Water – its in our hands: success stories from Rajasthan

UNESCO G-Wadi meeting on water harvesting Aleppo, November 20-22, 2006 1R1. Rura l pover ty • In Asia and Africa, nearly 75% of the poor live in rural areas. • Increasingly, these rural poor live on fragile and degraded lands. In 2002, there were 1.4 billion people living on degraded lands. More than three-fourths in Asia and Africa. • Drought an increasingly frequent phenomenon. • Growing population in Asia and Africa • Cha llenge - MtfittlbtManagement of its natural resource base at increasing levels of productivity • Greater challenge – Also in a manner that is sustainable and equitable • Will require tremendous social discipline, political sagacity and technical ingenuity. Challenge of the balance 1. Rural poverty

• What is rural poverty ? Not shortage of cash, but shortage of fodder, fuel, food, medicine, artisanal materials, the source of all which is the BIOMASS. • Trees and the grasses are gone; land has eroded; and the hydrological cycle has been disturbed. • Agricultural production has been precarious and animal husbandry is equally threatened. All this leads to distress migration • Therefore, rural poverty is the shortage of GROSS NATURE PRODUCT (GNP) • Not Gross National Product (()GNP) 2W2. Way a hea d – creattllthte natural wealth • Challenge – Helppp the poor to get out of their ecological poverty • The poor and the marginalised do not need aid; they need support to help themselves • Challenge – Not just to maintain existing natural capital, but to revive degraded lands • Starting point for biomass regeneration is water • Good water, land and forest management leads to • Creation of sustainable livelihoods and regeneration of the rural economy. 3. Water – the life giver • Water brings land to life and yildbiields biomass in thfthe form o f food, fuel, manure, timber and milk. • The rural economy consisting of agriculture, animal pp,roduction, trees and forests , is built entirely around the availability of water. Therefore, bringing water to villages is infusing a new economic life into poverty-stricken rural areas and moving towards poverty eradication.

Many examples of community action in India 4. Commun ity experi ences (2000) • In Gelhar-Choti in Jhabua, Madhya Pradesh, villagers were able to harves t wa ter an d irr iga te a bou t 91 hec tares even though the rainfall was just about half of the usual average. (govt watershed development) • Thunthi-Kankasiya, village in Dahod district of Gujarat, farmers were able to irrigate 135 ha and all 23 wells had enough water even thouggjh the rainfall was just 40% of normal (check dam on a seasonal river) • In Raj Samdhiyala village, villagers had built 12 check dams. Farmers were able to sow cotton, wheat, groundnut and vegetables even though rainfall was less than 2/3 of normal.

Many more 5. Wa ters of lif e - Alwar • Alwar district became completely degraded in the past 50 years. The Aravalli range denuded. • According to remote sensing data, Aravallis were shown as brown areas. • If a farmer spent Rs. 10000 on cultivation he only got back Rs. 500 as return. •Acute distress migration; some blocks were all-women villages. •WhdtlkldittllttWomen had to walk long distances to collect water. •Less than 3% of cultivable land was irrigated 5. Wat ers of lif e - Alwar • Tarun Bharat Sangh began work in 1985 • First work was of repairing a damaged johad • Johads – earthern dams to capture rainwater to percolate down and moisten the soil • Impact of first dam was water in dry wells • Decided to focus on water harvesting • Three principles 1. Johads should be built to catch water; 2. As the catchment areas are totally degraded , the forest has to be protected and regenerated to halt soil erosion; 3. There should be consensus within the community on the works to be taken up. 5. Wat ers of lif e - Alwar

• News of the success of the first chkdhldbiiheck dam helped bring in more villages to build johads • Till 1999, there were over 3000 jo ha ds in 650 v illages

•An important way spreading the message of benefits johads has been the annual Pani Yatra (march for water), •Of the 650 villages where TBS has worked, at least 500 were influenced by the Pani Yatra. 5. Waters of life - Alwar 5. Wat ers of lif e - Alwar 5. Wat ers of lif e - Alwar

• For every Rs 100 invested in making johads, the economic production in the villages has risen by as much as Rs 400 per capita per annum • Thanagazi, a ‘dark zone’ in the 1980s, was recently declared a ‘white zone’ by the irrigation department • Official documents say that the forest cover is 40 per cent now, a rise of 33 per cent in the past 15 years for the Aravalli. • In 1995, the five rivers became perennial • Milk production has gone up by ten times • In many villages, people have started cultivating sugarcane and wheat, which are water-intensive 5. Wat ers of lif e - Alwar 5. Wat ers of lif e - Alwar Promoting self reliance • First step – form a gram sabha, with 5 different committees for construction, water, forest, gggrazing and a womens’ committee • Community participation – started with a minimum of 25% community contribution, now grown to 70% • From only labour to labour and materials to cash as well • If the structure will only benefit a few families, then contribution will be hig her 5. Wat ers of lif e - Alwar 6Lb6. Labour o flf love – LiLaporiya • Till 1970s the pastures of Laporiya, near Jaipur, were degraded and barren. • Government classification – drought-prone, saline, with starving livestock • Village of agro-pastoralists • Gove rnm ent soil-conse rv ati on – cont our bun ds an d tr en ch es – did not work, as water could spread throughout the land; did not promote natural varieties of grasses • In 1990 , L ak sh man Si ngh f ound ed the Gram Vik as Navyuva k Mandal. He had been working on water conservation for over ten years on his own 6Lb6. Labour o flf love – LiLaporiya •First aim was to regenerate pasture lands. The nearly flat (1-2% slope) community pastureland on the upper reaches of the village form starting points. •This large patch is divided into rectangular units of varying sizes (the average be ing 66 me tres x 132 me tres ). •Each unit is enclosed by 1.5-metre-high dykes, built from soil within the sqqguare, along the three sides that lie towards the lower part of the gradient. •Called chauka (square), this zigzag pattern on the land allows rainwater to enter the square and fill it up. Excess rainwater then flows into the next square, and so on. •Apart from allowing the collected water to percolate, different moisture lev els w ithin a squ are add to the div ersity of grass that grow s here -- providing fodder security (to the 2,900 large and small animals in the village. 6Lb6. Labour o flf love – LiLaporiya 6Lb6. Labour o flf love – LiLaporiya • In 1994, the old village tank was also restored. Impact – bumper crop in 1996. Firs t time, w ha t was grown. Irr iga te d area rose to 300ha • Restored two more percolation tanks • In 2000, when monsoon failed for the third year, grass and fodder available. • 900 hectares of community pastureland irrigated through this system • The villagers have rebuilt broken embankments, stored water in community pond s an d repa ire d or cons truc te d tltalaab s and johads. Now they divert water from these networks to agricultural plots and pasturelands through simple canals and aquedtducts. 6Lb6. Labour o flf love – LiLaporiya • At an investment of roughly Rs 250, 000, the squares tec hn ique was implemented on 900 hectares of pastureland. • In terms of milk yields, the total income from pastureland in Laporiya worked out to rouggyhly Rs 10.5 lakh • As the squares system improves water flow levels and management beyond the squares themselves , the total land area impact is now well over 30,000 hectares. • Water table levels in the village have risen to just 15 feet below the surface, from a depth of 60 feet in 1991 6Lb6. Labour o flf love – LiLaporiya • Social mobilisation by leveraging the rich religious and cultural values and its traditional customs. There is a small shrine next to each little tank or well. • On Dev Uthni Gyaras , women tie rakhis (wherein a sister ties a sacred thread to the wrist of her brother who then vows to protect her) to the tree. The tree is now family, assured of protection in return for its bounties. • Gram sabha has members from 189 families • Management challenges: As of now, village councils do not have financial resources at their disposal. Dependent on support from the GVNML and volunteer labour. • Plan is to reinvest a ppportion of the improved harvest from individual farmlands with the village council, to be used for maintenance and repairs 6Lb6. Labour o flf love – LiLaporiya

After five years of drought, agriculture in Jaipur-Tonk district. 7T7. Temp le o f mod ern IdiIndia - Jha bua

• The government of Madhya Pradesh started a watershed management programme in the dis tr ic t of Jha bua (now applie d to thewhlholestt)ttate)to bibring economic well-being from environmental regeneration. • Effort to involve the people in land and water management on a scale and dthdepth that no other government has attempt ed . • Result of political will combined with bureaucratic competence and commitment • In 1994, some 22% of Jhabua’s land area was brought under the Rajiv Gandhi Watershed Development Mission, covering 374 villages, to develop 249 micro-watersheds. • Today, the programme is being run in all 48 districts, covering 6253 watersheds in 8692 villages. The programme covers 4.2 million hectares, which is a little more than 1% of India’s total land area. The total investment in the programme for the past ten years has been Rs. 1042 crore (US $ 231.6 million), which works out a little over Rs. 4000/hectare. 7T7. Temp le o f mod ern IdiIndia - Jha bua • Once a heavily forested area, Jha bua ltlost itsnatltural wealth over the last 50 years. • More than 30% of its forest lands stood without any tree cover. • The district was dotted with rock-exposed hillocks. • This forest degradation meant that the impact was felt most by the tribals who form 83% of the population. 7T7. Temp le o f mod ern IdiIndia - Jha bua What was done • As a first step to arrest the water falling on the slopes, small tanks were built on the slopes to hold the water. • Some 143 tanks were built initially • Land in the watershed was protected • Pasture improvement through planting pasture grasses • Community afforestation was undertaken • Seed banks were set up 7T7. Temp le o f mod ern IdiIndia - Jha bua 7T7. Temp le o f mod ern IdiIndia - Jha bua How was it done • Multi-layered institutional structure set up • At the state level was the Chief minister, chief secretary and the Miss ion in c harge • At the district level was the district collector, CEP of zilla panc haya t , advi sor y committ ee an d t echni cal committ ee • At the watershed level was the project implementation officer (govt or NGO) • At the village level was the village watershed committee, user groups, self-help groups and womens’ groups 7T7. Temp le o f mod ern IdiIndia - Jha bua How was it done • Once the plans prepared by the watershed committee are approved, the govt releases 75% of the total budget to the committee • Every fortnight the watershed committee together with the villagers decide on the expenditures • The watershed committee maintains two accounts – one for expenditures and 10% of the project money is set aside as a fixed deposit. This is meant for post project maintenance & repairs • When villagers volunteer labour a part of the wages is also set aside in this account. • The district or zilla parishads also keep some money for their expenditures 7T7. Temp le o f mod ern IdiIndia - Jha bua Impacts • Increase in groundwater levels • Reduction in wasteland area up to 66% in 11 micro watersheds • 2 million trees regenerated • Cropped area increased by 7% • Food availability increased from 1 month to 4 months • 313 grain banks established • Increase in grass up to 5-6 times 7T7. Temp le o f mod ern IdiIndia - Jha bua 7T7. Temp le o f mod ern IdiIndia - Jha bua 8L8. Lessons learn t • Let people control their own natural resources • Respect the knowledge of the people • Harvest the rainwater endowment of your village • An average Indian village has access to 340 hectares of land which gives a rainfall endowment of 3.75 million m3 of water. • Paradigm of community-based water management is spreading • Over 15,000 villages are involved in water harvesting • Those who started 15-20 yygears ago have no problem of drou ght • Their Village Domestic Product has increased WtWater – its i n our han ds 2. Governmen t eff ort s*** • India has spent till date Rs. 292767 crore (US $ 650) billion(Source: Planning commission) on water supply projects. • Investments focussed on irrigation development; • Drinking and water supply programmes • No investments for rainfed areas suffering from high rainfall variability. ie. No investments for DROUGHT- PROOFING • Government intervention in the hydrological system in a big way – but nothing done to sustain the integrity of the hydrological system 2. Governmen t eff ort s**** 4. 1970s: Trans forma tion o f Ra legan Siddhi

• Ralegan Siddhi, in Ahmednagar district of Maharastra State • Arid land,average annual rainfall ranging from 450mm to 600mm 1975: hardly one acre of irrigated land per family; •Food pr oducti on w as onl y about 30% of the requirements; •Average annual income was Rs.270 (($);US $ 6); high level of distress migration; in the clutches of money lenders and private bankers. 4. 1970s: Transf ormati on o f Ra legan Siddhi*** 4. 1970s: Trans forma tion o f Ra legan Siddhi • 1975: Began by constructing storage ponds, reservoirs and gully p lugs to ca tc h the ra in an d mo is ten the so il. • Very next year after the first check dams were built, the water level in the wells near the barraggges started rising. • Soon, government stepped in with financial help and a total of 47 check dams were built in four micro watershed areas • Total water storage capacity 300 cubic metres approximately • Diverse methods used - percolation tanks, boulder checks, brushwood dams, staggered trenches, nullah bundings, check dtdams etc • Gradually, total watershed development activities were undertaken • Including modern agricultural methods like drip irrigation 4. 1970s: Trans forma tion o f Ra legan Siddhi 4. 1970s: Trans forma tion o f Ra legan Siddhi • Some 14 water cooperative societies catering water to 600 acres of 157 farmers in Ralegan Siddhi today. • Members decide on system for distribution of water equitably to all • Society determines crops to be sown depending on availability of water • Drinking water is also rationed. • Water distributed through water ration cards • Other social disciplining – ban on tree felling; over grazing; too much importance is not given to milk to prevent over grazing 4. 1970s: Trans forma tion o f Ra legan Siddhi 4. 1970s: Trans forma tion o f Ra legan Siddhi • In 1998 the top 28 per cent of the households in this village had an annual household income of more than Rs. 4,80,000 (approximately $ 12,000) a year. • The village had a branch office of a major bank with nearly Rs. 3 crore ($ 750,000) in deposits of villagers • The village today makes use of solar power, biogas, drip irrigation • Took nearly 5 years for first impacts to biiblbecome visible.

From one of the most destitute villages of India to one of the richest 28% of population earn more than Rs. 40,000/month (US 10,000/annum)