Ending Water Scarcity: A 50-Year Journey of Community-Led Transformation in Rural India

The Bundelkhand region, comprising 14 districts spread over two states has seen several such efforts at local levels. In Patha region these efforts have been led by Gaya Prasad Gopal (affectionately called Gopal Ji), founder of a voluntary organization ABSSS, which worked closely with international organizations like Oxfam and Action Aid, as well as government organizations like NABARD, to undertake a lot of very useful work that also received a prestigious water conservation award from the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry. which worked closely with international organizations like OxfamOxfamA confederation of 21 independent charitable organizations focusing on the alleviation of global poverty. and Action AidActionAidAn international non-governmental organization whose primary aim is to work against poverty and injustice worldwide. as well as government organization like NABARDNational Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD)An apex development financial institution in India, providing credit for agriculture and other economic activities in rural areas. to take forward a lot of very useful work which also received a prestigious water conservation award from the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and IndustryFICCIA non-governmental trade association and advocacy group based in India, promoting business and industry.. In the course of several visits to Patha I tried to understand Gopal’s perspective on water conservation which has influenced many younger activists engaged in water conservation.

Now in his eighties, Gopal likes to sit in the middle of numerous trees he has planted near his home and office in Chitrakut. He says, “It is very important to understand the way in which the traditional systems of water conservation worked and then only with this understanding use what modern science offers. It is important also to work in close partnership with local communities including women members and experienced elder people.”

Gopal’s face lights up as he adds, “In addition, it is very important to increase the tree cover and plant more and more indigenous species of trees. I have also tried to promote this, and these efforts must have by now led to the planting of about one hundred thousand trees with good survival rate.”

Antyodya organization has followed the same approach in nearby Mahoba district. I visited a beautiful tank full of lotus flowers in Kheminkhera village, one of the numerous historical water sources in Bundelkhand. This tank was de-silted to increase its water collection capacity. In another village Boura of this district, acute water scarcity had resulted from the heavy siltation of the existing tank. Here too, Antyodya mobilized the community members to work for de-silting. This has helped greatly to reduce water scarcity in the area and to save the farming of chestnuts around tank banks. What is more, the villagers have formed a water protection committee to ensure water conservation on a more durable basis.

Both Antyodya and ABSSS have at times worked with SRIJANSRIJAN (Self-Reliant Initiatives through Joint Action)A non-profit organization in India focused on promoting sustainable livelihoods, natural farming, and water conservation among rural communities., an organization that has prioritized the water conservation and spread of natural farmingNatural FarmingAn ecological farming approach that minimizes human intervention, focusing on soil health, biodiversity, and reducing external inputs like chemical fertilizers and pesticides. in several parts of India. When I visited Markhera village in Tikamgarh district, people here told me they were earlier suffering from acute water scarcity. Water level in wells had fallen and many hand pumps were not yielding any water any more. In these conditions SRIJAN helped to repair check dams which had been badly damaged, and also dug ditches in the rainwater channel called dohas so that water could remain here for a much longer time after the rains. These simple but effective steps helped the village to improve its water conservation considerably and water table has risen significantly. During my visit I found women in particular to be very happy, as they have more responsibility for arranging water supply. The villagers responded to the efforts of SRIJAN by contributing as volunteers in a tree planting effort which will help further in water conservation.

Coming back to Shyampur village, most of the farmland here had been barren due to lack of water about a decade back. As villagers here told me, this started changing fast with water conservation initiatives undertaken by SRIJAN. 18 new water bodies were created and 14 existing ones that needed repairs were renovated. A big water tank was de-silted and the fertile silt taken out of the tank was deposited in farms. Then natural farming practices were spread here. Along with their other benefits of protecting environment and producing healthy food, natural farming reduces water needs of crops. Nearly three-fourths of the cultivated land here has been brought under cultivation only recently because of the recent water conservation initiatives

The situation here is the same as in Jogipura village of this district where water conservation work could change the entire development prospects in the village and from a stage of hopelessness and neglect, the people of this very remote village are now looking forward to many-sided opportunities.

Parmarth, another leading voluntary organization active in Central India, has created a cadre of women water volunteers called Jal Sahelis (translated as water friends). They have been working for de-silting and cleaning water sources and spreading wider public consciousness on the importance of water conservation. Sarkunwar, the first Jal Saheli to emerge from Udgawaan village of Lalitpur district (Uttar Pradesh) made a very important contribution to improving water conservation and sanitation efforts in her village. Despite having to bear increasing family responsibilities due to her husband being injured in a serious accident and other adversities, Sarkunwar could find the time for this work, ultimately getting elected to rural decentralization governance posts.

Several small rivers play a very important role in meeting water needs of villagers here but these have been getting increasingly depleted due to a number of factors including harmful mining practices. With the help of Jal Sahelis Parmarth has helped in the rejuvenation of some of these rivers. As Sanjay Singh, founder-director of Parmarth, says the entire experience of Jal Sahelis shows the vast potential of voluntarism to take forward some of the most important tasks like water conservation. They have not just lived up to the original expectations, they have surpassed these.

The contribution of water conservation work improves further when it is linked more closely to improving the prospects of the weaker and poorer sections of society. The ABSSS was working for the settlement and land rights of some of the poorest people in the Patha area, and this was followed up with the creation of a water tank along the lines of traditional water conservation practices. Thus the people of the newly created Harijanpur village who had just received some farmland in land distribution effort of the government, were now able to cultivate this land. Thus, once landless people could become successful farmers and their children could progress by accessing educational facilities. During a recent visit many farmers related their journey from a completely insecure existence to progress and economic security.

SRIJAN’s national coordinator Prasanna Khemaria says, “In our work, we place maximum emphasis on working with weaker and poorer sections of society and within these sections, with women, our effort being to work in ecologically protective ways as well as in ways that promote justice at various levels.”

An important aspect of such efforts that needs more attention is the ability to maintain the success of water conservation over a longer period of time. Since often this work is taken up as part of time bound projects, a question arises whether the same community involvement can be mobilized for maintenance work once the project is over. Varsha Rathore, who has been associated closely with the water conservation efforts of a leading voluntary organization Seva Mandir in South Rajasthan, says, “The key to ensuring longer-term success is to create and stabilize community organizations and promote local leadership who will continue to take good care of water conservation and other community efforts. We have always emphasized the creation and promotion of such community organizations based on equality and non-discrimination, and this has proved very helpful.” I could see this in Ramaj village of Udaipur district, where Seva Mandir’s efforts of planting trees and constructing several check dams, gabions, and field bunds led to this village emerging as a significant success of water conservation, leading to a rise in the water table and improved livelihoods. and field bunds led to this village emerging as a significant success of water conservation, leading to rise of water table and improved livelihoods. Such success can be seen in several other villages here as well. Despite the contributions of community institutions to protect these gains, there are still challenges, such as how to keep the younger generation more involved in such community work.

At a more personal level, my journey of reporting on the struggles and efforts to quench the thirst of remote villages has given me the joy of proximity to many heartwarming efforts of success in water conservation. In the course of this long journey, I recently tried to dig deep into my small pockets to support some small work of water conservation on my own. This effort was in the hamlet of poorest dalit people of Bhanwarpur village in Banda district. This village had a very useful well that served well to meet its water needs for many decades, but its usefulness diminished due to the accumulation of tree leaves and other dirt. So I took the initiative to contribute a substantial share of the costs for cleaning this well, while the people living in this hamlet contributed voluntary work, and any shortfall in the funds needed was met by a voluntary organization, Vidydham Samiti.. This cooperative effort resulted in clean water supply for some of the poorest families of this village. This gave me great satisfaction, which I’d like to share and use to call on more people to be involved in such efforts. The various ponds, tanks, wells and other water bodies created or improved under these efforts are extremely useful for people in villages, their farm animals, as well as stray animals, wild animals, and birds.