Jal Sunwai in Indore

The Madhya Pradesh (MP) jal biradari (water community) organised a state-level public meet in Kasturbagram, Indore, on May 25. The aim of this meeting was to discuss the long-term impact of the national water policy (NWP) on India and on MP, in particular.

The guest speakers included K J Vyas, former advisor to the Rajiv Gandhi Watershed Mission; Ramaswamy Aiyar, former chief secretary in the Water Resources Department at the Centre; Rajendra Singh, secretary of Tarun Bharat Sangh, an Alwar-based NGO; and, Medha Patekar from the Narmada Bachao Andolan.

The day began with Suresh Mishra from Eklavya, a Bhopal-based NGO, briefing the participants about the reach and functioning of the MP jal biradari. In the first session the NWP was discussed. Aiyar, who drafted the first NWP, lamented that "No attempt has been made to discuss issues like privatisation on a public forum. If the views of people at large were taken into consideration, the contents of the policy would have been completely different."

Shravan Garg, editor of Danik Bhaskar, on the other hand, expressed his disappointment with the inadequate role played by the media in flagging the faults in NWP. The session concluded with the release of ‘Boondhon Ki Sunwai’, a joint compilation by Danik Bhaskar and the MP jal biradari.

The second session concentrated on looking for solutions to the water crisis. While speaking on the relevance of region-specific solutions, Kanti Chaturvedi from Indore felt "water works done in Badnwar, Bhanpur, Patelawad and Swadhyay mandals are exemplary and should be replicated." Paramthesh Ambhasathan from the Samaj Pragati Sahyog informed the participants about watershed projects undertaken by about 90 villages in the Bagali region.

She has also been instrumental in passing the Chennai Groundwater Regulation Act. It was a difficult battle, but the tough-talking bureaucrat eventually won. "It took strict enforcement of the anti-water mining legislation coupled with active support from local communities to stop the mining," reveals the RWH activist.

A woman with a mission, Nair has even included RWH as a part of the flood mitigation and storm drain construction schemes. It was due to her efforts that RWH was made mandatory for new buildings in 1994, and for all buildings in 2002.