PUNE: The hills surrounding Kolwade village in central Maharashtra's Ahmednagar district have been named after late Jesuit priest Hermann Bacher who dedicated his life to water conservation and the welfare of underprivileged communities in the state.
Bacher, known as the father of community-led watershed development in India, died on September 14, 2021 in his native country, Switzerland.
The announcement about naming was made by state revenue minister Balasaheb Thorat during an event at the village last month, said a release issued on Friday by the Watershed Organisation Trust (WOTR), a non-profit co-founded by Father Bacher.
Maharashtra environment minister Aaditya Thackeray was also present at the event. "Father Hermann Bacher worked extensively for watershed development and environment. In his honour, we are naming these hills as Hermann Hills," Thorat had tweeted later.
An Indophile, Bacher spent about 60 years in India, working on water management, especially in drought-prone areas. He had also launched the Indo-German Watershed Development Programme (IGWDP) in Maharashtra to find and develop new water resources.