Shobha Ramswamy

Water was a scarce commodity in the Bhoire-Khurd village before a non-governmental organisation supported by the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust stepped in to save the day

Off the Pune highway, on a dusty route leading to the Bhoire-Khurd village, the view is of a typical drought-stricken landscape. There are vast tracks of dry, uncultivated land, hills with sporadic vegetation, and scraggly, far-flung mud homes with very few animals.

Suddenly, as you enter Bhoire-Khurd, you need to rub your eyes to make sure what you're seeing is not a mirage. The bare mountains give way to lush, green rows of trees. Onion, alfalfa and marigold crops stand tall in the scorching summer heat. Redbrick homes with animal sheds indicate rural prosperity.

The contrast is stark. The cause is clear. "The reason is watershed development," says Dr Marcella D'souza, director of the Watershed Organisation Trust (WOTR).

Bhoire-Khurd, in the rain-shadow region of Ahmednagar, suffered from one unwelcome visitor for many years. Successive droughts, low rainfall and the resultant poor crop had torn part the socio-economic fabric of this rural community.

The villagers were forced to walk over 200 meters every day for a few pots of water. Agricultural production, even in a year of reasonably good rain, was sufficient only for three to four months. Labour opportunities were scarce and villagers had to migrate to other areas to work seasonally at cutting sugarcane or for contractors of brick kilns. Children were forced to tend to cattle to augment the family income.

Six years ago the village vowed to chase the demon away. Ahmednagar-based WOTR — established in December 1993 by Fr Hermann Bacher and Crispino Lobo, along with Vithal Gram Vikas Sanstha, their facilitating non-government organisation (NGO) — brought them the weapons. "Watershed development refers to the conservation, regeneration and judicious use of all natural and human resources," says Dr D'souza. "It is adopted to protect the livelihood of people inhabiting fragile ecosystems which suffer from soil erosion and moisture stress."

This entails capturing the rain where and when it falls. With the help of contour trenching hilltops and slopes, rainwater is made to percolate into the soil rather than flow downhill and be lost forever. To this end, the plantation of trees prevents soil erosion. Also, in arid and hot zones like Bhoire-Khurd, evaporation rates are as high as 40 per cent. Hence, it becomes imperative to further store water underground rather than let it remain in open artificial ponds. Check dams, contour bunding and gully plugs are the other methods used to impede the flow of rainwater. All this increases the water-table level and stops village wells from going dry.

WOTR's goal is to enable villages to eradicate poverty by regenerating their environment along these watershed lines. It is dedicated to assisting village self-help groups with technical support, project formulation, implementation, documentation, monitoring and evaluation. It is also the official capacity-building organisation of the Indo-German Watershed Development Programme.

WOTR played a key role in the establishment in 2001 of the National Watershed Development Fund, in association with Nabard and with a corpus of Rs 200 crore, to spread the water-conservation movement in 14 Indian states.

The organisation has received an endowment donation of Rs 1.5 crore from the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust and Rs 2 crore from the Tata Social Welfare Trust. Says Mukund Gorakshkar, programme officer, Sir Dorabji Tata Trust, "While WOTR had access to project funds, nobody invested in the security, or rather sustainability, of the organisation itself. We felt it could benefit from a grant that would secure the integrity, professionalism, morale and stability of its staff. Therefore, we decided to give them a corpus (also called endowment) donation."

WOTR also implements projects directly. Having started with 20,000 hectares and nine NGOs, the organisation has now expanded to include 1.62 lakh hectares and 78 NGOs. Panlot, as the watershed development is called locally, has been like manna from heaven for the rural communities it works with.

"Today Panlot has completely changed our lives," says Bhagwan Ram. "Agreeing to implement it is the best decision we have ever taken. Even with dismal rains, our wells and taps don't dry up now. The neighbouring villages employ tankers, but we don't need to."

According to Pandu Shinde, a landowner, watershed development has made it possible for his wells to contain water even at the peak of summer. He points to a small nearby plot covered with light green coriander. "By preventing top-soil erosion I maintain the fertility of my land." Instead of a single crop of jowar or bajra, he now reaps three crops a year.

Passing by fields, Mr Ram explains the various treatments and measures undertaken for the crop. Despite the lack of a formal education, his knowledge and grasp of the subject is remarkable. He explains the secret of the awareness many of the villagers share. "We sevaks have to undergo 15 days of onsite training and then gain some practical experience for three months before we implement the project."

Training is used to enhance the technical, social and managerial capacities of those involved, especially the NGOs and 'village watershed committees' (VWCs). WOTR also provides support by organising exposure visits, farmer-to-farmer interactions, and experience-sharing workshops and gatherings.

One such event is in progress. Under a huge neem tree, the entire village has gathered to share experiences. Participants talk about the benefits of their efforts. Taps in homes have made trudging for miles in search of water a distant memory. "We do not have to migrate for work. Adequate food and financial stability are more common today. Instead of grazing cattle, our children attend school," says Shobhabai Gaiwad. This has also translated into fewer contamination cases and a lower rate of water-borne diseases.

Panlot has been the turning point for the material well being of the villagers. It has also penetrated the lives of its practitioners in more ways than they would have expected. "Panlot has unified our village," says Appaji, one of the main crusaders of change. Especially enriching for the villagers has been the experience of overcoming obstacles. They were inspired by the neighbouring Pimpalgaon Wagha village, which had successfully undertaken an identical project earlier, but they still had to struggle against their own mindset.

The villagers had to agree to a ban on grazing or cutting of trees in the treated areas, and to voluntary labour, or shramadan. "People were sceptical about the grazing ban and shramadan initially," says Appaji. Now an average of about 100,000 saplings and improved grass varieties are planted in a watershed and the natural regeneration of grass and shrubs is made possible due to the ban on free grazing.

The empowerment of the women in the village has been the other by-product of watershed development. "The representation of women in the VWCs and the village assembly was a major hurdle in the beginning," Appaji recalls. "The women in our village were never a part of the decision-making before this. It took six months of regular meetings with residents of Pimpalgoan and WOTR to motivate and convince everyone to get the women involved."

"We have used a multi-pronged strategy for the effective and progressive involvement of women in family and village life," explains Dr D'souza. "It is a consensus-oriented approach that seeks to involve men actively in the development and enabling of women."

Currently, through the Samyukta Mahila Samitee, women are actively contributing to the development of their village. They have undertaken a number of activities to reduce the drudgery of their work and enhance the quality of their lives. They have been involved in the introduction of cooking gas, tractors, water-supply systems, medical camps, and the construction of toilets and of secondary and primary schools. They manage their own savings and credit. The Samitee offers loans for needs such as marriages, medical expenses or children's education.

The village women have come out of their cocoons. Sharing the dais along with the men at the village gathering, they answer questions with pride and confidence. Later, the women huddle around Dr D'souza for her opinion on the purchase of a micro-irrigation system, which they hope to rent out to farmers on credit. They agree that the idea is appealing and they need to research it further. Gaiwad offers to do the necessary homework. The discussion moves to the feasibility of building a village hall. They voice their opinions. The sense of participation is palpable.

Water has always had its cascading effect. But who could have imagined that it could be the catalyst for such a revolution.

Uploaded on March 2005