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| Vol. 3 |
No. 5 |
October
2001 |
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Brigadier's blue battle
For most of us, rights come before duties, but not
for Brigadier Jagdev Singh, a resident of Vasant Vihar, New Delhi. He understood the
importance of rainwater harvesting and decided to implement it in his two-storied flat,
irrespective of the negative attitude of others around him. Centre for Science and
Environment (CSE), a New Delhi-based non-governmental organisation gave technical support
to his willingness to conserve the environment.
In June 2001, the water management committee of the Vasant Vihar's Resident Welfare
Association invited CSE to give a presentation on rainwater harvesting. Brig. Singh, like
many others was negatively affected by the declining water table. He said, "I had two
tubewells with plenty of water, but in due course of time they got dried up." He
continued, "People are careless towards environment. Though the amount required is
nominal, people still are reluctant to contribute, as they think that these are not their
problem." He, unlike many others, decided to take action.
A proposal was prepared by CSE for reviving the dried up tubewells. In the plan,
the casing pipe of the tube well is slotted, so as to facilitate easy recharging. (see box
1: Site plan) Filter beds comprising of sand and gravel are provided to take care of silt
and sediments. (see box 2: The recharge structure) The entire plan, for an area of 285
square meters with an annual average water harvesting potential of 1.47 lakh litres, was
completed within a cost of Rs 7,500.
While speaking about the expected benefits, he said, "I hope that the water
table will go up." His hopes will come true, if few others keep joining this
conservation drive everyday.
For further information:
Brig. Jagdev Singh
A-11/4, Vasant Vihar, New Delhi
Water
becomes women strength
In 1996, about 955 Gond tribal women took the initiative of reviving the depleting
groundwater tables of their ten villages - Chikanpur, Manegaon, Fulzari, Akola, Lakhapur,
Kanora, Ramzan-Ghoti, Belda, Salai and Tangla, in the semi-arid hilly areas of Ramtek
tehsil, Nagpur district, Maharashtra, on a watershed basis, with a village as a unit.
Water conservation efforts strengthened their resolve to revive their forests and economy
as well. This watershed initiative successfully encouraged them to become agents of their
own development, instead of being the passive beneficiaries. They were constantly
encouraged and guided by the members of Community Action for Development (CAD), a
Nagpur-based non-governmental organisation (NGO) working with tribal women.
The place
These ten villages are situated in and around the jeda (forest) area. In Vidarbha, almost
85 per cent of tribals are still forest dwellers, living in an intricate and harmonious
relationship with the forest, being their 'anna, aarogya and aasra' (food, well-being and
security). For centuries, the natural resources have been considered as common property,
to be owned and managed by them. The Gonds were famous for constructing bodis (small water
harvesting ponds) along with other water-harvesting structures like bandharas (check dams
with
earthen walls) and deep peers (wells). Their water management system was effective.
However, their sustainable life pattern was disrupted. Many tribal families in
these villages lost their land to non-tribals. Due to the state apathy, the forest
resources came under strain. Their traditional water management practices also started to
decay, which particularly affected the women, who are exclusively responsible for the
supply of water for survival and income-generating tasks.
The revival
During the course of an ongoing research on tribal women's participation and sustainable
development by Tripude College of Social Work, Nagpur University, it was realised that
tribal women need to be sensitised about their own situation. With these objectives in
mind, 95 students from Tripude College started the awareness creation programme amongst
these women. Four months later, CAD also started actively participating in this programme.
CAD with a vast working experience in this field convinced the tribal women to
implement community-led watershed development programme to alleviate poverty. The tribal
women agreed.
During discussion with CAD, the women realised that the existing irrigation
facilities in the region are not only inadequate but also the benefits from these
facilities are being primarily reaped by the people living in the plains (inhabited by the
non-tribals), thus not directly benefiting them.
They identified that their needs extended beyond water conservation, including
forest regeneration, better health and employment facilities. So, they decided to adopt an
integrated approach for development, giving importance to human factors over the economic
and technological ones.
Initially, they sought the assistance of the panchayat representatives for the
installation of these facilities in their region, but were unsuccessful. The women were
encouraged to adopt an attitude of self-reliance, while reducing their dependence on the
government.
As the needs became apparent, the user groups for the planning and implementation
of the project were formed. Women contribution in the form of labor was made essential, to
create a sense of ownership for the assets created. Another factor that was emphasised
during the implementation process was awareness creation. It was significantly realised
that although women have tremendous knowledge on where to collect water and how to cope in
the periods of water scarcity, they hesitate to put their views across in the
village-level meetings. Thus, stress was laid on organising mahila mandals (women's
group). This participatory endeavour helped them realise that through folklore, songs,
riddles and proverbs it is relatively easy to convey their message across to the
villagers.
Conservation efforts
| Total no. of villages |
Nature and no. of structure |
| 8 |
Small check dams built (12) |
| 4 |
Small percolation tanks |
| 1 |
Wells dug (2) |
| 5 |
(a) Small areas of sloping farmland levelled
(b) Small mud dams and trenches built on surrounding sloped to retain water and topsoil. |
The different components of water and soil conservation works are being implemented
in these ten villages. (see table: Conservation efforts) The other aspects that were
primarily emphasised by the watershed project included forest regeneration, a struggle for
the rights to collect certain minor forest produce like mahua flowers and honey, and
promotion of cottage industries. Thus, a conscious attempt was made to increase the scope
of employment while ensuring an ecological balance at the same time.
Active participation by the women in watershed programme is important not only for
improving family welfare, but also for enlarging local knowledge systems and contributing
to their overall empowerment. The experience of these tribal women can be easily
replicated by anyone, anywhere.
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