For bringing safe drinking water to thousands of people in his native land, Bhagwati Agrawal was named one of CNN’s Top 10 Heroes of 2015.

The list was released Oct. 8, with each honoree receiving $10,000 and being recognized at the “CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute” event that airs Dec. 6.

People have a chance to vote on the hero who has the most inspirational story with the top vote-getter being named the CNN Hero of the Year. The Hero of the Year will get an additional $100,000 for his or her cause.

Agrawal provided safe drinking water to more than 10,000 people in his native Rajasthan through his nonprofit Sustainable Innovation, which he founded after a successful career in the U.S. doing research and development at Fortune 500 companies.

The nonprofit created a rainwater harvesting system that now provides safe water in six villages within Rajasthan, known as one of the driest regions in India.

CNN explains in its statement that women and children in Rajasthan walk miles to get water and clean dishes with sand to conserve it.

Agrawal has a system called Aakash Ganga – Hindi for “river from the sky” – which is a network of rooftops, gutters, pipes and underground reservoirs that collect and store the monsoon rains, which fall from July to September.

The system allows adults in the area to spend more time on valuable activities and children to spend more time at school.

“The way I look at it, I'm 70 years old” Agrawal told CNN. “I only have maybe 10 years left of active life. Right now I'm like Usain Bolt, the sprinter. ... And I will run very fast to accomplish this mission.”

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