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VOL. 14 NO. 8 JUNE 2017 www.civilsocietyonline.com .com/civilsocietyonline `50 WINNING THE WATER CUP How the Paani Foundation fights drought in Maharashtra GIVE COWS PASTURES INTERVIEW SELLING THE TOILET IDEA Pages 8-9 ‘goVT SCHOOLS ARE Pages 25-26 SMS STORY TEACHES DOING GOOD WORK’ REGIME CHANGE IN DELHI? Pages 14-15 Page 28 ANIL SWARUP ON PROMOTING WEALTH IN CULTURE INNOVATION AND SCALING IT BANDIPUR IS SPECIAL Pages 22-24 Pages 6-8 Pages 29-30 CONTENTS R E A D U S. W E R E A D Y O U. Mission mode is needed UR problems don’t go away mostly because we lack the resolve to address them. The bigger the problem, the more important it is to be in mission mode, working to deadline, straining every sinew to Ofix it. Nothing less will do. Countries like China, South Korea and Japan are examples of what targeted efforts can achieve. The shortage of water in India is one such problem that needs to be looked in the eye and dealt with. COVER STORY Our cover story this month is on the Paani Foundation’s work in Maharashtra. We bring you the story of a unique initiative to mobilise tens Winning the Water Cup of thousands of people to harvest the rain and change their lives forever. For The Paani Foundation's Water Cup is in its second year with years together, tankers have been the source of supply to villages. But in just drought-hit villages in Maharashtra competing to build water the second year of the Water Cup, there is hope that the simple act of harvesting structures in time for the monsoon showers. catching the rain when the monsoon breaks and putting the water back into 18 the earth will liberate villages. The Water Cup, with a substantial cash award and government COVER PHOTOGRAPH: SHREE PADRE recognition, is a great idea for motivating people and injecting enthusiasm into an effort which may otherwise seem onerous and hopeless given the Small sewage solution is here ................................................... 10 long history of water shortages that Maharashtra’s villages have lived with. Through the Paani Foundation’s work, Aamir Khan and Kiran Rao have Roadmap for skill training ................................................... 12-14 concerns that go much beyond their lives as film people. To Dr Avinash Pol, on whom we have written before, also in a cover story, must go the recognition of being the driving spirit behind the campaign. It is he who has SMS Story is a teaching aid ................................................. 14-15 been the gamechanger, motivating people and being at hand to deal with doubts and conflicts. Harvesting Rain for Profit It is tempting to think that the Water Cup is a device other regions in Name: Shri Muniraj, Kashmir always on edge ....................................................................... 16 India can easily adopt. The hope is that it can inspire similar initiatives Village: Muthur, Krishnagiri district, Tamil Nadu elsewhere. But the reality is that every successful effort has its own chemistry. Perhaps it can help people weighed down with water shortages to Midday meals can improve ................................................ 26-27 aspire for solutions. It can give them hope. But finally, they must summon Muniraj, a marginal farmer with seven acres of land from Muthur village of Krishnagiri district, had a the courage to do what only they can do for themselves. greenhouse where he practiced floriculture. However, a falling water table meant that irrigation became a On another note, Anil Swarup, the redoubtable bureaucrat who is now Regime change in Delhi? ..................................................................... 28 Secretary for School Education and Literacy, tells us that he has seen good problem – especially during summer months even for drip irrigation. work happening in government schools. While there are well-known problems, it is also true that many teachers make the effort to connect with To overcome the problem of insufficient water, Srinivasan Services Trust (SST) encouraged Muniraj to Searing film of a lost village ............................................... 31-32 children and come up with innovations. He has been travelling to distant save every drop of rainwater falling on his green house. SST provided technical information and corners of the country and he is often surprised. Voluntary organisations engineering support for creating a pond, next to the greenhouse, large enough to collect six lakh litres of are also making an important contribution. The question is how can these Tracing India’s art cinema ............................................................... 33 efforts be recognised and rewarded and mainstreamed. rainwater. To prevent loss by seepage, the pond was lined with a polythene sheet and a shade net was used A committee’s report on vocational training deserves attention for the as cover to help arrest loss by evaporation. The pond gets filled up with 3 days of rain. The water saved in excellent recommendations it makes. Skill training should have a better ..................................................... Ayurveda: Relief for dry eyes 34 status than it enjoys at present. It should also be suited to industry’s needs. this pond is sufficient for the crop needs for one season. Young people learning skills in India should be employable elsewhere in the IMPACT: Muniraj is now financially secure and earns more than `30,000 per month. He has built a world — which also means that Indian industry should seek to be globally Contact Civil Society at: competitive. With millions of young people entering the job market, what pucca house and also bought a car. He has become an expert on rainwater harvesting and offers advice to [email protected] India does with vocational training will be key to the growth of the economy. several villages in the area. The magazine does not undertake to respond to unsolicited contributions sent to the editor for publication. SRINIVASAN SERVICES TRUST Publisher Layout & Design First Floor, Panchsheel Vihar, Umesh Anand Virender Chauhan Malviya Nagar, New Delhi -110017. Advisory Board Get your copy of Civil Society Aruna Roy (CSR Arm of TVS Motor Company) Editor Cartoonist Printed at Samrat Offset Pvt. 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The viability and desirability of transferring water from the Ken to the Betwa with the help of a LEND A HAND dam and a 250-km canal has been questioned from day one, along with the unnecessary displacement of several villages and the endangering of the habitats of many threatened TO SAVE GREEN animals and birds including tigers, gharials and vultures. A letter signed by 30 experts and activists was sent to the environment minister to strongly protest against the Ken-Betwa project and the arbitrariness of its implementation. This letter says: “The project has been plagued by sloppy, intentionally misleading and inadequate impact assessments, procedural connectivity between Kumaon and There is a lot of opposition to such violations and misinformation LETTERS Garhwal in Uttarakhand. The road plants by environmentalists because every step of the way.” will lead to accidents and decimate of the air pollution caused. So, one Further, information about wildlife. It is a disastrous idea that has been wary in suggesting this water availability in the two rivers In one year, local activists have been protesting. option. But we should still insist on has not been made available. They have worked out another route segregation at household level, Information has been held back an acre of mature which bypasses Corbett but recycling by waste pickers and only from project-affected people. The politicians just don’t listen. First they then should the remainder waste be adverse impact on groundwater trees can provide destroy wildlife and then spend sent to a waste-to-energy plant. recharge in the downstream areas millions to bring it back. A road was Nikhil Padhi of Bundelkhand region is being enough oxygen for built through Sariska and see how it ignored. destroyed the tiger population there. I think questions needed to be asked Why waste Rs. 18,000 crore 18 people. Shanta Pokhriyal on the cost of individual items like and why cut 1.8 million trees for bins, flue treatment and the waste-to- a project with uncertain and Zonta’s way energy unit. I would also like to know dubious benefits? Your interview with Raj Kumar of if neutralising flue gas has been Bharat Dogra Zonta Infratech, ‘How a dump can be certified as environmentally safe. a dropbox', cleared many misgivings Does it have any other side effects? Letters should be sent to we have on waste-to-energy plants. Anil Capoor [email protected] Tiger profiles Your cover story, ‘Living with Tigers', was fun to read and educative.