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October 2000
I have a calendar that has a message for the day. On the day that I am writing this, the message reads “Submit to the grandeur of Nature and listen to every silent message it offers.” A meaningful, thought provoking, yet sobering thought. At the speed at which we are systematically desecrating nature, it will not be long before we are left without nature, leave aside any of its grandeur to submit to. And nature’s messages are far from silent any more. They are loud and clear. They are no longer warnings. They are catastrophic lashings that occur with frightening regularity and frequency – droughts, floods, storms, avalanches, fires, desertification, hunger, disease…..
So what do we do? Resign ourselves to our destinies? Shut our eyes and wish that the problems would just sort themselves out? Or say, we’ll take care of it when it affects us directly? We are only being naïve if we do anything of the sort.
What we need to do is listen to our environmental conscience. And to remember that nature doesn’t need us. We need nature. Most of us feel helpless and put the blame for environmental ills on big business corporations and governments. But if we think that care of the environment is beyond the scope of individuals, then we are wrong - as the story that follows, and so many others like this, show.
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This year a severe drought affected millions in India – the outcome of chronic water mismanagement. However, village communities in an arid, drought-stricken land show how harvesting rainwater, replenishing groundwater and using it carefully helped save it for the day it didn’t rain.
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It isn’t every other day that the first citizen of a country travels in person to a village to honour its denizens. Yet, President K.R. Narayanan of India did just that. On March 28th this year, the president went to felicitate a rural community residing in one of the driest parts of the country. At a time when India reeled under the worst drought of the century, this village had enough water to meet its needs; whereas lands in various other regions desiccated, and people and livestock starved or migrated in quest of food and water.
Was it by some divine intervention that the community of Bhaonta-Kolyala village (Alwar district in the arid Indian state of Rajasthan) had been spared the drought? No. Nor was it on account of any grandiose government or World Bank sponsored water storage and irrigation scheme. It was people taking charge of their own natural resources, and their own well being. It was efficient local self-governance. It was revival of an ancient tradition of rainwater harvesting and, in the process, rejuvenation of a stream thought to have dried up for good. In substance, the men and women of Bhaonta-Kolyala had, over the decade, painstakingly captured every drop of rain that fell on their land. And so, they replenished their groundwater resources, brought a river to life and grew wheat crops once again.
When the drought came, over two successive years, they didn’t have to leave their village and become environmental refugees. Instead, the President of India came to visit them. Naturally they were delighted. No dignitary had ever bothered with them before, and all at once, they were celebrities!
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President K.R. Narayanan bestowed on the community of Bhaonta-Kolyala, the first Down –To – Earth Joseph C. John Award (citation and cash) for the most outstanding Indian environmental community. The award has been instituted by Down To Earth, the fortnightly environmental magazine of Delhi-based Centre for Science and Environment (CSE). One of India’s leading non-governmental organisations with a deep interest in sustainable natural resource management, CSE follows a strategy of ‘knowledge-based activism.’ The award is funded by the Joseph C John Trust, named after an enlightened individual who was very fond of trees and who, back in 1957 when environment was hardly talked of, established an organisation called Friends of Trees in Mumbai.
Village Bhaonta-Kolyala always had a strong tradition of water harvesting. Villagers used to build ‘johads’-- crescent-shaped check dams – to retain the meagre rainfall allowing it to slowly percolate into the ground, raising water tables and filling aquifers. But, over time, this tradition died out and villagers stared neglecting johads, which got buried under pebbles and other debris. It didn’t seem to matter at the time because, decades ago, the richly vegetated hills helped recharge aquifers and provided favourable conditions for the regeneration of trees and pastures. But problems arose when the hills were denuded. With the forests gone, rain water drained away as the hilly terrain failed to hold any of it during the monsoon. Even so, as long as it rained, meagre though it may be, the situation was tolerable.
A time came when the monsoon failed. There were four spells of drought in the late 1970s and early ’80s. There was no water - not on the surface, and not under the ground. With nothing to sustain them, people migrated to cities. Those who stayed back accepted their suffering as destiny.
But in 1986, villagers noticed something quite astonishing. Just about 20 km away, Village Gopalpura had water all the year round. They discovered that this was because the village had revived their traditional johads or check dams with the help of Tarun Bharat Sangh (TBS), a non-governmental organisation. The villagers of Bhaota-Kolyala contacted TBS and that marked the beginning of their story of self-sufficiency.
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They organised themselves and neighbouring villages. They started protecting forests and repairing old johads; mapping the natural drainage system and constructing fresh check dams; planting trees and controlling soil erosion. In the process, they discovered the source of River Arvari, which gradually grew from a seasonal drain to a perennial flow!
Today, the village has a total of 15 water harvesting structures, including a 244 metre long, 7 metre tall concrete dam in the hills to stop water before it flows downstream. All 25 wells are full of water, all agricultural land is under cultivation, milk production has risen by 10 times and the people who had migrated have come back to stay. Communities have even constituted their own ‘river parliament’ comprising several villages in the Arvari river catchment, and afforested a 12 square km area which they call a public wildlife sanctuary. Here resources are being utilised following a strict code of conduct.
And that’s how, during the recent water crisis, this village and its neighbours had sufficient water to drink and irrigate. Now that the whole country is talking about rainwater harvesting, and the President of India himself has acknowledged the community’s water management and engineering skills, state officials are sitting up and taking notice of Bhaonta-Kolyala.
GREEN POLITICS
Agarwal, A., Narain, S. and Sharma, A. 2000. Global Environmental Negotiations 1 - Green Politics, Centre for Science and Environment, New Delhi.
Green Politics analyses important environment-related conventions and institutions. It is the first-ever, comprehensive Southern perspective on the impact of global environmental governance on the real lives of real people. It seeks to emphasise that information is the starting point to promote understanding between governments of the North and South, and civil society which is often removed from the scene of these international negotiations. The report is an effort to record and analyse how developing countries have fared so far with ecological globalisation. It addresses three post-Rio conventions, four ongoing negotiations, and two environmental institutions.
- Boiling point – UN Framework Convention on Climate Change; Kyoto Protocol.
- Biodiversity – Convention on Biological Diversity.
- Rio’s stepchild – UN Convention to Combat Desertification.
- Toxic travellers – Ongoing negotiations certain Persistent Organic Pollutants.
- Wood-headed proposal – International Negotiations on Forests.
- Free, not fair – International Negotiations on Trade and Environment.
- MAIght of OECD – The Multilateral Agreement on Investments.
- ‘Polluter says’ principle – Global Environmental Facility.
- Battle for turf – Evolving Institutional Framework for Environment and Development in the UN.
The book can be ordered from Sales and Despatch Manager, Centre for Science and Environment, 41 Tughlakabad Institutional Area, New Delhi – 110 062 INDIA. Email sales@cseindia.org
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WHAT ON EARTH CAN WE DO?
Use less harmful substances instead of commercial chemicals for most household cleaners. Example, for general surface cleaning, use a mixture of vinegar, salt and water; or mixture of borax, soap, lemon juice and water.
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