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Chronicle of a Journey
Water trains aren’t a strange sight anymore. Not the
least in the parched areas of Gujarat. But while many villages
await their erratic supply, residents of villages such as
Raj-Samadiyala in Rajkot district believe it is a ‘shame’
to get government water.
Nor have they felt the need. A sound water management system
has ensured perennial water in their wells even as the rest
of Gujarat reels under a severe water crisis. The New Delhi-based
Centre for Science and Environment organised a ‘pani yaatra’
— a water pilgrimage — for mediapersons to a few of
these model villages. The visit left some ‘pilgrims’
frustrated at the plight of the affected villagers. They decidedly
returned with a firm belief that the drought is a result of
human folly.
There are parched river beds as well as flowing rivulets; water
at depths of 3-5 metres and dry wells even at 60 metres; hectares
of land filled with cacti and areas lush with mango, lime, even
water melon: the contrasts cannot be more stark among villages
in Gujarat.
On a particularly hot afternoon, groups of women and children
are seen peering into holes dug into the aptly-named Sukhi river
bed in Dahod district — the yatra’s first stop. An
air of despondency hangs about the gathering. Nine-year-old
Meena has been lowered a metre-deep to collect whatever water
seeps out. Patiently, the child holds up the small vessel to
her mother who filters the water using a fine cloth before gratefully
pouring it onto her earthenware pot.
At another hole, there is Latabehn, 35, engaged similarly except
that she is passing it on to 60-year-old Lakibehn. Patli, well
into her eighth month of pregnancy and a family of seven to
feed, has also come to fetch water. For months, women from villages
like Retia and Doki, a good three to four km away, have been
making the day-long trip to the river bed everyday to collect
a miserly two pots of water.
Compare this with nearby Mahudi village. Kirkibehn and her family
of five do not have much to worry about.
The Machchan, which flows past their village, has kept the water
crisis at bay. The rivulet has managed to retain a portion of
the water collected during the 1998 monsoon season, thanks to
their traditional rainwater harvesting practice.
A series of check dams, 14 in all, dot the rivulet. The villagers
constructed the Mahudi checkdam with a capacity of some 1,100,000
cubic metres of water in 1993 with technical and financial assistance
from N M Sadguru Water and Development Foundation, a non-governmental
organisation (NGO) working in 350 villages in Gujarat, Madhya
Pradesh and Rajasthan. “But for the checkdam, we would
have been without water like the other villages,” says
Kalabhai. There is still enough for people to dive into the
green waters of Machchan. But, to be play it safe, the villagers
have decided to use the Machchan water strictly for domestic
purposes and irrigating a single crop. This has not affected
them unduly. Kirkibehn, for one , has four drumloads of gram,
maize and lentils carried over from last year’s harvest.
A similar situation prevails in Polapan village in Rajasthan’s
Banswara district. The Sadguru-initiated soil and water conservation
measures have ensured water availability in the wells at depths
of only 3-4 metres.
Decoding Raj-Samadhiyala
After a visit to the villages in Dahod, the yaatra moved on
to Raj-Samadhiyala village, 20 km from Rajkot city. This is
the land of the ‘benevolent dictator’, as sarpanch
Hardevsinh Balwantsinh Jadeja calls himself. The 48-year-old
sarpanch has been working for the last 28 years to foster economic,
social and cultural values among the villagers.
A decade ago, the village was declared a dry area and put
under the arid zone development programme of the state government.
Not one to sit back and wait for the inevitable, Jadeja —
who also heads the 11-member village development committee
— took upon himself the task of creating a rainwater
harvesting programme for the village. A hydrogeological survey
was conducted using Indian Space and Research Organisation’s
satellite imagery to locate fissures in the topography where
percolation of water is maximum. He then led the villagers
to construct 12 checkdams between 1986 and 1988. Since 1998,
they have also implemented 50 microwatershed projects. The
results are phenomenal. Despite poor rainfall in the last
two years, the village has plenty of water. “Till I am
alive, no tanker will enter the village,” says the proud
sarpanch. “Not for another five-six years of drought.”
Jadeja has also enacted the Raj-Samadhiyala Penal Code, which
he holds in higher regard than the Indian Penal Code, for
all-round development of his village. Drafted in 1978, the
items in the code have increased over the years. These include
a fine of Rs 51 for breaking a leaf, Rs 151 for alcohol consumption,
Rs 251 for gambling and so on. And not even Jadeja is spared
from being fined. Recently, he was asked to cough up a hefty
sum because his cattle were found eating the leaves of a tree.
Thanks to the code, no police personnel has entered the village
for two decades and the crime rate is down to zero.
The annual income of the village is Rs 2.5 crore. They earn
Rs 50 lakh from the sale of vegetables alone. So far the villagers
have planted 50,000 trees in the village. They hope to plant
another 50,000 by 2002.
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Now, adjoining villages like Aniyala, Aili Sajadiyala and
Laklapur are taking a cue from Raj-Samadhiyala. Indeed a lifetime
achievement for the man who believes “Raj-Samadhiyala
is my India”.
Gandhians at work
The final destination was Savarkundla taluka (block) in Amrelli
district. Inside the office premises of the ngo Kundla Taluka
Gram Sewa Mandal, everything is extremely Gandhian. The Mandal
began work in the taluka in 1936 when it was established by
three members — Amulakhbhai Khimani and the late Keshubhai
Bhavsar and Lallubhai Sheth.
Among the numerous projects started by the Mandal, of which
Manubhai Mehta is the project coordinator, is the water management
programme in 58 out of the 82 villages in the taluka. This was
also borne out of the realisation that given the topography,
it was unlikely that the Narmada dam, if completed, would bring
water to the villages.
The water management programme was started in 1991-92. So far,
they have constructed 78 check dams, 826 kacha bandhs
and 30 ponds. Besides, soil levelling work has been undertaken
across 3,711 hectares (ha) of land and plantations on 1,21,800
ha.
The water table has risen considerably to sustain them through
the drought period. In Dedakadi village, for instance, all the
150 households have piped water. In fact, according to Pragji,
a villager, they even provided fodder to the affected villagers
to tide over the difficult times.
It is another matter that if it doesn’t rain this year
too, they will be forced to search for livelihood elsewhere.
“But not for water,” points out one of them immediately,
adding: “Water we have enough. We will be idle because
we won’t have work to do.”
On the food front too, plentiful harvests of the previous years
have helped them to pull through with relative comfort.
Elsewhere
in Gujarat... Besides Mahudi, Raj-Samadhiyala
and Dedakedi, Gujarat has numerous examples of community effort
which has kept the water crisis at bay. In Dwarka, the system
of conserving rainwater in underground tanks has ensured a perennial
supply of water for drinking and cooking.
In some places, the drought has made people value water. Residents
of Jamnagar have desilted Lakhota lake for the first time in
100 years. Perhaps just in time for the monsoons to water its
dry bed.
Tradition
saves
A century-old tradition of conserving water helps residents
of Dwarka keep the crisis at bay
It isn’t a miracle. Though
it is the land of Lord Krishna. While the rising temperatures
have left many areas in Gujarat parched, for the residents
of Dwarka their traditional water conservation system
has ensured a perennial source of water.
Almost every house in the city has an underground tank
which is used to collect rainwater every year. Sealed
from all sides, drainpipes from rooftops and terraces
are connected to the tank. A small opening at the top
allows periodical cleaning of the tank with bags of
lime (a disinfectant) . If the rainfall is good, some
tanks which are as large as 25 square metres can collect
ample water. Since it is used strictly for drinking
and cooking, it could last up to two years. It is this
conserved water that is making a difference with other
severely affected parts of Saurashtra.
Realising the importance of rainwater conservation,
the Dwarka municipality has made the provision of a
tank almost compulsory during construction of houses.
“We haven’t made it a rule, but it is deemed
that every house plan should have a tank. When people
realised the importance of water 80 to 90 years ago,
as can be seen from the havelis built then, why don’t
we?” asks Nilaben Upadhaya, president of the municipality
(The Indian Express, May 13, 2000).
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Clean-up
time
Jamnagar shows the way, starts
a movement to desilt lakes
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For years, residents of Gujarat’s
Saurashtra region have been demanding allocation of
funds for desilting its numerous lakes and ponds. Till
late, their appeals fell on deaf ears. The government
maintained that desilting old ponds was not economically
viable. It was cheaper to build new ones, it said. Not
that they built any.
The people of Jamnagar have now taken matters into their
own hands and desilted Lakhota talav this summer. This
summer, volunteers of Lakhota Jalsanchay Abhiyan Samiti
desilted the lake for the first time in the 100 years.
Covering an area of more than 50 hectares, with a water-carrying
capacity of over 1 million cubic metres, Lakhota is
located in the heart of Jamnagar city. Water collected
in the lake will recharge numerous tubewells and borewells
in the city. “We will not let the Lakhota dry up
ever again,” says Deviprasadji Maharaj, president
of the samiti.
Lakhota is in the truest sense a people’s movement.
The cost of desilting Lakhota by around 1.5-4.5 metres
was estimated at Rs 4.5 crore. This amount was put together
by the citizens, social and religions groups, a local
cooperative bank, industry associations, the municipal
corporation, local politicians and the police. Even,
the government chipped in. “The people of Jamnagar
started the project. It was the need of the time,”
says H G Tanna, vice president of the samiti.
The alluvial topsoil is being collected by farmers to
be used as manure for their fields. Stones and pebbles
from the lake are being used to expanding highways and
levelling land in the city. Following Jamnagar’s
footsteps, citizens’ groups in Rajkot, Amreli,
Gadar and Bhuj districts are now taking up the task
of repairing old ponds and reservoirs.
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Harvest
of hope
January 15, 2000 |
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