A NEW BEGINNING

 






Forging ties

 

WATER LITERACY
Informing people
Water play
The facilitator
Water Gala

IN FOCUS
Faulty perceptions
Thirst rises, patience evaporates

URBAN WETLANDS
Eviction ordered
Join the BIG fight
Citizens pick up cudgels
Solar lakes

WATER MANAGEMENT
South India: Searching for an identity
Thailand: Then came progress....

INITIATIVE

An eye opener
Naudihi’s revival
Tankas of Badi Ghodan
Dialogue

CSE'S LATEST DESIGNS

Sri Aurobindo Ashram’s system

TECHNOLOGY

Rice husk ash filter
Clay pot irrigation

JAL YODHAS

Sachidanand Bharti
Madhu Bhatnagar

TRADITION

Naullahs of Kumaon

WATER IN NEWS

Kerala, building up its jalanidhi
Schemes or scams?

GREEN WATER HARVESTER'S NEWS

Saving lives
Rain associations
Review

CLASSROOM

Drop by drop
Water scramble

FUNDING AGENCY

Oxfam and water

BASIC FACT

3RD WATER FORUM

100 promises, deadline 2006
The landmarks
Changing currents

BOOK/DOCUMENTS

READERS SPACE

WEB INFO

EVENT


   
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Vol. 5   

No. 2

April-May 2003

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An eye opener

"By slightly modifying the size of the pyathon (concrete catchment area), kundis can be easily replicated in some parts of Orissa, where options for groundwater recharge are limited". Leela Nanda, MASS, Orissa

"The chauka system is a remarkable way of not only developing pastureland but ensuring high groundwater retention as well. It is a system, which can be effectively replicated in Kenya, as the ecological and topographic conditions are similar."

Alex Odour, Information Officer,
RELMA, Kenya

paani_yatra.jpg Similar thoughts were expressed by other participants of CSE’s tenth paani yatra (water pilgrimage) as well. About 28 participants with diverse backgrounds from (different parts of) India, Kenya and Germany explored Rajasthan, during this yatra. Travelling between May 12 - 19, 2003, they saw the magic of kundis (concrete structures to collect water) in village Ramsara and Ratanpur, Churu; chaukas (dykes) in Laporiya village, Jaipur; and, johads (earthen pond) in Bhaonta Kolyala village, Alwar.

Reflections

"The people are determined. Their survival strategies are both simple and economical."

Suman Tarfdar,
Journalist, New Delhi

"The simplicity and happiness of the villagers impressed me the most. They show us the ways to deal with harsh climate and scarce rain, successfully."

Jimmy Cyriac,
Student, Tamil Nadu

"Laporiya and Bhaonta Kolyala have been successful, because the local communities took the initiative. They innovated the existing structures as per their context."

Muthukrishnan,
Student, Maharashtra

"I have learnt a lot, especially with regard to the use of surface reservoirs to recharge groundwater.The chaukas were amazing."

Alex Oduor,
nformation officer, Kenya

"In this paani yatra, I saw structures built by the local engineers with no formal education. Years of experience was their only qualification."

Prerna Dutt,
Student, New Delhi

"It was interesting to see that every region has its own rainwater harvesting techniques."

F Krisch,
journalist, Germany

The first stop was village Ratanpura. Here, with the help of Bhoruka Charitable Trust, a local NGO, the community is maintaining kundis, as a realiable drinking water source. The groundwater in this village is saline and the municipal supply is irregular. On the way to Churu, next stop was Raju ki Dhani village, where they saw kui, another traditional structure to harness moisture from sands. Yatris were surprised to find that the water in the kui was sweet, whereas in a nearby well it was saline, as the former source was not groundwater.

In Ramsara village, they meet villagers, who have built six new kundis, last year, as the groundwater was flouride affected. In this village, kundis were also being used for irrigation purposes. Here, they met Ridkaran, a mason, who has been making kundis for the past 25 years.

In Laporiya, chaukas captivated the group. It is a unique method of rainwater harvesting, involving dyked rectangular trenches dug all over the pastureland in a series. The depth of these pits vary with the local topography. The rainwater goes zig zag all around pasture before flowing into a seasonal river. The villagers are regularly maintaining the catchment area and, a canal supplies water to the three tanks built in a series — ‘ann sagar’, ‘phool sagar’ and ‘dev sagar’. After four years of drought, although the surface water has dried up. There is enough water for both drinking and irrigation.

The dairy sector is flourishing. The average annual income per household from this sector alone varies between Rs 2,000 to Rs 4,000. There are 103 wells in the village. And, people are using these for one hour to irrigate. Their lush green agricultural land highlights the impact of the innovative community-based water works done in Laporiya. A trend that was not observed by the yatris during their visit to the other neighbouring villages.

The visit was an eye opener. Bhanu Jain, a yatri from Water and Sanitation Management organisation, Gandhinagar, said, "An effective social mobilisation rocess has transformed these into model villages that are easy to replicate.

For details:
Rampal Bisht, BCT, Rajgarh, Bhorugram, Churu 331023
Laxman Singh, GVNML,
Laporiya, Post Gagardu,
Dudu, Jaipur 303008


From Gujarat

CSE’s ninth paani yatra (January 16 - 21, 2003) explored the community-based water works done by NMSadguru Water and Development Foundation in Dahod; Utthan in Patan; and, Agha Khan Rural Support Program in Surendernagar. The group of 23 participants also visited Raj Samadhiyala in Rajkot, to understand how a balanced approach — combining effective application of remote sensing and strict community code — has worked miracles.

 

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