COMMENTARY `6,600 per day for a supply of 30,000 Can Jalyukt Shivar Abhiyan litres of water. Why is it that even after creating 24,000 million cubic feet of Prevent Drought in Maharashtra? storage, drinking water for the people cannot be assured? Neha Bhadbhade, Sarita Bhagat, K J Joy, Abraham Samuel, No Rain, No Gain Kiran Lohakare, Raju Adagale One common response by farmers and government offi cials to our question of Despite intensive implementation “ ater for all—drought-free the usefulness of the JSA was, “Pausach of the Jalyukt Shivar Abhiyan, Maharashtra 2019” reads padla nahi tar kay karnar” (what can be many districts of Maharashtra Wthe title of the government done if it did not rain at all)? But, accord- resolution of the fl agship programme ing to the Joseph Committee report,1 are reeling under severe drought. Jalyukt Shivar Abhiyan (JSA), started in “JSA was proposed as an immediate This raises questions over the 2015, the year Maharashtra was facing measure to address the recurrent prob- usefulness of the JSA in yet another drought after a severe one in lem of water scarcity and crop failures drought-proofi ng, especially in 2012–13. In 2015–16, 138 talukas were arising due to low rainfall.” If normal declared as drought-affected. Since the rain is seen as the precondition for the the way it is being implemented. inception of the JSA to date, 2,54,000 success of JSA projects, then the utility of water and soil conservation projects have the structures would be seen only during been implemented in 16,522 villages in the periods of good rainfall. Hence, the the state spending `7,692 crore. The JSA JSA, or the way it is implemented, cannot claims to have created 24,000 million be termed as a “strategy” to “drought- cubic feet of water storage (Jitendra 2019). proof Maharashtra” because the struc- JSA works have also been implemented tures will not be able to capture and sus- through Corporate Social Responsibility tain water during the periods of scanty (CSR) funds, non-profi t organisations and rainfall. In fact, during the periods of through competitions such as the Water good rainfall, most of the water is uti- Cup organised by Paani Foundation in lised to maximise the yields due to order to create mass awareness about which negligible water is left, especially drought mitigation through people’s par- in the aquifers, to face a drought year. ticipation and work. So, why is it that more During good rainfall years, farmers are than 151 talukas were declared drought- opting for extensive sugar cane cultiva- hit in 2018–19 after fi ve years of intensive tion, and there is no monitoring on the drought mitigation efforts through the JSA? water consumption and planning for Water scarcity is rising alarmingly in water-scarce years. Also, there is very the state, especially in Marathwada. The little attention paid to improving the government’s own data, as reported in water-holding capacity of the soil so that the media, shows, to date, that about the improved soil moisture can take care 4,920 villages and 10,506 hamlets are of the dry periods. now completely dependent on water tankers for drinking water. Just within a Jalyukt Shivar: A Quick Fix? week’s time, from 20 May to 27 May, the From our fi eld investigations, we have count of the number of parched villages observed that most of the projects have went up from 4,615 to 4,920. Currently, been created as quick-fi x solutions with- This article is based on an ongoing study there are 6,209 tankers deployed cross- out any long-term planning and water use on Jalyukt Shivar Abhiyan by Society for Promoting Participative Ecosystem ing the record of 6,000 tankers in 2016 regulation. One of the important steps Management. (Ashar 2019). Chinchondi village in while implementing works under the JSA Pathardi taluka of Ahmednagar district is to prepare a detailed project report (DPR) Neha Bhadbhade ([email protected]), JSA Sarita Bhagat, K J Joy (joykjjoy2@gmail. is one such example where the has for the village, which includes water bud- com), Abraham Samuel, Kiran Lohakare, and been intensively implemented and it also get and treatment maps. They need to be Raju Adagale are associated with Society won the second prize under the Water approved by the gram sabha. However, for Promoting Participative Ecosystem Cup competition in 2016. Yet this year DPRs were neither available at the gram Management, Pune. the people of this village are spending panchayat offi ce nor at the government 12 JUNE 22, 2019 vol lIV no 25 EPW Economic & Political Weekly COMMENTARY offi ces. Moreover, discussions with vil- The farmers are not only facing short- and usually forgotten in good rainfall lagers revealed that most of them were ages of water for their crops and cattle, years. Participatory planning, accounta- not aware about the scheme and the but also have to struggle for meeting bility, understanding the hydrological process of implementation. Awareness their basic domestic water needs. Some limitations, sustainability, regulation of about the JSA and participation of the villages like Chinchondi and Kharda have use, equitable access and better agro- people were found to be poor. access to piped water systems, where nomical practices—broadly known as Physical and structural assessment water is supplied after a gap of 5–10 demand management options—are some works done under the JSA show poor days. Where piped water systems are of the missing aspects in the current quality of construction of many of the missing, villagers are supplied drinking drought mitigation measures. works, especially the cement nala bunds and domestic water through govern- (CNBs). Many of the CNBs assessed had ment or private tankers. In Chinchondi Water Management at Basin Scale leakages, loose foundation with the village families are seen spending, on an One important insight from Kharda vil- main body of the structures either cor- average, `3,000 to `6,000 per month lage (Ahmednagar district) was that in roding badly or in some cases broken, only on purchasing drinking water. spite of spending huge amount of money exposing the rebars. With poor design of under JSA, the village is to receive water the fl ank and wing walls, scouring was Ongoing Drought from a newly constructed minor irriga- observed on most of the banks near the Many farmers sowed in the kharif season. tion scheme called “Amrut-link” by 2020, the fl ank walls. Take the case of Jawale However, the crops failed due to lack of which would increase the irrigated area village in Jamkhed taluka of Ahmedna- water. Those having access to borewells/ in the village. There are many such irri- gar district. A 5.5 kilometre stretch of a dug wells and farm ponds, to some extent, gation projects that are in the pipeline or stream has 12 structures—nine new were able to grow crops. Some farmers, at various stages of development in the ones constructed under JSA and three old especially orchard owners, were seen state. So how does the money spent on ones. Instead of repairing the old struc- spending their savings—a few families implementing JSA get justifi ed if villages tures, new CNBs of very poor quality were reported spending even up to `40,000— like Kharda almost end up completely constructed, thus not only making the in buying tanker water in order to pro- relying on exogenous water? Or why is it old structures redundant but also lead- tect their crops. In Kharda, many lemon that works taken up under JSA and other ing to overdesigning as the average rain- plantations have simply dried up, as water sources like minor and medium fall is only about 500 millimetre in a farmers were not able to purchase water. irrigation projects do not get integrated year. At some sites where deepening work In the current drought, no work is as part of a sub-basin or basin plan? was carried out, sand layers had also available in the village under the Mahat- The problem here is of creating local been removed. The excavated material ma Gandhi National Rural Employment water storages and simultaneously sourc- was dumped along the banks without Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) as most of the ing water from larger units/scales with- compacting and stabilising the banks. work under the JSA has been done through out understanding the partitioning of An interesting observation made in machines, replacing manual labour. Mar- water at the basin scale. Water is not lost Jawale village was that while the local athwada is known for high landlessness at the basin scale. If a basin receives a stream called Nandani was deepened in as about 30% of the people are landless. certain amount of rainfall, after the the upstream areas, right near the main People are forced to migrate to towns/cit- evaporation losses, the water in the ba- village, construction debris was dumped ies where work is available. Those who sin remains in the soil as moisture used into the stream bed, which completely do not have the option to migrate, have by plants directly recharges the ground- negated the alleged purpose of river simply stayed at home, and have sold water aquifers and also contributes to deepening. Land treatments such as their livestock or taken loans to survive surface fl ows in streams and rivers. A part compartment-bunding have extensively drought. Many villagers were also seen of the surface fl ows gets stored in tanks, been carried out. But, it was observed investing in secondary occupations, like ponds and dams.