Treasuring every drop

A water tank being filled with water from Lakholaav pond.

Lakholaav pond near Nagaur is a perfect example of community cooperation for water conservation
IN THE  times when tapped water supply is considered an absolute sign of development, the traditional water harvesting systems are losing their age-old relevance. This is why the Lakholaav pond in Rajasthan assumes greater significance. Located at Marwar Mundwa town in Nagaur district, Lakholaav is an exception. As ponds in other towns have shrunk due to encroachments and dumping of garbage, Lakholaav is providing drinking water to the town the whole year round. Citizens as well as the municipal committee take utmost care ensuring cleanliness and efficient management.

“According to a folk tale, the pond was developed by Lakha Banjara, a nomad trader whose tribe used to stay put in the area on its way to bigger cities. Since water is not easily available in Rajasthan, nomadic tribes like that of Lakha Banjara used to dig such ponds on their travel routes, which could also be used by the locals,” says Girdhari Singh, who belongs to Mundwa and works with community on traditional water harvesting techniques in Jaisalmer district. The town population has now grown up to around 15,000 but Lakholaav remains the major source of drinking water despite there being 12 other big and small ponds in the town. High fluoride content in the groundwater also makes rainwater harvesting a necessity rather than just a traditional practice.

“Lakholaav has a special place here as it is the biggest, suitably located and cleanest of all ponds. We have been drinking this water just by putting it through a cloth sieve,” says Deepak Sharma, who owns a medical store in the town. At the ghats, village women come in groups the whole day while small ox-driven tankers also offer home delivery on payment of a small fee. Several peepal and banyan trees dot the ghats which also feature four temples thus ensuring the sanctity of the area. There is a ban on bathing, washing clothes and entry of animals in the pond. Boards warning against open defecation within 2 km of its catchment area have also been erected. Though most people obey these restrictions, two guards appointed by the municipal committee also keep a watch. Several modifications have been made in Lakholaav's structure over the years. A 3 km long channel has been constructed connecting the catchment area on a nearby hillock with Lakholaav ensuring good water inflow even during weak monsoon as was the case this year. The channel also has lattices at several places to prevent filth from entering the pond. A natural treatment plant further cleanses the inflowing water. A few years ago when the pond dried up due to drought, the municipal committee decided to desilt the pond. Local farmers chipped in with their tractors and used the fertile soil in their fields.

One of the reasons why ponds are still revered at Marwar Mundwa is the fact that the underground water is heavy with fluoride. “There is a tapped water supply every alternate day which is strictly used for bathing and washing purposes. Besides getting their supplies from Lakholaav, around 50 per cent homes also harvest rain water in a small underground structure called tanka,” informs Atma Ram, a lower division clerk at the Marwar Mundwa Municipal Committee.

Lakholaav is not just a traditional water source but a great social binder. “The pond and its surroundings offer a cool place to relax in the evening. The ghats also host the whole village during festivals, especially for Teej and Dussehra celebrations. However, there is no littering one associates with large gatherings,” assures Sharma. With this amount of civic sense and utmost respect for a natural resource, it seems contaminated underground water is a blessing in disguise for this town.

This story was first published on GOI Monitor

बुद्धि और जीवी

बुद्धि  और  जीवी  दोनों  भाई, जग  की  बानी  बांचे  जाएँ 
बादल, सूर्य , आकाश  ये  धरती , उनको  अपनी  व्यथा  कहायें 

कैसी  है  इस  पल  की  विपदा , किसी  को  कुछ  आये  न  सुझाये
इसकी  चिट्ठी  उसको  पहुंचे , इसका  न्योता  कौवा  ले  जाये

माघ  महीना  बसंत  तक  पसरा , बेला  बहार  विराग  मनाये
गर्मी  की  जो  रुत  आ  जाये , टिके  यहीं  बिन  मूल  चुकाए

सावन  रूठा , भादो  भीगा , दोनों  की  गजब  पकड़म पकड़ाई
मोर  फिरे  हैं  बिफरे  बिफरे , बदरा  देर  से  प्रसंग  रुत  लाये

जंगल  में  पहले  आग  लगी  फिर  पेड़  पहाड़  सब  नदी  बन  जाएँ
पल  में  उफने , पल  में  बिसरे , सागर  अपनी  चाल  न  पाये

सब  अंबर  को  रहे  लताड़े , वह  उल्टा  धरती  को  कोसे
इसकी  चिट्ठी  उसको  पहुंचे, इसका  न्योता  कौवा  ले  जाये

मानव  जो  ये  गाथा  कहावे , Internet पर  लिख  लिख  मनन  भरमाये
climate का  तो  change हो  गया , तेरी  बुद्धि  कब वापस  आवे

To Indians who eat with their hands: Look within

Oprah in Mumbai. Photo courtesy: www.essence.com

I had been itching to write this, but bided my time hoping some sane voice will catch my thoughts and do the needful. Wishful thinking....so here it is:

Last month, India registered an unexpected rise in number of people eating with their hands and gesticulating at TV screens. Soon, they were everywhere (please note, everywhere in urban India means on facebook, twitter, news websites and guest columns of newspapers and magazines). Riled by Oprah Winfrey's dumbness (as if that means the world to them) at the way people live and eat in India, they were telling her not to be demeaning.    

Eating with hands as the whole world does, living with parents and having an LCD in a cramped slum dwelling were just the right tools to beat her with, not knowing the television queen was only holding up a mirror to us. The way Oprah offended us is how we net-savvy, mall trotting, GDP-licking people of India keep offending our fellow countrymen all the time. The only difference: We know how to make our voice against Oprah heard. While she might be panned for her dumbness, the density of our own countrymen is celebrated. A perfect example of our 'Oprah moment' was last Sunday.

Times of India carried a 'beautiful' piece on 'click activism.' It glorified an online petition which 'helped' a village in Rajasthan 'tackle' caste discrimination. According to a custom, the Dalit women of Dangariya village were made to remove their footwear and carry them in their hands while crossing the houses of upper caste families. A video was posted online by an NGO which triggered an online petition gathering 5,000 signatures. This petition was presented to the district magistrate who visited the village, apprised them of law and left. The Dalits are now much more scared to talk about the custom (make note that they did not officially object to it at the first go). While the writer claims it was “a click in the right direction”, the villagers are still confused and rightly so. They don't know the power of Internet. They don't know that people who have never visited their village and never known them are ready to play self-appointed fairy godmothers just by pressing some strokes on their keyboards. But they do know that in longer run this will make no real difference.

It all fits well into the schemes of things: Signatories feel good for having “made a difference,” the NGO gets a “success story” for foreign funds and the newspaper a 'good read' for its readers, many of whom might have been the original petitioners.

The idea of 'we will bring the change' has taken deep roots, especially with Internet promoting armchair activism. We have forgotten that the real change comes only with involvement of the community. Instead of working with the people, we are happy playing the do-gooders since that's an easier task and brings instant camera clicks. The swarm of NGOs have only worsened the situation by promoting the idea of giving, not on making the community realise its own potential.

Another write up, again in Times of India (Im a self-confessed TOI basher) on April 22, 2012 laments the fact that tribals in a village of Karnataka are living in tree houses. The writer agrees that living on trees makes sense since they live in forest area known for marauding elephants, but that does not stop him for vouching for 'basic minimum facilities' for the tribals. Now the basic minimum facilities for a city may be a private vehicle while for a tribal it is enough fruit and animals to hunt in the jungle. An NGO member comes to his rescue. “They have been living this way for the past 65 years, but nobody seems to be bothered about it, be it local administration or the government," said a secretary of the Coorg Organization for Rural Development. With media and NGOs, everything starts 65 years or whatever number of years it has been since independence as if the whole world came into existence only then. The tribals might have been living in their tree houses for generations but their history must start from 1947 (It's become easier to blame the present government that ways). Also, it never crosses the mind of 'civilised' people that since the people have been living like this for so long, this means they have come to the conclusion that this is the most harmonious way to live with their surroundings.

The Times View (a personal opinion of the paper appended to the story as if whatever written previously was objective) depicts it as shameful that people have to live on trees  and goes on to fire the usual suspects: bureaucrats and elected representatives. It feels that they should “wake up and provide basic living conditions to this hapless community.” Hapless? A community, which has thrived for years in a forest area where no one will tread, is hapless? 

This feeling of pity is reflected in our daily conversations as well. A friend of mine was recently bugged by an urge to create awareness among villagers, a favourite among several NGOs. “They shit on the road, they don't know how to manage the garbage....” went her complaints.
I asked: “Do you manage your shit and garbage?”
“I pay for others to mange it.”
“And how well they do it?”
“That's not my headache.”
“You want the same set up to be in villages which has not worked for you.”
“But don't you think we should teach them something.”
“Don't you think you can learn something from them?”
“Like what?”
“Like how you can do the crap in fields so that it's naturally used as manure...like how you should have a tree or two near your house as defence against the summer heat instead of installing ACs..... and how not to impose your ideas on others. By the way, you are late....most villages have been “made aware” by the government and NGOs.”

The discussion went on and she has now given up the idea of 'creating awareness', mainly because she got her hands full with other things. I dread the day her passion for service will return. Right now, she is happy bashing up Oprah.

Sewage makes a thousand flowers bloom

“PAWAN GURU, pani pita, mata dharti mahat (Air is the guru, water is father and earth is mother)”, the closing shalok of Japuji Sahib given by first Sikh guru Guru Nanak Dev has a special significance for Punjab. Being the only state of India with a name derived from life-giving rivers, the fertile land has a proud history of being  close to nature.

However, the state seems to be literally sullying its name as its water bodies get choked up with industrial waste as well as domestic sewage,. The food bowl of India, which nourished the whole nation for decades, has little to cheer about.
Thankfully, there are still men like Baba Seechewal, lovingly called 'Eco Baba', who are re-introducing old and valid thoughts into the popular conscience. With followers always ready to join efforts in any social cause, this godman stresses that religion should come out of its temples and serve humanity. The message of Guru Nanak Dev resonates in the actions of his followers especially when it comes to cleaning up of Kali Bein, a distributary of Beas river. Kali Bein holds a special place in Sikh religion as the first Sikh guru is believed to have received enlightenment after disappearing in its water for three days. However, rapid urbanisation proved disastrous for the rivulet which gained the attention of Baba Seechewal in the year 2000. Continuous efforts saw the sewage-ridden and weed-choked waters regain their past glory. Not only the accumulated slug has been removed, permanent solution to sewage disposal has also been found. 

From mess to greenery
Visit Sultanpur Lodhi, the historical seat of education and religion in Kapurthala district, and you will find a group of men emptying out a large cemented tank of silt with help of a pulley system. The tank stores the sewage water which is cleaned through sedimentation and decantation process. As the dirty silt settles down at the bottom of the tank, water is diverted to the next reservoir. The dried silt is later used as manure in the fields while water is diverted to 500 acre of agricultural land through an 8-km long underground pipeline thus adding last link to the cycle of production, consumption and regeneration. Around 72 estimated farmers are using the water which was more of a trouble in the past. Since the sewage water is high on nitrogen content, the usage of fertilisers in these fields has substantially gone down. “Initially, there was a lot of apprehension among farmers but seeing the results, they could not but trust us. Since we are also offering the labour to lay down the pipeline for free, more farmers now want their fields to be on the supply line. However, there are geographical limitations and also the amount of sewage generated in the town is limited,” explains Satnam Singh, one of the various karsewaks at Baba Seechewal's Nirmal Kuteya ashram.

Ranjit Singh, a young farmer who was the first one to opt for the treated water, says the amount of fertiliser to be used for various crops has reduced by half while several vegetables are growing without needing any supplement. “Besides, we are also saving precious ground water and electricity to run the motor. Earlier we used to be dependent on power supply whereas the treated sewage water is available 24X7 for free,” he adds. Though the Sultanpur Lodhi already had a sewage treatment plant, it was not being put to use owing to government apathy. Just like other five towns and 43 villages along the banks of Kali Bein, its sewage water was also being directly routed to the river. “Cleaning up Kali Bein could not be a permanent solution till the dumping of untreated sewage water was on. This is why the initiative at Sultanpur Lodhi turned out to be a path breaker which was later replicated at Kapurthala and Dasuya towns. In fact, even the treatment plant at Dasuya was set up by the volunteers. The water from this plant is now irrigating fields spread in area of 5 km,” says Gurvinder Singh, another kar sewak.

Replicating the success
Of the 43 villages which used to empty their sewage into the Kali Bein, 35 have now got tanks and ponds which collect the waste for treatment and route it towards agricultural fields. Around 15 other villages have also adopted this approach for waste disposal. Ask Baba Seechwal about the initiative and he points towards the traditional community knowledge. “When there was no tapped water and sewerage system, people used to defecate in the fields. In fact, if the planners had incorporated this idea into the modern sewerage system, we would not have been facing such a huge problem of waste disposal,” he says.

An additional benefit of reduction in inflow of sewage into the river has been that the amount of silt which used to settle down on its bed and block pores of the soil has considerably reduced. This silt used to diminish the recharge capacity of the river resulting in depletion of groundwater in Kapurthala district and excessive water logging in Dasuya-Mukerian in absence of an outlet for surplus ground water.  Today, thousands of hectares of agricultural land has been reclaimed in Dasuya-Mukerian while Kapurthala has witnessed a substantial rise in water table.

However, it is not a perfect system still. The water treatment plants in the towns are run by their respective civic bodies which fall short of expectations. “A lot of pressure needs to be exerted on the authorities to keep the system up and running. If given a chance they would again start dumping the waste directly into the river,” says Seechewal. The scenario in villages is more satisfying since panchayats are deeply involved and people  have realised the importance of proper waste disposal. “The heartening fact is that after the word about first few initiatives spread, villages took upon themselves to work out the recycling process in their areas. They have now started taking pride in their natural resources which I am sure will last longer than misguided policies of the authorities,” says Baba Seechewal. Since religion binds the thoughts here, the optimism does not seem to be misplaced.

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The new soup song

On December 14, Hindustan Times came up with a news report “Delhi kids high on list of junk food lovers, beat other metros”.

The report mentions the findings done by research agency A C Neilsen and goes on to say: ”In Delhi, 33% kids snacked on fast food every day and around 60% families had dinner late, leading to unhealthy lifestyle…..The study revealed that consumption of soup as a snack had increased in the past three years. From ranking 10th in 2010, it has become the fourth choice for a pre-dinner snack pan-India, including Delhi.”

The report may seem an impartial publication of findings by a reputed research agency. However, the fact that the survey was commissioned by company Knorr Soups has been conveniently dropped. Though the journalist may have practised objectivity by dropping the brand name, he/she only ended up lending much more credibility to the survey which now seems to be an independent exercise.

At the heart of it is also the work of intelligent PR. The news report imitates the marketing strategy of Knorr Soups in totality: first create fear of the problem and then present the solution.

At the 2010 Effies Award held in Mumbai, the company revealed how it launched its concept “saat baje kee bhookh.” Before the campaign launch, help of PR agencies was taken to plant articles on unhealthy snacking in various publications. Later, advertisements featuring brand ambassador Kajol, representing the new age mom, who introduces “healthy” Knorr soup as an alternative to unhealthy snacks made the rounds.

It is important to mention here that ready-to-make soup is not the healthiest snack option. According to tests done by the Consumer Education and Research Society last year, all six brands of tomato soup available in India have sodium and sugar contents higher than the permissible amount.

Unfortunately, publication of Knorr Soup survey is not a stray instance. Earlier this year, the CLEAR Paris Institute conducted what it called “Global Scalp Analysis Survey” which found that India and China have maximum number of people (70 per cent each) in the world who suffer from dandruff. Needless to say India and China are the two biggest markets in the world currently which is why the findings were timed to coincide with the Indian launch of CLEAR’s new dandruff removal shampoo with “breakthrough formulation”.

The terminology “Global Scalp Analysis Survey” was also a misnomer. The survey only had people from 10 countries including two South American developing countries, six Asian economies, Russia and Germany. Instead of researchers bending over scalps of 12,764 participants with magnifying lens for “scalp analysis”, survey was actually done through online interviews. Nevertheless, the findings were too sensational to be missed by the media never mind its credibility. The survey made it to the PTI news feed and was picked up by various publications and news websites.

The findings of Global Hygiene Council survey also make big news whenever they are released. Without fail, Indians and their households are found to be among the least hygienic in its survey reports. These findings are lapped up by all the media houses which pretend to be ignorant of the fact that the council, purportedly an independent group of global hygiene experts, is actually supported by Reckitt Benckiser, the maker of Dettol and Lizol. The theme song remains: Indians should wash their hands with anti-bacterial soap (read Dettol) more regularly and use disinfectant (read Lizol) to clean the frequently-touched surfaces. The study also found that most households do not use the correct cleaning agents to remove mould from their houses.

Year 2011 was different. This time, Council’s HABIT study found equally attractive markets of South Africa, China and Malaysia to be having poorest hygiene habits. These findings were respectively played up in the media of these countries. However, this information and improved statistics related to India were not released to the media here. Instead, the press release harped on the fact that globally “people who have good manners have better personal hygiene and are almost two and a half times more likely to have good health with low levels of colds and diarrhoea.”

Besides playing on the emotions of fear and shame, the surveys conducted by these companies also try to make certain actions socially acceptable.

A survey conducted by A C Nielsen and commissioned by Kaya, a chain of skin clinics, harped on the fact that urban women don’t mind spending pots of money on skin products and anti-ageing treatments No wonder, Kaya’s ageless range products cost Rs 800 per 50 ml.

One of the reasons these commissioned surveys may look appealing is unlike proper research studies, they specifically deal with concerns of urban population, which is also the target audience of most media groups. The fact that these are actually indirect marketing campaigns gets lost in the haze.

Drinking from the stream of traditional knowledge

GHAZIRAM'S FAMILY has been living at Ekalpaar village of Jaisalmer district for ages but managed to build a pucca house only recently. Besides rearing livestock, he owns 50 bigha of agricultural land which earned him Rs 2 lakh last year.  “Of the savings, Rs 1 lakh was spent on the house. Earlier we barely used to manage food grain for our personal consumption,” he recalls.

As you stand listening to him, surrounded by the lush green of mustard, gram and taramira, the fact that this area falls in the famous Thar desert seems lost. One pucca house rises after another when you walk down the village. Lot many Ghazirams have belied the geographical connotations of this area. The neighbouring Dablapaar village reflects similar prosperity. Till five years ago, most villagers used to migrate for work while some of them would end up begging for food in nearby Ramgarh town. Today, the inhabitants have not only become self-sufficient on food and water front, they are also participating much more actively in the affairs of panchayat.  The new found self-respect is an indicator of the success people have tasted in their fields through revival of traditional knowledge related to methodical use of rainwater.

“Our ancestors had been self-dependent in all respects but the younger generation fell into the trap of relying on government for their basic needs. Now self-reliance is again taking roots and in last five years, several villages have prospered,” says Chattar Singh, who has been working with the community to revive traditional water harvesting methods.

Reviving traditions, growing surplus
The area registers minimum rainfall in the country and irrigation facilities are nil. Still, local communities have devised ways to conserve the rainwater, however less, that nature bestows. Dropping its common name, khet, a field gets to be called khadin here because it’s cultivated through rainwater collected in a depression. Khadins are developed by building a paal or dorrah (earthen embankment) which helps harvest the water coming from the vast aagaur (catchment area). The impervious layer of bentonite beneath the soil takes up the task from here. If at an optimal depth of 10-15 feet, this layer arrests further seepage of water thus providing sufficient soil moisture for rabi crops to flourish.

Building khadins is a science of working along with nature which the people have perfected through ages. The bow-shaped embankment is built in east-west direction so that the desert wind bellowing from south to north strengthens it with each passing year. The bow shape divides the force of incoming water preventing any excessive damage to the embankment. This incoming water also carries along with it nutrients from the catchment area thus enriching the soil fertility. Once the water fills up to an optimal level, the rest is allowed to spill over. The idea is not to forcibly stop water but to humour it so that it stays in the khadin without damaging the wall. “Only 1-1.5 feet of water is needed for a khadin. The surplus is allowed to move on to the next khadin which is how water connects people here. They keep consulting each other on how and when to stop or release the water,” says Singh.

If around 300 small khadins spread over rain fed area of the district help create personal bonds, big khadins like Derasar at Sehua village can be called the pinnacle of community work. To an inexperienced eye this khadin spread in 500 hectare may seem like an instance of commercial farming but 250 families belonging to three different villages tend this land for several crops. The paal, which runs up to 2 km, has been strengthened with huge 3 by 6 foot rocks. Instead of the usual horizontal chunks of land, vertical strips have been allotted to people ensuring a fair share of nature’s bounty to everybody. Most of the food produced is used for domestic consumption belying the greed to produce more by using chemical fertilizers or pesticides. The variety of grains and vegetables produced in a khadin ensures food to a family for the whole year thus decreasing their dependence on market. Money is not the means of survival here. Hard work is.

Quenchers in desert

This spirit of self-reliance also extends to provision of drinking water for both villagers as well as their livestock.

There is no rule but out of traditional wisdom nobody defecates in the catchment. The whole area is cleaned before the arrival of monsoon. In fact, the community welfare is so important that nobody has built a khadin in the catchment area of Biprasar lest it would halt the water flow to the pond.

The pond is believed to have 120 beris (small wells) of which 24 have been restored. The same impervious layer, which acts as a moisture retainer for khadins, provides sweet water if present 15-50 feet underground. Even if the pond dries up, these beris can serve the population for three years. It was with this vision in mind that these water sources had been developed years ago. But due to poor maintenance in the recent past they had fallen into disuse. “Five years ago when the work to restore these beris was started, people of all age groups used to come from surrounding villages and work together. Had these beris been constructed through funding, they would have cost lakhs. But when a community takes such work upon itself, it becomes an easy task done with perfection,” says Farhad Contractor, a social activist, who works on water harvesting systems.

Several villages have now taken upon themselves to restore these valuable water sources. Women of Dablapaar used to walk 12 km to reach Biprasar to fetch water. Today, they have beris within their village which provide them drinking water the whole year round. Had the locals relied on government, they would have been forced to reconcile themselves with the huge concrete tanks that dot the villages. These tanks, fed by the Indira Gandhi Canal Project through pipes, are supposed to be supplying drinking water. However, ground realities contradict promises.

“Either most of these tanks remain empty or the quality of supplied water is so poor that it is used only for washing. It is not safe to drink this water which is why people prefer beris or talaabs,” says Mohan Singh of Habur village.
Such apparent irregularities in government projects vis a vis perfection in community work has seamlessly led to greater participation of people in governance issues. This was evident in the last panchayat elections when several seasoned leaders lost their support base.

Needless to say people have won the fight for survival. They are now challenging the fiefdoms.

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