Global Journal on Advances in Pure & Applied Sciences

Issue 5 (2015) 24-34

Selected Paper of 2nd Global Conference on Energy, Soil, Water, Air and Environment (ESWAE-2014), 11 – 13 December 2014, Grand Midwest Tower and Hotel Conference Center, Dubai – United Arab Emirates Democratising Rivers: Local River Conflicts in

Renu Sisodia *, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, India.

Suggested Citation: Sisodia, R. (2015). Democratising Rivers: Local River Conflicts in Rajasthan, Global Journal on Advances in Pure & Applied Sciences. [Online]. 05, pp 24-34. Available from: http://www.world-education- center.org/index.php/paas

Received July 02, 2014; revised September 16, 2014; accepted November 13, 2014. Selection and peer review under responsibility of Prof. Dr. Haluk Soran, Near East University, Cyprus. ©2015 Academic World Education & Research Center. All rights reserved.

Abstract

This paper attempted to explore and explain the local level river water conflicts in the larger contex t of state - society relations. This study also covered causes of local level river water conflicts in the catchment area of Bandi and of Rajasthan. The focus of the study was on the emergence of community driven, decentralised management of river water bodies and strategies used by local communities to protect and manage river water conflicts. The research is conducted through the process of designing a framework based on essential theoretical and practical findings supported by primary and secondary data. Two in depth case study is conducted to understand the phenomenon in depth. The first field site is Bandi River of , which is about the struggle between textile industries, community and the State government in which water pollution is said to be one of the driving force of the conflict. Finding shows that the state is supporting textile industries in Pali district have not been adherent to the environmental ethics. Present legal infrastructure and local institutions fail to resolve the serious problem of water pollution in Bandi River and its adverse impact on the local community as a result local community resistance against the local administration and the state government. The second case illustrates the plight of Arvari River in Alwar district. Tussle for the ownership of fisheries between local community, the private fish contractor and State government has been the main bone of contestation. To resolve this conflict local community formed conflict management mechanism named a s Arvari Parliament. Arvari Parliament has its own principle and rules to resolve water conflicts related to ownership of the river and use of the river water. The research findings also highlight the co-existence between conventional and modern practices in resolving conflicts

Keywords: water, water pollution, water conflicts, water scarcity, conflict resolution, local community.

* ADDRESS FOR CORRESPONDENCE: Renu Sisodia, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, India. E-mail address: [email protected] Sisodia, R. (2015). Democratising Rivers: Local River Conflicts in Rajasthan, Global Journal on Advances in Pure & Applied Sciences. [Online]. 05, pp 24-34. Available from: http://www.world-education-center.org/index.php/paas

1. Introduction and Research Question India with 2.4 percent of the world’s total area has 16 percent of the world’s population; but has only 4 percent of total available fresh water [4]. India is prone to water conflicts and predominantly at local level river water conflicts happens due to and around the issues of allocation and management of available water. Water conflict in India is not necessarily due to scarcity of water, it can be due to lack of infrastructure and priority in allocation of water between various sectors. This paper will examine the complex dynamics of local river water conflicts in India. The central research question that frames this study is what are the local river water conflicts and how water conflicts are resolved in India. This question in answered through a case study of a Bandi and Arvari river conflict in Rajasthan.

2. Methodology The study is exploratory in nature due to the fact that very less has been explored in issues related to local level river water conflicts and democratising of rivers in Rajasthan. Mainly qualitative methodology has been used to collect data. The nature of the study is to explore the phenomenon in depth. Case study method is used here because as Yin (2003) [2] defines “In general, case studies are the preferred strategy when ‘how’ or ‘why’ questions are being posed, when the investigator has little control over events, and when the focus is on a contemporary phenomenon within some real-life context”. Therefore two cases are selected to understand the local level river water conflicts; Bandi River in Pali district and Arvari River in Alwar district of Rajasthan, India. The different sources and tools are used such as focus group discussion, interviews with key stakeholders, documentary evidence, access to archival records, and direct observation in the field. First hand data is collected using unstructured, structured interview, focus group discussion and observation from selected sites. Secondary data is collected through analysing previous research, official statistics, journalistic reporting, Reports by government and Non-Government organisations (NGOs). The findings will not be biased by single data collection techniques as multiple methods are used to collect data.

3. Case Study of Bandi River Study Area: Bandi River in Pali District The Bandi River is a tributary of and flows southwest in the Marwar area across the plains of the region and joins River Luni. Length of Bandi River is around 45 Km and watershed area is 1685 Km². It originates from the Bomadara pickup weir after the confluence of Khari and Mithari rivers [8]. It is the major water resource to fulfil water requirements of the people of Pali district. The Bandi river is primarily rain-fed, carry maximum flow during the monsoon season i.e. July to September. In summers Bandi remain dry or carry the wastewater discharged from Common Effluent Treatment Plant, Municipal, sewer and direct effluent from textile units [6]. There have been complaints from the nearby residents of the Bandi River about the continuously worsening quality of river water, ground water and contaminated soil leading to reduced crop yiel d. The discharge of partially treated and or untreated wastewater over the last three decades from these industries on the land and the river channel has caused the environmental damage in the region. Following the Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed before the High Court at Jodhpur by Mahaveer Nagar Vikas Samiti in the year 2002 (W.P. No.759/2002) on the environmental damages caused, the High Court of Rajasthan has ordered dated 09.03.2004 to conduct an investigation to estimate the damages and to stop industries from discharging waste into the river. The High Court at Jodhpur in the matter of Writ Pettion Civil No, 6954/2007, Aruna Mills V/s state of Rajasthan & others and other 125 connected matters, relating to textile industries located in non industrial areas, at Pali, by order dated

25 Sisodia, R. (2015). Democratising Rivers: Local River Conflicts in Rajasthan, Global Journal on Advances in Pure & Applied Sciences. [Online]. 05, pp 24-34. Available from: http://www.world-education-center.org/index.php/paas

11.04.2008 ordered to shift industries in assigned industrial areas within a period of four months. But Court orders partially implemented on the ground [7]. Bandi conflict can be divided into four main groups Textile Industry, State government, affected community and Non-Government organisation. The State Pollution Control Board has identified around 860 water polluting textile processing industries located in and around Pali. The causes of growth of textile units at Pali are the quality of raw water, which is having high sodium salts which promote a smaller amount consumption of chemicals. Further, the dry atmosphere of western Rajasthan supports quick drying after printing for the reason that print quality is superior. As a result, the number of textile industries in Pali started rising. These industries were mainly small -scale industries which came up in a disorganised manner due to high demand and many of the units were situated on agriculture land and in residential areas. Originally the effluent from textile industry was not much, but soon it started rising and was discharged into Bandi River leading to pollution of surface and ground water. Due to constant discharge of untreated/partially treated wastewater continuously for many years, pollution has spread in a large area and has affected substantial region of ground water [5]. Waste water generated from these units contains high values of pH, TSS, BOD, COD and Oil & Grease and therefore need to be treated before discharge so as to meet the standards prescribed under the provisions of Environment Protection Rules [3]. Nearly all of these units were in small sector and, therefore, were not in a position to install their own Effluent Treatment Plant (ETP). Therefore, to provide the required treatment of the polluted effluent of textile units, three CETPs were established in the year 1983, 1997 & 1999 respectively & presently operated by the Pali Water Pollution Control Treatment & Research Foundation CETP Trust (Ibid). But, part of domestic sewage of Pali was reaching to the CETP thereby reducing their capacity of treatment of industrial effluent. Furthermore, there were several units established in non-conforming areas of Pali (Bajrang Bari, Sumerpur Road etc.). These units were not connected to any of the CETPs & discharging their untreated effluent into river Bandi. Due to the discharge of untreated/partially treated effluent into river Bandi, thus, polluting the ground water and adversely affecting the agricultural production in the neighbouring areas. The State Pollution Control Board confirmed that the total quantity of effluent generated by the textile units was exceeding the combined capacity of 3 CETPs (22.68 MLD) which badly affecting the local community (Ibid.). The community consists of the farmers of 30 villages, agitating for a long time against the pollution of Bandi. According to farmers of the Nehra village 35 year ago Bandi was a beautiful and clean river, there was no scarcity of water in the village and wells were always full of water. But now textile industries run for an entire year, which discharge heavy metals and chemicals into the river. Due to continuous discharge of polluted water, river converted into dirty Nala. Later in 1982 on demand of villagers, the government decided to build Nehra dam in the catchment area of Bandi River. Nehra dam was completed in 2004. The primary function of the dam was to irrigate the land of farmers. Due to the heavy discharge from industries, Nehra dam is full of waste water. The chief intention of constructing an irrigation dam was never carried out. Moreover Groundwater also got contaminated due to heavy pollution. Farmer interviewed in Garwana village, stated that due to the heavy pollution of surface and ground water, farms have become unproductive, now people are seeking alternative sources of income. Youth migration has been increased due to the lack of irrigation water in the village; eventually industrials had ruined their life. Earlier Pali was known for fertile land and in that respect was sufficient irrigation water. Water problem got emerged due to textile industries. In the summers they get water supply from Jodhpur and sometimes water trains come from other states to fulfil drinking and domestic demand of water. In summers people get very less water. This has created a situation of water crises and leads to conflict situation in the villages. *

*Information collected during Focus Group discussion from Garwana and Jiatpur village on 17th November. 26 Sisodia, R. (2015). Democratising Rivers: Local River Conflicts in Rajasthan, Global Journal on Advances in Pure & Applied Sciences. [Online]. 05, pp 24-34. Available from: http://www.world-education-center.org/index.php/paas

Farmers from Kerla and Garwana village cited during focus group discussion that they cannot grow crops, now farms are barren. When they try to irrigate from wells, their crops get contaminated. Wheat chapattis turns into a green colour because of contaminated water. Even when they started to selling their crops in the market, they got real low monetary value. No one is interested in buying their crops. This is happening all because of contaminated waste water of textile industries. Despite the Rajasthan High Court order, that no untreated water should be released into the river, the Bandi River and Nehra Dam is full of chemical effluents. If somebody questions industries they justify by saying that they are giving job to local people and supporting economy, but in reality most of the labours are migrants from other state. Industrial exploit these migrants and level of e xploitation is severe. Farmers want clean Bandi. They also want compensation for the victim’s suffered from industrial effluents. All farmers are together in this struggle and fighting for Bandi River. They want that State Pollution Control Board should follow the order given by High Court and take immediate action against these textile industries, once action was taken by RSPCB, industries was closed for 2 days. But again industries are throwing chemical effluents into Bandi River and Nehra Dam is full of waste water*. Villagers of Kerla, Garwana and Nehra have stopped using groundwater after finding it coloured and smelly. They are using either municipal water or tanker supplied water for household purposes. On the basis of primary and secondary data it can be said that pollution has an adverse impact on the crop quality as well as the soil on which it is applied and may render the agriculture field unsuitable for agriculture over a period of time. Barren land has been increased significantly due to polluti on of land from the textile industries. According to National Productivity Council (2010) [3] agriculture land has reduced from 58.55 % to 47.97% which shows a loss of agriculture land due to massive contamination of agriculture land by textile industries. Vegetation has reduced from 1.84 to 0.825 this show declined in vegetation. Marshy land is also reduced. Researcher also observed during a field site visit that no grasses and rushes are seen at the bank of the river due to heavy pollution of river. During the focus group discussion with villagers of Kerla reported that they are suffering from skin irritation, gastro-intestinal upset, indigestion, heartburn, etc. Skin disorder and allergy are also reported which may be occurring due to contamination in water. However, these findings cannot be proofed by health report. But a researcher observed that river was full of effluents making water unhealthy and unfit for drinking and irrigation which is affecting health of villagers and their cattle’s. NPC (2010) reports that workers of textile industries are also suffering from various diseases; there is lack of occupational health and safety. The employers are responsible for providing occupational health care to workers. But they are not providing occupational health care to workers.

4. Community Based Organisation to Resolve Water Conflicts Kisan Paryavaran Sangharsh Samiti (KPSS) is a community based organisation formed in 2004† to resist against the state and to resolve the problem of river pollution which has never been tackled at it roots. Local villagers were concerned by the fact that the discharge of untreated/ partially treated effluent into Bandi river was increasing. KPSS used various strategies such as mobilisation of community, Dharna, Morcha, River March, lobbying and advocacy to resolve the conflict around Bandi River, they started protesting against industries, informed media, pressurised local government administration, the State Pollution Control Board and filed a number of petition (civil) No.759/2002, in the Court . KPSS is supported by other NGOs in this movement such as Centre for Science and Environment, Tarun Bharat Sangh and Jal Bhagirathi in the whole process of democratising river and resisting against government to save the river from pollution.

* Interview taken in Garwana village of Pali District on 19th November 2013 † Information given by Secretary of Kishan Paryavaran Sangharsh Samiti during interview in Jodhpur on 7 October 2013 27 Sisodia, R. (2015). Democratising Rivers: Local River Conflicts in Rajasthan, Global Journal on Advances in Pure & Applied Sciences. [Online]. 05, pp 24-34. Available from: http://www.world-education-center.org/index.php/paas

On February 11, 2008 river march was announced to save Bandi River, campaign was launched against the government, under the banner of the Kishan Paryavaran Sangharsh Samiti at the collectorate to stop pollution in Bandi. Thousands of people who were collected for the march decided to build wall in the Bandi River to stop flow of polluted water. On 15 February, 2008 farmers collected to build a wall, within 2 week 15 meter high wall was built through shramdan *. During building wall farmers used machines to dig a soil. While digging they found two underground pipelines of textile industries carrying chemical effluents throwing waste directly into the Bandi river. Due to the construction of wall waste water got stagnated at one place, now State government and police were under the pressure of farmers. The wall built by farmers created reservoir of the contaminated water which was dangerous for the surroundings. Farmers were demanding to stop discharge of contaminated water of textile industry. (Danik Bhashkar 15 January, 2008) On October 1, 2008, villagers, representatives from industries and the government official came together to discuss the way out to deal with the issue of pollution of the river Bandi. About 300 people from different fields - farmers, industrialists, government officials from Rajasthan and other states attended ‘Jan Sabha’. Sunita Narain, director CSE chaired the Jan Sabha. Rajendra Singh (Chairman of Tarun Bharat Sangh), Raja Gopal Singh, ex speaker, Rajasthan Legislative Assembly addressed the meeting. KPSS filed petition against the textile industries and able to draw attention of State Pollution Control Board and local administration towards Bandi river. At present farmers are resisting against government through various non violent strategies such as Satyagraha, Dharnas and Ralies. Till now farmers are successful to bring the issue in the eye of local media and State government. Local administration is well aware of the problem still they are defunct. Mission of the movement is to free river from pollution. The conflict of Bandi River is borne by the local government and textile industries. The lack of institution and policy which regulate river pollution is not enforced efficiently. Groundwater and surface water pollution in Bandi River catchment area is more localised, economic and institutional problem. The push of economic development is still the priority of the government instead of River water treatment and management. Over use and pollution is not the only problem of the Bandi River. Groundwater contamination, environmental damage and health hazards are serious problem. The shortage in drinking water and irrigation water in nearby areas lead to increase in demand of water Tankers. This is creating new water market in the Pali district. This crises situation is trigger to serious conflict situation in Pali. State government is continually ignoring this issue which is impacting marginalised section of society. The government has to make choice about who gets propriety textile industry or farmers. Do the farmers that historically living in that area have propriety? Or do textile industries which are polluting Bandi River. As the State Pollution Control Board and local water management system is not equipped to deal with these questions and incapable to enforce high court decisions. There is no overall policy which guides the local administration to face this conflicting situation. Enforcing the Court rulings and environmental laws remain difficult in India. If environmental laws were upheld by local administration a lot of these villages protest would not erupt. At last this can be concluded that State government is more concerned about the growth rate which is supporting rapid industrialisation. Water is diverted from agriculture to industry which is the major cause of water conflict. Due to inadequate infrastructure and technology the wastewater generated is not properly collected, treated and discharged which results in contamination of river water bodies. Disposal of treated and untreated industrial effluents in river water bodies has become regular practice. Industries are not respecting environmental laws and doing irreversible damage to ecology.

* Free labour offered for common work 28 Sisodia, R. (2015). Democratising Rivers: Local River Conflicts in Rajasthan, Global Journal on Advances in Pure & Applied Sciences. [Online]. 05, pp 24-34. Available from: http://www.world-education-center.org/index.php/paas

Arvari River The story of Arvari is the story of the power of the people, of the value of traditional technologies and wisdom, of the impact of the community’s ownership of the common resource, and of the benefits of decentralisation at grassroots level. It is the story of a river lost in 1940s… but rejuvenated half a century later through sheer efforts of a community (Rajendra Singh).

5. Introduction This case study is about the conflict between local community and Rajasthan Government, which denied their rights over Arvari River. This case also represents the model of Arvari Sansad (Parliament) formed to resolve local level water conflicts. To understand the trends of Arvari River Conflicts it is important to look into following parameters such as population and its composition, occupation pattern and ownership of resources and traditional customs and knowledge.

6. Profile of Arvari Geologically the Arvari catchment is a part of the Aravalli Hill range, which is one of the oldest mountain ranges in the world [9]. A maximum percentage of the population of the Arvari River catchment is Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST) or Other Backward Classes (OBC) [1]. The Arvari River catchment is in the eastern part of the state, in the district of Alwar. Arvari makes up about 7% of the larger Banganga River Basin as a tributary. A catchment area of Arvari River mainly falls under rocky and hilly area. Land under catchment area is mainly used for agriculture purpose. The Arvari River catchment sits between latitude 27.1’30 and 27.22’15 and longitude 76.16’30 and 76.4’55. The climatic condition of the area is semi-arid to the dry climate. Average rainfall is 450 mm to 550 mm rainfall. More than 80% of annual rainfall is contributed during monsoons. Monsoon rains, largely in the month of July and August [1].

7. Background In 18th centaury Arvari River was known as Pratapghar ‘Nala’. In olden times there was a dense forest in the catchment area of Arvari. Mostly people were dependent on the cattle’s and dairy business. Villagers had great belief in God and Goddess, people were happy with small things and daily celebrations. They were close to nature. As population kept on increasing, demand of wheat also kept on increasing; this led to increase in price of wheat. According to the increasing demand of wheat cultivation area was increased by cutting forests. This resulted in acute scarcity of water and the area was declared as a dark zone area. All the young population migrated to nearby cities. Only old men, women and small children were left in the village. They were suffering from poverty and illness and dependency on others was increased due lack of livelihood. In 1987 the villager’s constructed small dam called Tal / in a village Bhaonvta with the support of NGO Tarun Bharat Sangh * (TBS) under the leadership of Rajendra Singh. With the success of Bhaonvta many people from other villages initiated rural watershed work in and around several villages of Thanagazi district with the support of Tarun Bharat Sangh. Villagers used their traditional methods to conserve water. They observed

* TBS stated working in 1885 with the people of the semi-arid region of Alwar, in Rajasthan under the leadership of Rajendra Singh, were people were in desperate need of water. TBS mobilize voluntary labour (shramdaan) from villagers for building in villages. 29 Sisodia, R. (2015). Democratising Rivers: Local River Conflicts in Rajasthan, Global Journal on Advances in Pure & Applied Sciences. [Online]. 05, pp 24-34. Available from: http://www.world-education-center.org/index.php/paas fractures in soil layer, nature of soil, flow of water, slope of land, availability of water and rainfall to store water at right place. Tarun Bharat Sangh supported community in reviving this traditional knowledge. People started building Johads, Talai, Anicuts, check dams, farm bandings etc for conserving rainwater. Tals teaches to come together and think about common future. Tal is a way to respect nature and give back to nature. Tals were built to fulfil the need of the people. Tals were never built to meet the greed of the human beings; it is for the use of the entire community and not for the personal use. In the villages of Rajasthan water was considered as common pool resource and not an economic good to trade in market. Till date 402 Tal and Johads has been built in Arvari Basin with community participation and with the facilitation of TBS. Around 70 villages in Thanagazi and 35 villages in Jamva Ramghar block of Jaipur falls under the catchment of Arvari River. Multiple Johads uplifted the water table in the entire catchment area. The revival of vegetation and plantation led to check the runoff of monsoon water and soil erosion. This way the river flow continues the year around *.

8. Conflict of Arvari River In 1994 the question of the ownership of the river was raised when the river was revived and started flowing. The villagers acknowledge that the river belongs to India and fall under the jurisdiction of the government of Rajasthan. But they object claim over the river by Rajasthan Government for generating revenue. According to them only village communities who were living with its bank and people who took efforts to revive the river has right to manage river water. They asked the question where was the government when it was dry and there was no water in the area? Why the government did not take responsibility to provide water to villagers who migrated to cities due to the lack of water and continues drought? They insist that government cannot own the river as they were not involved in reviving the river. They also claim that water should be used by the people residing on its banks. Arvari began to flow for the full year. Since then aquatic life begun to establish itself in the river. In 1996 big fishes were observed in the river. On November 21, 1996 Rajasthan Government’s fisheries department gave fishery right to a fisherman named Latif Khan, a private contractor; He got a contract of Rs.18000 to Fish in Hamirpur village falling in the Arvari catchment area. Villagers of Hamirpur agitated against him and did not allow him to fish. The Next day he went to downstream village Samra. Over there villagers got united and seized his boats. Latif complaint against the villagers about how villagers did not permitted him to fish. On 30, 1996 Latif came with government official and police to Hamirpur. They threatened the villagers that they will face the dire consequences if they did not allow Latif to fish. Villagers were angry because it was by their efforts which made the river flow. The local people over 11 years built more than 400 Johads over the river with the help of TBS. Otherwise, this river was dry. Therefore, it was totally unjustified on the part of government to give such fishery rights to a private contractor. Secondly inhabitants of Hamirpur and adjoining villages were mostly vegetarian and they never believed in killing and eating fishes. They feed fish everyday; therefore they would not allow any outsider to fish. On December 2, 1996 the fisheries department served a notice to the TBS and asked it to reply within a week. “The government made the few observations. The river belongs to the government of Rajasthan. The fisheries department was giving fishing rights to the fisherman for the past several years. If TBS continues to support villagers and present agitation, then it would face dire consequences”. The TBS in reply to the Notice mentioned that it is a people’s movement, they work on water conservation they do not have any other intensions. TBS also asked the fisheries department to produce fisheries contract so that TBS could see all terms and condition mentioned in the contract. The fisheries department was failed in producing a copy of previous fish contract, as it was a dry river for more than a decade hence no fisheries contract was done in the past. After one

* Information collected from TBS worker in October 2013 30 Sisodia, R. (2015). Democratising Rivers: Local River Conflicts in Rajasthan, Global Journal on Advances in Pure & Applied Sciences. [Online]. 05, pp 24-34. Available from: http://www.world-education-center.org/index.php/paas week government officials came to the TBS office to talk about the issue. TBS was clear about the agenda and stood for the rights of the community. Then they decided to call a joint meeting between villagers and officials. On December 25th, 1996 meeting was conducted between people of Hamirpur village and government officials. Officers warned them that they would take a legal step if any person trying to obstruct them*.

9. Arvari Sansad: Conflict Management Mechanism After this incident villager had meeting with TBS, in meeting they decided to organised themselves and called for the meeting on January 28th, 1997 in Hamirpur and launched Satyagraha† ‘Jal Char Bacho Andolan’ against Rajasthan Government. As a result fishing contract was cancelled on March 1997. In aggravation private fish contractor mixed poison in the Arvari River. Thousand of fishes died due to poison. This was a disagreeable incident for villagers, community and TBS realised the urgent need to develop a mechanism and make a body which could resolve conflicts over the ownership and control over river water and to ensure that no such activity take place which could trigger to conflict. TBS decided to organise ‘Jan Sunwai’‡ in which environmentalist, advocates, social scientist, scientist and social workers were invited. On 19th December 1998 lawyer Gulab C Gupta from Madhya Pradesh and Chief Secretary Shri Meethlal Mehta and Vice chancellor Shri T.K Unithan were main delegates to discuss the issue of Arvari conflict. The committee heard the questions and suggestions from the participants. All the view points were kept in the open forum to discuss with the community. In meeting it was decided to community should form their own parliament, for this they should choose a representative from each village in the catchment of Arvari. For selection of members, election should be conducted on the basis of common consent. Village Gram Sabha and Arvari Sansad should come together and decide objective and rules of Arvari Parliament. According to those rules Arvari River should be preserved and conserved. Since 26 January 1999 Arvari Sansad is working actively and efficiently. With the success of the local community, many national and international delegates visited Arvari River Sansad including president of India K.R Narayan, and Prince Charles of Britain visited and appreciated the efforts of the community. However ‘Arvari Parliament is not considered as legal body and decisions taken by the community is not a legal binding. But member of Arvari Parliament considers each rule as moral binding. Today Arvari is internationally recognised and this success has been an outcome of community efforts.

10. Objective of Arvari Sansad (Parliament)

Conservation of Natural Resources Maintaining justice in the society without disturbing social relation in the community Self dependent villages Ensuring participation of last person in the society. Sustainable management of Jal (water), Jungle (Forest) and Jameen (Land). Control water usages of water from the river or RWH structures.

* Information collected from the reports of TBS and villagers of Kaled, Hamirpur and Bhaonvta village. † Non Violent movement ‡ Jan Sunwai is a process by means of which any issue related to social sector is addressed to a panel of experts from the related field. As a part of it, recommendations from the panel are then given to the Government for immediate action so as to make relevant changes in its functioning. 31 Sisodia, R. (2015). Democratising Rivers: Local River Conflicts in Rajasthan, Global Journal on Advances in Pure & Applied Sciences. [Online]. 05, pp 24-34. Available from: http://www.world-education-center.org/index.php/paas

Encourage villagers to do organic farming and increase agriculture activity by growing water saving crops with local seeds. No commercial fishing is allowed in RWH structures Tube wells, which tap deeper aquifer, are not allowed Construction and maintenance of RWH are encouraged Illegal mining /quarrying or any other industrial activity will not be allowed which is affecting vegetation land water and vegetation. Increasing women’s participation in water related issues Protection and conservation of forest and planting new trees to conserve water and soil. Arvari Parliament meets twice a year. These guidelines are discussed at each meeting. All the related issue gets discussed and suggestions are given to resolve the conflict. They also present the efforts taken to protect Jal (water), Jungle (forest) and Jameen (land) in Arvari catchment. They appreciate and motivate each other to continue implementing and achieving objective of Arvari Parliament. Intra village conflict over control and access of water is also addressed in this meeting.

11. Conclusion All over the world concern is how to manage water resources and increasing water conflict. The two popular solutions to the problem are: first, suggested by international agencies and multinationals is ‘privatisation’, and second by the proponent of NGO’s and supporter of decentralisation, democratisation and traditional knowledge of local community. In theory, decentralisation and democratisation is improved resource allocation, efficiency, accountability and equality. Local people have a greater sense of ownership and decisions are made at local level. The positive outcome of the decentralisation depends on the level of participation by community in the entire process. Local people can be conserver’s and exploiters of water resources. It totally depends on the communities’ perception. In case of Arvari River researcher could find that community driven decentralised management of river water is realistic model. In this case it is observed that initially there was NGO behind community which was involved in the process of mobilising and organising villagers to conserve the river. Once community got organise and got awaked about the situation they started managing resources in a sustainable way, therefore it is a successful model to resolve local level water conflicts through traditional knowledge and wisdom. This approach has brought a change in the perception of people from an individual profit to a macro level river basin management. People are organising and coming together to manage community resources. Arvari Parliament is a platform to discuss needs and give priority to the problem related to land, water and forest. This has made a difference in the perception of people towards common resources. An entire system has given opportunity to young leaders and women to come forward and take an interest in community development process. River water conflict in Rajasthan is not only because of the scarcity of water in the region. It is also because of mismanagement of available water resources. As seen in both the cases of Bandi river and Aravri river, lack of water resources was not the reason for resistance against the government. In first case of Bandi State government fails to implement Water Act, 1974 and protect Bandi River from pollution, which is the main reason of conflict between state, local community and textile industries. Moreover, government’s tendency to favour industries reduces its initiation to control pollution. Water resource issues that dominate Bandi river events differ from issues at the international scale. In Bandi, most events revolved around water quality issues instead of quantity issue.

32 Sisodia, R. (2015). Democratising Rivers: Local River Conflicts in Rajasthan, Global Journal on Advances in Pure & Applied Sciences. [Online]. 05, pp 24-34. Available from: http://www.world-education-center.org/index.php/paas

In the second case of the Arvari River, conflicts erupted due to the claim of state on the river water and fishing contract given to private fisher without the consent of the villagers. Though State Government never supported the villagers in reviving river and building rain water harvesting structure, they were the first one to take benefits and claim over the flowing river. The trigger to conflict in both the cases is a non- cooperative and indifferent attitude of State government, which never gave priority to the river ecosystem. Government is more focussed on profitability and increasing revenues than for managing and reviving water bodies. In the case of Arvari River, the community was supported by Tarun Bharat Sangh, which was involved in lobbying the issue at state, national and international level. TBS organised the Jan Sunwai to resolve the issue and to build conflict resolution system for the future. However, in the case of Bandi River, matter is not taken at the National level. Local media and government are well informed of the issue, but there is lack of will of higher authority to implement Water Act, 1974 and to stop pollution. Thus the State government is ignoring the serious issue of Bandi and its people. Managing conflict and managing a water resource in a way that conflicts never take place are two very different aims and the division between the two must be made. No single policy or project can avoid a conflict from occurring. Hence, combining aspects of water management and water conflict management is an pre-requisite to efficiency. Now to enable a effective, acceptable policy, an assessment of current water policies can be made by bringing different stakeholders at common platform, brainstorming and feedback from grassroots organizations can lead to better information sharing, further a political will can transform conventional and redundant roles of governmental administration. With new problems and unforeseen events it becomes crucial to engage and create alternative water conflict management mechanisms. River water disputes are becoming intractable; the legal conflict resolution instruments are inadequate to resolve forthcoming problem. The present legal system is more complex and time taking institution, where the pending cases are disheartening to any commoner. Complexities registered in new dimensions are increasing with every development and new approaches to economic policy have added new enormities. These policies developed by bureaucrats have lacked people’s vision in essence, as the policies have an undercurrent loophole which is often serving and prospe ring the rich bourgeois.

References

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33 Sisodia, R. (2015). Democratising Rivers: Local River Conflicts in Rajasthan, Global Journal on Advances in Pure & Applied Sciences. [Online]. 05, pp 24-34. Available from: http://www.world-education-center.org/index.php/paas

[9] Bhuiyan, C., Singh, R. P., & Kogan, F. N. (2006). Monitoring drought dynamics in the Aravalli region (India) using different indices based on ground and remote sensing data. International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation, 8(4), 289-302.

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