Protecting the Quality of Life and Eradicating Rural Poverty: Anil Agarwal, Director of CSE, made a presentation to the State Governors Conference of the Republic of India at Rashtrpati Bhavan on July 12, 2000. Mr. Agarwal stressed the need for rain water harvesting systems to improve the rural economy and drought-proof the country.

CSE has prepared a briefing paper 'Drought? Try Capturing The Rain' for members of parliament and state legislatures with strategies to confront the present water crisis. The briefing paper emphasises the potential of community-based rainwater harvesting and shows the intrinsic relationship between the community and water management. CSE believes that for effective water harvesting activity, social mobilisation is a prerequisite. It is essential that a strong social process precede each structure to build the social capital within the village. Thus the effectiveness of the structures lies not only in the technology but also in effective decentralisation.

Both the presentation to the Governors and the briefing paper for MPs can be viewed at

http://www.cseindia.org/html/cmp/cmp43.htm

CSE offers technical assistance for water harvesting in urban situations.For individuals and organisations interested in implementing water harvesting in their premises, CSE provides a comprehensive plan for water harvesting including working drawings for construction. We have recently published a manual on urban water harvesting which gives practical guidelines on implementing water harvesting in cities. The information is supplemented with case studies of water harvesting systems designed by us in Delhi. We also conduct technical workshops on water harvesting. More information is available at the above webpage.

You've got the power
The story is based in Kerala. A state where collectivism and Soviet Era burreaucracy should have been the order of the day. But Kerala is in many ways unique. It is a very small state with a very active civil society. Power is being decentralised and people are being given the right to decide how to improve their local environment. They have also been given the money to do so. The story of a unique experiment as narrated by Richard Mahapatra in a Down To Earth cover story at

http://www.cseindia.org/html/dte/dte20000715/dte_cover.htm

http://www.cseindia.org/html/dte/dte20000715/dte_srep1.htm

http://www.cseindia.org/html/dte/dte20000715/dte_srep.htm