount of toxic gases in the atmosphere, provide better living conditions for humans and help curb global warming and other environmental issues.What are the challenges in curbing pollution in India?Rapid industrialisation is posing a major challenge in curbing pollution. Our country has shifted from a people-driven democracy to a corporate-driven democracy in recent times. Due to that, India is only focused on economic infrastructure development and its profits, not on the environment.