COVER STORY

It was a unique ceremony for a unique awardgiven to a unique rural community of India. In

what is perhaps the first ceremony of its kind,President KR Narayanan flew to Hamirpura, avillage in Alwar district, to felicitate the village

of Bhaonta-Kolyala with the first Down-ToEarth-Joseph C John Award for the most

outstanding environmental community. Theaward, instituted by DOWN TO EARTH and

funded by the Joseph C John Trust, is aimed atscrutinising community efforts and selecting the"outstanding one". Bhaonta-Kolyala triumphed

for its work in rainwater harvesting, ruralengineering and revival of the Arvari river.'

The ceremony — held on March 28, 2000 —saw villagers coming to Hamirpura in

droves from the nooks and corners of thedistrict. It was attend by Rajasthan governor

Anshuman Singh, chief minister Ashok Gehlotand a host of dignitaries, too.

In an overview, ANIL AGARWAL, talks about thepresidential visit, Bhaonta-Kolyala and the

importance of rainwater harvesting

IT WAS a real pleasure to go with President K R Narayananto Hamirpura village. People always come to theRashtrapati Bhawan estate to receive awards from the

President. The fact that the President went to the villagehimself to honour it is a remarkable thing in itself. It isdoubtful if an Indian President has ever gone to a village tofelicitate its people in the past.

The readiness with which he had accepted my offer tocome to the village to present the award is clearly indicative ofhis graciousness and sensitivity to the problems of the poor.Poverty and the importance of rainwater harvesting are twoissues that he had already emphasised in his Republic Dayaddress this year.

President Narayanan, himself born to a poor family inKerala, understands and appreciates the agony and theproblems of poor people. But he is also a man who broke thebonds of poverty and through sheer grit worked his way up tothe position of President of India. This is why he also knowsthat the poor may be strapped in economic terms but they arenot poor in terms of knowledge, wisdom and hard work. Morethan economic help, the poor seek dignity and encouragementto achieve what they desire. This is why the work of Bhaonta-Kolyala and other villages had resonated so much with him.

Today, there are hundreds of thousands of villages in India

A pilgrim's progressIt was a sight from the air that nobody could miss. The barrennessof the Aravalli hills stretching out from Delhi to Alwar is somethingPresident K R Narayanan could not help remark about, as hishelicopter made its way to Hamirpura village.

I also showed him the dry agricultural fields that lay betweenthe hills, obviously short of water because of the serious droughtthe state has been suffering for two years in a row. Otherwise,March-end is a time when the rabi (winter) crop should have beenswaying in the fields.

Suddenly, after some time, we saw green fields stretching acrossthe landscape. There must be groundwater here, I said to thePresident. And then I realised we were there, at our destination: wewere seeing the lush green and yellow fields of Hamirpura and othervillages of the Arvari watershed which had undertaken water

A BELIEF IN TRADITION

DOWN TO EARTH

30 APR 2000

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in this region have shown, through their work in rainwaterharvesting, that it is possible to revive water. This message isof no mean importance and is a source of tremendous hope(see box: A pilgrim's progress).

The johads (check-dams) built by the people of Bhaonta-Kolyala and other villages in the watershed of the Arvari riverare an effort to capture the meagre 500-600 millimetres (mm)of rain that falls in the region. These structures allow water toslowly seep into the ground, raising the water table steadilyand replenishing the wells that have been lying parched foryears. Moreover, the same groundwater seeps into the bed ofthe dry river, making it alive with water again round the year.This is the reason that Arvari, which had been reduced to aseasonal drain, flowed continuously till December 1999.

Now, following two years of continuous drought, the riveris drying up again. This explains the importance of what iscalled the hydrological cycle. Bhaonta-Kolyala has revived and

To take a step forward, it is importantto keep the other foot on the ground

nourished the same hydrological cycle, which we are increa-singly forgetting in most other parts of our country by relent-lessly exploiting water from our rivers and from the ground.

I want to narrate my first meeting with the 80-year-oldDhanua Baba of Bhaonta-Kolyala. He had briefly recountedhis life to me. He had said, "My family had land, but after theforests were cut down, we could not grow crops. From the ageof 13, I started wandering in search of employment. WhenMahatma Gandhi was shot dead, I was carting sacks in LahoriGate of Delhi. When Indira Gandhi got married, I was stillthere. But in the last three years, I have cultivated my land forthe first time. Nobody in my family needs to migrate in searchof a livelihood now." The transformation that waterharvesting can create is clearly evident in Dhanua Baba's story.

Mahadevi Verma, the celebrated poetess of India, hadonce remarked that to take a step forward, it is important thatthe other foot is firmly planted on the ground. Similarly, if asociety strives to develop, it has to ensure that the other foot isfirmly planted in its traditions. A society can progress withstrength only when it can come up with a harmonious andbeautiful blend of the old and the new. Mahatma Gandhi had

harvesting. None of the eight people on the helicopter neededany convincing about the value of rainwater harvesting after thatand the remarkable achievement of the villagers. A happy ChitraNarayanan, the President's daughter, a serving diplomat, said, "Itwas like seeing an oasis," as soon as she got off the aircraft.

The President, too, was thrilled. "You know," he said to mewhile returning, "you have convinced me for a long time of theimportance of rainwater harvesting. But I must say there isnothing like actually seeing it on the ground. It has been amemorable day for me." He thanked me so many times forinviting him to come to the village that he would not even let methank him for coming to the village — possibly a presidential firstbecause we are not aware of any President having gone to avillage to honour it for its work. Everybody comes to RashtrapatiBhawan to get awards from the President. Only someone likePresident Narayanan could have done something like this.

If there were any regrets he had, there were only two. One,he could not go by car, which, in fact, we would have dissuadedhim against because of the pressure that a full day journeywould have put on him, and two, that the local security did notallow him a chance to sit and spend some time with thevillagers. It was as Rajendra Singh of Tarun Bharat Sangh said inhis vote of thanks, "It was a tirtha-yatra." And, most of all, thePresident, too, felt that way.

And what did the villages of Bhaonta-Kolyala andHamirpura tell all of us: that there is no single village, I repeat,no single village in the country which cannot quench its ownthirst and that of its fields through rainwater harvesting.Villagers can do it themselves. They just need some educationand catalytic support. Nothing more. It is a very inspiringthought, one which generates enormous hope in what isotherwise becoming a water-starved country.

The award and the process

To choose the most outstanding environmental effortwas by all means a daunting task. There were severalworthy candidates.

To begin with, the award focussed on individuals.Realising that there were several awards in India tohonour individual efforts. Down To Earth decided tohighlight community efforts. Such initiatives are oftenhidden from media attention as several people gettogether and it is difficult to isolate one single heroicpersonality who stands out.

More than 1,000 missives were sent to environmen-talists across the country, soliciting their nominations.There were 149 entries in all, 106 of which were forindividuals. Reporters and stringers attached withDown To Earth then visited the nominations thatmade through the first shortlisting. The shortlistedones — 35 in all — were for efforts spread out acrossthe country, from Kashmir to Kerala and Nagalandto Rajasthan.

The elaborate reports were put before a jury broadlyrepresentative of the Indian civil society. The panelcomprised N C Saxena, secretary to the PlanningCommission; Kamla Choudhary, chairperson of theSociety for Promotions of Wastelands Development;Anupam Mishra, head of the environmental cell of theGandhi Peace Foundation; Rahul Dev, eminent mediapersonality; and Vikram Lal, trustee of the VikramSarabhai Foundation. The panel debated and discussedthe merit of each and every nomination.

After a series of consultations, the community ofBhaonta-Kolyala village emerged the winner.

also once remarked that doors of all the windows of his houseshould be open but the wind should not sweep him away.

I understood this in 1987 when the then prime minister,the late Rajiv Gandhi, entrusted me with a task. India wasplagued by drought and floods in 1985,1986 and 1987. Severalcrore rupees had to be distributed as relief. Rajiv Gandhi toldme that the way relief expenditure was escalating, there wereclear signals that flood and drought were becoming morefrequent. The speed at which the number of tubewells wasrising would ensure that the groundwater table would fall.This relief money should be invested in conserving theenvironment so that our future is a little more secure.

He asked me to address members of Parliament (MPS) onthis issue. To say something concrete, we required data. So,my colleague Sunita Narain and I travelled through thecountry for two months, but obtained little. I was not satisfiedwith my address to the MPS. The question of finding a long-term relief against drought kept haunting me. We found theanswer in the drought of 1987, when we got an opportunity tovisit several villages and cities in the heart of the Thar desert ofRajasthan. We witnessed something unusual.

The drought notwithstanding, several families which hadtaken good care of their traditional water storage systems,such as kundis, had enough water to survive and seethemselves through the tough times. But families which

depended on tankers and pipelines were in a desperatecondition. The reason for this became evident in Jodhpur,where the situation was such that water was being supplied forone hour in three days. In some cases, water was beingsupplied through the railways.

Fortunately, when we were in Jodhpur, it rained heavilyfor one hour. Jodhpur city has taken root on the edge of arocky plateau. In earlier times, canals that stretched for severalkilometres would capture the rain falling on the plateau andchannelise it through to several talabs (human-made ponds)from where water would seep into the ground and fill the wellsand step-wells of the city. During that brief rainfall, Iwitnessed hundreds of water channels and waterfalls. But veryfew drops of this rain managed to reach Jodhpur city becauseall channels and canals were either broken or filled withgarbage. I realised how the people living here made a gloriouscity in a place where it rains a mere 200-300 mm in a year.

Some days later, I had the opportunity to visit Cherrapunjin Meghalaya, where it rains about an average of 11,000 mmper year. My eyes popped out on seeing a notice in a

The culture of valuing every raindrophas been revived by villages in Alwar

government rest house. It said, "Water is limited, please use itjudiciously." Following the cutting down of forests, all theseasonal drains and channels dry up soon after the rains andthe people face water scarcity for the remaining eight months.

It became clear to me that regardless of the amount of rain,if water is not captured and stored properly, water scarcity willloom large in front of us. In the ensuing decade, my colleaguesat the Centre for Science and Environment travelledthroughout the country and compiled the traditionalknowledge of water harvesting. This has been published in ourbook Dying Wisdom. The same culture of capturing everydrop of rain has been revived by the villages of Alwar.

In an earlier conversation with Ashok Gehlot, chief "minister of Rajasthan, I mentioned to him that from the Thardesert to the Aravalli range of mountains, as well as in theplateau of southern Rajasthan, if we can replenish thehydrological cycle, we can eliminate poverty for a substantialportion of the state's population within a decade.

Let me say a few words about the Down To Earth-JosephC John Award. John was very fond of trees and in 1957, whenwe had not even heard of the term environment, heestablished an organisation called Friends of Trees inMumbai. Till 1973, when he returned to Kerala, he workedvery hard to preserve the greenery in Mumbai. His son anddaughter — Madhu John and Mallika Akbar — desired thatan environmental award in the father's name be given everyyear. They approached me and asked if Down To Earth wouldinstitutionalise the award. As you may be aware, Down ToEarth, strives to present to its readers not only theenvironmental problems and challenges facing us today butalso tries to bring forth solutions to these problems, to inspirethem and enkindle hope of meeting these challenges.

To ensure that the process of selecting a winner of theaward is thorough and transparent, an exhaustive process wasformulated (see box: The award and the process). The reportson the award ceremony and the recipients follow. •

Awarded: Bhaonta-Kolyala...... for reviving the Arvari river, for showing that a healthy ecology and good water

management mean prosperity, for proving that drought is a myth

IT WAS an event the villagers of Alwardistrict will not forget in a hurry. Fourhelicopters, numerous vehicles, a posseof policemen and 30,000-odd villagershad gathered in Hamirpura village inThanagazi block of Alwar to welcomeIndia's first citizen. And savour the fruitsof their hard labour. The first citizen, onhis part, was to felicitate the villagers fortheir work in the field of environment.

Befitting the Rajasthani tradition,Hamirpura, the venue for the function,was decked in colourful shamianas,spilling with people. Some 10,000of them were in the helipad alone. Hugemakeshift gates welcomed the gueststo the venue. And notwithstandingthe policemen, the villagers startedtrickling in from early morning resplen-dent in their colourful clothes andtraditional jewellery. After all, it was aspecial day. The President himself waspresent to put the stamp of personal andgovernmental approval on theirremarkable feat.

In fact, even before the President'svisit, the Arvari Parliament had distri-buted leaflets saying, "The Presidentalso supports our struggle for rights onwater". And finally on March 28, 2000,all their efforts were given officialrecognition. Amid a loud applause, thePresident presented the first Down ToEarth-Joseph C John Award for themost outstanding environmentalcommunity to Bhaonta-Kolyala. Theaward — which carries a citation and acash award of Rs 1,00,000 — wasreceived by seven villagers, includingtwo women, on behalf of the Bhaonta-Kolyala community.

Bhaonta-Kolyala, along with the70-odd villages in the Thanagazi block,were facing chronic drought, distressmigration and poverty in themid-1980s. But after a chance meetingwith members of the Tarun Bharat

"Bhaonta-Kolyala has set anexample for the rest of India"

Sangh, a voluntary organisation, theytook upon themselves the task of restor-ing their traditional water harvestingstructures called johads. After decades ofsand, heat and infertility, the area hasdiscovered perennial water, prosperityand abundance.

"While it is the responsibility of thegovernment to create a situation wherepeople can develop, it is up to the peoplethemselves to work for the developmentof true gram swaraj (village republic).Bhaonta-Kolyala and its surroundingvillages have shown how people cando this on their own," said PresidentNarayanan, after presenting the award.

Pointing out that as much as 75 percent of the cost of building johads wasborne by the villagers, the President saidthe initiative and self-reliance ofthe people of Bhaonta-Kolyala is aninspiration and has established anexample for the rest of rural India (seebox: Presidentspeak).

Also present at the function were

Resplendent in colourful clothes and traditional jewellery, women throng the venue at Hamirpura despite the scorching heat(above); a proud Kanheya Lal displays the citation presented by the President (below)

Rajasthan governor Justice AnshumanSingh and chief minister Ashok Gehlot.Speaking on the occasion, the governorlauded the efforts of the villagersand Tarun Bharat Sangh. He said thattheir effort in reviving the traditionalwater harvesting system is especiallynoteworthy given the fact that inRajasthan there are still 26,000 gramsabhas facing drought.

"The President's visit will providegreat encouragement to environmen-talists in the state," said Gehlot. He alsostressed the need for utilising modernscientific and technological inputs likedata from the Remote Sensing Centre,which had come out with a WatershedDevelopment Atlas, to find out where tobuild water harvesting structures. "If allthe villages in the country worked on

rainwater harvesting, the state of theentire country can be changed. With thehelp of institutions like the Centrefor Science and Environment (CSE),villagers should be made all the moreaware of such benefits," he added.

Expressing gratitude towards thePresident for accepting the invitation tocome to Hamirpura, CSE director AnilAgarwal said that if rainwater harvestingis undertaken all across Rajasthan likeit had been done here, a lot of povertyin the state can be eradicated in thecoming 10 years.

A people's affairFor this day no sacrifice seemed bigenough — not even walking mileswithout food. Govardhan Sharma, aresident of Jhiri village, skipped his

lunch. "The President is coming," hereasoned. He walked a distance of sevenkilometres with his seven-year-oldgrandson to reach Hamirpura. "Noweven the Rashtrapatiji supports ourstruggle to get rights over the water weconserved," he says. Recalling a dialoguewith state irrigation officials over theconstruction of a johad in his village, hesays, "The official threatened that Iwould be killed if I don't listen togovernment orders." However, nowthat the President himself had come toacknowledge their effort, he has put offthe incident as a bad dream.

"There was a time when officialsrefused to listen to us when we wantedfinancial help for building johads andcheck-dams. Today, we are very happy

'The President's visit will inspireus to carry the work forward"

PresidentspeakA translation of select portions of President K R Narayanan's

speech after presenting the award

I am truly delighted to be present here among all of you in Hamirpura forthe presentation of the Down To Earth-Joseph C John Award. Very seldom isthere an opportunity to address a village ceremony. I was born in a Keralavillage and I spent the first 20 years of my life in the village. I contested myparliamentary election from a rural constituency. I have managed to sustain mylink with the villages of India. The people living in our innumerable villagesare the true heroes of India — the adhinayak of the Jan-Gan-Man of ourmotherland, as mentioned in our national anthem.

The people of Bhaonta-Kolyala have shown how development is possiblewithout harming the environment. The extraordinary effort of this villagein Rajasthan can be compared to the achievement of King Bhagirath, who,according to Hindu legend, brought the Ganga to Earth.

Water is the basis of all life. It is becoming a main problem confronting oneand all across the world — for the rich and industralised countries as well as thepoor and developing countries. In earlier days, the people of Bhaonta-Kolyalahad seen the Arvari drying up. People had to migrate to cities to search for alivelihood because agriculture had been ruined due to water scarcity. In such asituation, Rajendra Singh and the Tarun Bharat Sangh showed the way.Actually, it was a village elder who had asked them to "stop talking and startbuilding johads".

The johads and check-dams built by the villages here recharged thegroundwater and the surplus water emerged in the form of the Arvari river,which became perennial. The song Sare Jahan Se Achchha, written by Iqbal,mentions "Godi mein khelati hain jiski hazaaron nadiyaan..." (thousandsof rivers play in the lap of our country). The most significant aspect of Bhaonta-Kolyala's effort is that they remembered the water needs of villagesdownstream, which has prevented water disputes here. It is important toremember that 75 per cent of the cost of building water harvesting structureswas borne by the people of this village.

I would like to congratulate the people of this village. Their initiative andself-reliance is an example and an inspiration to the rest of rural India. This workwill provide direction to the entire country. Not only have the people revivedthe river, they have also established democratic institutions to sustainablymanage it. The gram sabha and the Arvari River Parliament are shining exampleof this. I hope that the people of Bhaonta-Kolyala will continue the good workthat they have done.

Centre for Science and Environment director Anil Agarwal addresses the gathering(top);Tarun Bharat Sangh secretary-general Rajendra Singh presents a gift to chiefminister Ashok Gehiot (above); some 10,000 villagers crowd around the makeshifthelipad to welcome the President (right)

that the President has come herepersonally to give us the award. It willgive us the inspiration to carry the workforward. More than the money, it is theinspiration which is important," said aneffusive 75-year-old Mangu Ram ofHamirpura.

Moments before the Presidentarrived, the villagers of Bhaonta-Kolyalaentered Hamirpura in a procession.Men, women and children arrived forthe jamboree of sorts. Despite thescorching heat, they were savouringevery moment.

Inside the shamianas, excitementran high. As the representatives went upto the dais to take the citation and the

cheque, others clapped merrily.Women, though veiled, talked enthusi-astically about their role and their futurein the harnessing water. Proud theywere and eager to talk to the press.And they were doing so with ease andconfidence. After all victory was theirsand they were savouring every moment.

"When I came here as a bride, I hadto walk for three to four miles almostthrice daily for water. Now, things aredifferent. We have built johads andcheck-dams. Now life is not so difficult.Along with water there has been change

"It is the ultimate recognition ofthe village's 15 years of effort"

in the economy too," said 40-year-oldGulabi of Kishori village. She isalso a member of the mahila mandal(women's organisation) and is full ofstories on how their informal bankingsystem works. "When we started ourwork 15 years ago, we never thought wewould see this day. The prize means thatour aim has been fulfilled and the wholecountry would be learning from us," shesaid confidently. "In our village, we havebeen able to plant crops like wheatagain. Though it hasn't rained for twoyears now, we still have water stored fordrinking and domestic use," says Harbaifrom Bhaonta-Kolyala.

For Dhauna and Manbhari, it was a

day they would cherish forever. Theywere the ones who accepted the citationand the cheque along with five men.Both women said the money would beused for building more anicuts andjohads in villages. Kanheya Lai, memberof the Arvari Parliament and one of thefive men who received the award, alsoreiterated the same.

For Roora Mai, whose land wassubmerged after the construction of acheck-dam in Hamirpura, the visit was a'real compensation'. "Villagers herehave never been visited by any leadersexcept the village panchayat president.The visit by the President has broken allthe isolation and provided us a place in

"Arvari river will be regarded asa national monument"

the map of India," he says."Till the President's visit was con-

firmed, the state government ignoredthe good work and never paid attentionto the problems. But once the presiden-tial visit was confirmed, officers came tous seeking information about our activ-ities," says Shravan Sharma, who hasbeen associated with water harvestingactivities in Alwar district since adecade. He terms the visit as 'the ulti-mate recognition' of the village's 15years of effort that gave life to the Arvaririver. "The President's visit will defini-

tely put pressure on the state govern-ment to help in our works," says VeeraLai, a resident of Hamirpur. AddsKanheya Lai, "Henceforth, Arvari willbe regarded as a national monument."

Amid the crowd, in a corner sat a94-year-old Gandhian. For SiddharajaDaddha, who has seen the struggleclosely, it was a victory of sorts — that ofgram swaraj. "The concept of gramswaraj is very effective and these peoplehave proved that. It is good that the gov-ernment has acknowledged the people'seffort," he said, adding: "Since thePresident represents the people of thiscountry, it is a big honour for these hardworking people," he says. •

HAMLETS REBORNAlthough Bhaonta-Kolyala village walked away with the Down To Earth-Joseph C John Award, thejudges came across several such communities worthy of praise. The Guraiya Watershed Communityin Madhya Pradesh, Krushak Charcha Mandal in Maharashtra and AJCB Briksha Mitra Sangha inTripura deserve a particular mention. All these communities have one thing in common —for thema healthy environment means economic prosperity. Down To Earth profiles all the four communities

Bhaonta-Kolyala village,Alwar district,

Rajasthan

Total area 1,200 ha

Population 566

Number of waterharvesting structures 15

Number of wells 25

A tale of two villagesThere are about 600,000 villages in India. Andperhaps as many kinds of environmentalproblems they face. It is easy to accept defeat.But Bhaonta-Kolyala did not

IT'S AN unusual ritual the villages of Bhaonta-Kolyala follow.Every year, they pour water into a johad — a crescent-shapedearthen check-dam — on Deepawali. But history has it thatsome 1,000 years ago, they were killed en masse by neigh-bouring villagers while observing the ritual. That was when thetwin villages got together and came to be known as one. Andever since, they don't celebrate Deepawali. But they continuefilling johads with water.

Their visit to a johads is not limited to one day in a year.Every new-born is taken to a johad "to be blessed by the deityresiding in the johad'. A newly-wed couple does the same. Andon a no-moon day, villagers engage themselves in communitywork like building a temple or starting work on a new johad.

Despite such a strong tradition of water harvesting, in theyears that followed the villagers started neglecting johads, whichwere buried with pebbles. Besides, during the late 1970s andearly 1980s, the villagers suffered four spells of drought. The 25wells in the village had no trace of water for most of the year.

"There was nothing to sustain ourselves," recalls villagerArjan Gujjar, who was to actively participate in water harvest-ing later. Most of the men migrated to cities, while the rest

accepted their lives as "ill-fate", says Kanheya Lai, an activevillage leader. "Two or three decades ago, the hills werecovered with dense forests. It helped in protecting the soil andwater aquifers and provided favourable conditions for theregeneration of trees and pasture. The hills were also home toa number of wild animals," points out S S Dhabariya, formerhead of the remote sensing division of the Birla Science andTechnology Centre in Jaipur. "But, over a period of sixdecades, all that vanished," he adds. Worse, rainfall hereis quite low (600 mm, of which 500 mm falls during themonsoon). With the forests gone, the sloping landscape of thehills failed to retain any water during the monsoon.

Johads: the rediscoveryThe year was 1986. Villagers of Bhaonta-Kolyala noticed aremarkable development in Gopalpura, a village 20 kilometres(km) away. Gopalpura had water in its wells round the year. Thereason — villagers had revived johads with the help of TarunBharat Sangh (TBS), a non-governmental organisation NGO.

The same year, TBS' annual paniyatra (march for water)from Gopalpura passed through Bhaonta-Kolyala. Led by far-mers Sundra Baba and Dhannua Baba, the beleaguered villagersfinally approached Rajendra Singh, secretary general of TBS. Heoffered help but on one condition — that the villagers should beready to take upon themselves the task of regeneration.

After organising themselves and the neighbouring villages,on March 6, 1987, the villagers started protecting forestsand repairing old johads. They mapped the natural drainagesystem and choose tentative sites to construct new johads.

"Our aim was to catch each and every drop of rain water thatfell on the village," says Mangal Ram, a villager.

During the course of their search, they discovered an oldjohad, buried in silt, on the slope of the barren hills. In 1988,repair work on the johad started. When the monsoons arrived,the johad was filled with water. Overwhelmed by the resultsfrom a single johad, the villagers started building more suchstructures. Today, the village has a total of 15 water harvestingstructures, including a 244 metres long, 7 metres tall concretedam in the upper catchment of the Aravalli to stop waterbefore it flows downstream, the construction for which wasstarted in 1990.

The dam was a turning point. Even those who had migra-ted were called back to, as Dhannua says, 'heal the wounds ofMother Earth'. By 1995, a year after the completion of the dam,water level in the wells downstream rose by two to three feet."The percolation of water from this dam is three feet an hour.

"Its impact is felt in villages 20 km downstream. All the wells arenow filled with water," says Govind Ram,a villager. Today, all the agricultural landis under cultivation. Milk production hasrisen up to 10 times. Every rupee investedin a johad has increased the village'sannual income by 2.5-3 times.

Greening the desertBuilding water harvesting structures was not enough for thevillagers. To control soil erosion, they demarcated 12 squarekilometre of the adjoining forest area for regeneration. And in1995 they declared it as a public wildlife sanctuary, claimed tobe the first of its kind in the country.

Symbolically, the sanctuary area starts from the dam builtby the villagers. 'Bhaironath Public Wildlife Sanctuary', writ-ten on the dam, welcomes you to the sanctuary. With theregeneration of forests, wildlife has started migrating from thenearby Sariska Tiger Reserve forests. "Our forests are totallyprotected, nobody disturbs the wildlife. So the wildlife fromthe other forests are finding it safer here," says Dhannua Baba.

According to the local people, the sanctuary is at presenthome to three tigers, many bluebulls and deer. The tiger pugmarks are proof of their presence in the sanctuary.

The gram sabha has also imposed a strict code of conduct— tree felling is not allowed though villagers are allowed to

Waters of lifeOf the two main sources of Arvari river, one stream originates inBhaonta-Kolyala. From here to its confluence in Sainthal Sagar,

it nourishes many villages in the watershed

Reviving the ArvariThe most important lesson fromBhaonta-Kolyala is that when villageswork with each other to regenerate theenvironment, there are unexpected bless-ings.Sometimes, they are as big as a river.In the case of Bhaonta-Kolyala, it wasArvari river. In 1990, when the villagers !started constructing the big dam, no oneknew that the site was the origin of theriver. And by catching and percolatingwater, they were injecting life into theriver (see map: Water of life).

The river's course was intact due tothe monsoonal water run-off. In 1990, asmall stream came out to vanish withinweeks. That was part of the natural courseof the Arvari. "It was then that the new generation of the villagebelieved that there was indeed a river originating from the vil-lage. Till then, it was passed off as fiction," says Dhannua Baba.

A seasonal drain, Arvari grew like a child and started flow-ing for one extra month each progressive year. It became aperennial river in 1995.

Since 1986, 238 water harvesting structures have come upin the catchment areas of the river, including another hugedam in the second source of the river in Agar village. "Eachand every monsoon stream has been dammed and virtually allthe hills slopes have been afforested to stop run off and soilerosion," says Arjun Patel, a villager.

To ensure that the Arvari remains clean and healthy andalso to solve internal disputes, the 70-odd villages in the Arvaribasin have also formed the Arvari River Parliament.

take branches for domestic purposes. Grazing is restricted to aspecific patch of the forest. Recently, the villagers dug a pondon the periphery of the sanctuary for the benefit of the wildanimals. Says Arjun Patel, "The village is getting back itsbeauty after generations. Now there are forests, water andwildlife." And for Dhannua Baba, the smell of tiger is good forcrops. "It will ensure a good yield of crops," he says.

For the last three years, it has rained poorly in theregion. But for the villagers involved in water management,there is enough water for drinking and irrigation. Theyhave proved that the answers to seemingly unsurpassableenvironmental problems lie in social mobilisation andtraditional wisdom. That economic well-being is a byproductof ecological regeneration. And for a well-organised society,drought is a myth.

A seasonal drain, Arvari grew like a child and started flowing for oneextra month each progressive year. It became a perennial river in 1995

rDOWN TO EARTH-JOSEPH C JOHN AWARD

Guraiya Village,Sagar district,

Madhya Pradesh

Total area 750 ha

Forest area 104.7 ha

Population 783

WORKING WOMENIn Guraiya village, it's women empowerment all the way

There was a time when people from other villagers werenot interested in getting their daughters married

to men from Guraiya village. They had a reason. Duringsummer, the women were forced to carry drinking waterfrom the river Bebas, three kilometres away. Now, it is theother way round. Women from Guraiya do not like to getmarried elsewhere. Besides availability of water, they maynever get the freedom to live their life on their own terms inany other village.

Under the Rajiv Gandhi Mission for Watershed Develop-ment (RGMWD), which was introduced in Guraiya inMay 1997, the village has undergone a metamorphosis. Theonce-brown landscape is verdant and water shortage isunheard of. More importantly, it is women power all the way.All the members of the Guraiya Watershed Committee (GWC)are women.

"Earlier, we found it difficult to convince women to takeup the responsibility as they were never involved in thedecision-making," says Alok Kumar Jain, project officer, Gwc.Many people also protested against the government's decisionto have women run the committee. "Even the sarpanch wasnot. ready to cooperate," says C L Namdeo, GWC'S projectimplementing agency officer.

It was only after Smita Ghate, the then assistant collectorof Sagar district, stepped in that the women started openingup, says Hariranjan Rao, chief executive officer of Sagarzila panchayat.

In the first phase, the women were trained in variousaspects such as pregnancy, childbirth and sanitation. Finally, acommittee of 12 women was formed for the work of RGMWD.With the help of government officers, they took up the task of

building check-dams and cattle-proof trenches. Theyhave constructed an 18,124 metre (m)-long contourtrench, 2,000 m-long cattle protection trench, 5,145 staggeredtrenches and three boulder check-dams.

The committee has set up a nursery, where 700,000saplings have been planted, and has started three savingand thrift groups — the Laxmi Bachat Samooh,Sageli Bachat Samooh and Jagriti Bachat Samooh. Sofar, eighty-six saving accounts have been opened and thecommittee has saved Rs 1,40,000. The accounts are open forpublic scrutiny.

For Jagat Singh, a landless villager, the mission has becomea source of income. "I take care of the forest regenerated bythe villagers and I am paid for it," he says. "Everybody hasbenefitted from the scheme," says Radha Bai, who looks afterthe nursery.

There is a startling change in women's attitudes, too."They have become more confident and bold," saysSingh. "Since my marriage in 1964, I have seen everyonescrounge for water. And the land was barren. In just two years,things have changed. I have realised the importance of being awoman. We have an identity now," says Sitabai Choubey,president of GWC.

"They have become better in technical aspects of thewatershed development programmes, too," says Ghate. "Andthey are demanding more work from us," adds an excited Rao.

Asked if the women can continue the work even if thegovernment withdraws the scheme, Choubey says: "Wecan definitely handle the work even without governmenthelp. Now we are aware of the work. We still don't knowmany things but we will definitely learn everything soon."

"We can definitely handle the work without government help. We stilldon't know many things, but we will learn everything soon"

ABOVE ALL DIFFERENCESA caste-ridden society transforms the depleted forests into a green haven

\he forest was dense till the 1960s," recallsSuryabhan Khorbade of Sayagata village in

JL Maharashtra's Chandrapur district. During theBritish rule, people were allowed to enter the forests at theirown will. But after Independence, when the forest departmentstepped in, there was a ban on access to the forests. "Soon,illegal logging reduced the once-lush forests to a lone banyantree near the village temple," says Lala Ram, a 60-year-oldfarmer.

Villagers lost their source of livelihood. There were notendu leaves, gum and mohua to sell in the market. Most ofthem were forced to cultivate their lands or work as bondedlabourers elsewhere. But agriculture did not reap any benefitsas the land was unproductive.

The problems were plenty but solutions only one — towork together in regenerating the land. This was not very easy.The village population comprised eight castes and nobody wasready to sit together and chalk out an action plan. To end thestalemate, in 1966, Khorbade along with his friends staged adrama. "The important aspect of the drama was that allof them came together to watch it," he says. He continued

. staging plays to develop cordial relations.Finally, in 1973, the villagers formed an organisation

called Krushak Charcha Mandal under the leadershipof Khorbade. At that time, a government official gifted thema one-band radio. The Nagpur station, which the radiowas able to receive, used to broadcast a programme onagriculture twice a week, which the farmers used to religiouslyfollow. After the programme, they discussed various issuesthat the particular episode highlighted. When in doubt, theywould write letters to the radio station. "The whole process

helped in bringing the people together," says Lala Ram.Soon, they realised that the root of their problem was

degradation of the forests. The village Gram Sabha electionswas held in 1979 and it was decided that an attempt toregenerate the forests had to be made. But there was one hitch— who's forests was it, the government's or the people?Despite the dilemma, the villagers formed a committeeheaded by Khorbade.

They fenced the forests. But did not plant any new trees.The stress was on regenerating natural root-stock. Groups of10 people guarded the degraded forests day and night,says Khorbade. By 1982, the forest started showing signs ofrecovery. However, the jubilant villagers were in for a surprise.The forest department was back and officials even preventedthem from collecting fodder. "The people put aside theirpersonal egos and protested against the officials," says VitalRao, a forest guard.

The battle between the forest department and the people isfar from over. But the people decidedly surpassed them andlaunched a joint forest management (JFM) programme in 1993and charted rules for protection of the forests. Villagers inneed of wood have to apply to the village forest committee. Ifanyone is caught felling without prior permission, he/she isasked to pay a fine of Rs 1,000 or is punished suitably.

The result of the villagers' efforts is showing. The greencover is back. The groundwater table has also risen. "Nowwater is available throughout the year," says Kusum, aresident of the village. Also, the agricultural yield has almostdoubled, says Lala Ram. Says Khorbade, "We have realisedour power. And there is a feeling of kinship among us. This isour greatest achievement."

The battle between the forest department and the people is far fromover. But the people have surpassed them and launched a JFM project

BORN AGAINA rural organisation breathes life into the listless people of Melaghar village

It is an oft-repeated story of dense forests being reduced toshrubs and coppice. In the case of Melaghar village in

Sonmara subdivision, the 1971 Bangladesh war responsiblefor the wanton felling of the then abundant sal, teak andbamboo forests.

A large number of refugees from across the bordertook shelter in the forests. Population pressure on landincreased. There were more agricultural labourers thanneeded. And within a decade there was not a tree in sight. "Theforest guards tried to chase us, but we didn't care even ifthey had guns. Timber was sold to the contractors, livestockwas taken to the forest for grazing and everything, includingbirds and fowls, were killed for food," recalls Malati Bala,a refugee who fled Bangladesh after her husband was killedin the war.

After years of poverty and despair, Subodh Sur, then ayoung graduate, formed a group of 15 youths in his homevillage Rudijala in Melaghar block and started spreadingenvironmental awareness among the people. Informalmeetings and discussions were held from 1984 onwards.Finally, in 1987, the Acharya Jagdish Chandra Bose BrikshaMitr,a Sangha (BBMS) was formed and a formal inaugurationwas held on the Acharya's birth anniversary on November 30.

Prior to the formal establishment, BBMS had alreadystarted plantation activities. Plantation of trees in private landswas encouraged, while BBMS on its part planted bamboosaplings in a makeshift nursery. "After some years, the resultsstarted showing. Residents who were earlier hesitant alsostarted growing bamboo trees," says Sur.

The people, under BBMS' guidance, continued the work tillthe early 1990s, by which time the Tripura government

decided to adopt joint forest management (JFM) programmein the state. In association with BBMS, the forest departmentlaunched the pilot JFM project in 1991-92. "We had a parti-cularly enthusiastic and young team of forest officers," saysDipak Datta, chief conservator of forests, BBMS volunteers alsocomprised of a group of bright and energetic youths. "Theywere residents of local villages and had the dedication tocarry forward the project in the future," says Rameshwar Das,divisional forest officer.

The project in "Jeevan Deep", as the Melaghar JFM area isknown as, started with 135 families. "Today, we have some 340families involved in the project," says Sur. He was helped in hisendeavour by Achunta Sinha, an Indian Forest Service officer,who was the Melaghar range officer at that time. He was alsoassisted by Nehru Yuva Kendra, an autonomous organisationof the government of India. In fact, says Das, "The success ofthe project goes to Sur and Sinha."

A total of 13,000 ha of land has been afforested so far. Thegroundwater level has also risen, BBMS has also established aschool in Melaghar, where youths from all over Tripura aretaught the basics of JFM and how it can be replicatedelsewhere. "We have a network of friendly organisations andpeople all over the state interested in JFM after Melaghar'ssuccess," says Rekha Mukherjee of BBMS.

Besides, BBMS has also helped women start a small-scaleindustry. Lakshmi, a housewife, for instance, makes at leastRs 500-700 per month from selling sticks for incense andice-cream from bamboo strips.

BBMS has been successful in not only weaning away youthsfrom illegal felling but, most importantly, they have now madethe people self-sufficient in their needs.

The project in Jeevan Deep, as the Melaghar JFM area is known, beganwith 135 families. Today, some 340 families are involved in the project