PRESS
RELEASE
On July 19, a group of eminent persons
visited a johad constructed by the villagers of Lava ka Baas in Alwar district. The johad
has been constructed over a small nala that feeds into the river Ruparel along with
several other nalas. Later the group met Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot to present
their views about the issue of demolition of the Lava ka Baas water harvesting recharge
structure.
Dr M S Swaminathan, eminent agriculturist and one of the members of the group said that
food security depends on four issues: food availability, access to food, absorption of
food by the body and sustainability of food production. "Water plays a key role in
ensuring food security. In a place like Rajasthan, where most of the rain falls in just a
few days, the only way we can capture the rain is through community-based rainwater
harvesting," he informed.
Concerned at the implications of the irrigation department's attempt to demolish the
recharge structure made by the villagers of Lava ka Baas, the Centre for Science and
Environment, a New Delhi-based non-governmental organisation formed a commission of
eminent persons to address the issues cited by the government as the reasons for
demolition. The issues cited were safety of the structure, violation of the law and the
adverse impact of the johad on water availability downstream. The team included Dr
Swaminathan; N C Saxena, secretary to the government of India; M C Chaturvedi, eminent
water resources expert who has designed many big dams like the Ramganga dam and the Beas
dam; Om Thanvi, chief editor of Jansatta; Mohan Gopal, director of National Law school
University, Bangalore; Anil Agarwal, chairperson of CSE; and, Sunita Narain, director of
CSE.
The commission found that the structure was safe. Said Chaturvedi, "It is important
to realise the johad in question is a small water harvesting recharge structure and not a
large dam. One cannot expect the same factor of safety here as compared to a large
dam." Regarding the impact on the flow of the river downstream of the johad,
Chaturvedi said that there would be no adverse impact. On the contrary the people living
downstream would benefit from increased groundwater recharge. On the issue of affecting
the availability of water downstream, Thanvi pointed out that the catchment of the johad
was a mere one per cent of the total catchment of the river Ruparel. Moreover the johad
was constructed on a very small nala of the Ruparel and not on the river as was believed.
Regarding the violation of law under the Rajasthan Irrigation and Drainage Act of 1954 and
a 1910 agreement between the then princely states of Bharatpur and Alwar, Mohan Gopal said
a case had not been made so far that there has actually been violation of the law.
Moreover, given the scarcity of water in Rajasthan the law should be to promote and not
deter community participation in rainwater harvesting.
With no significant source of surface water and depleting groundwater tables, Rajasthan
faces a serious problem of water scarcity. About 50 per cent of the state has been
classified as a dark zone. With a monsoon that falls for a few days only, it is imperative
that every drop of rain is harvested and the activity spreads. Already several examples
exist which show how community-based rainwater harvesting has brought about a dramatic
increase in water availability. Rajasthan also faces problems of deteriorating water
quality due to increasing salinity and rainwater harvesting offers a long term solution to
that also. "It is encouraging to see that drought relief programmes in states like
Rajasthan are now shifting their focus to drought-proofing rather than only drought
relief," informed Agarwal, adding, "For this the community's participation in
harvesting rain is paramount."
The village of Lava ka Baas has been in the eye of a storm ever since the villagers
completed the construction of a johad over a small nala that feeds into the Ruparel. In
June the state irrigation department sent notices to Rajendra Singh, secretary of Tarun
Bharat Sangh an Alwar-based non-governmental organisation that assisted the villages in
making the johad, giving him an ultimatum to demolish the structure or face legal action. |
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