Water conservation: flowing on

30/03/2004

For four years, Vankhidiya village in Sagar district has been making bori bandhaans (check dams). The panchayat buys the cement and villagers provide labour. "The panchayat charges Rs 50 per acre for irrigation water from this structure,' says Kesri Singh, a former sarpanch and president of Malthun block panchayat. Many villages like Vankhidiya have a panchayati raj samiti but they don't have funds. The panchayat, therefore, looks after water conservation structures and the samitis mobilise people.

Villages are recharging wells, building handpumps and coming up with innovations like hodis or cattle troughs, which prevent water wastage near handpumps. But in district offices, officials have forgotten the Pani Roko Abhiyan. Files have been tied up and put away on shelves. The movement seems to be running on its own.

Movements like Pani Roko Abhiyan and Ek Panch Ek Talab gave scope to decentralisation. By giving panchayats power and funds for conservation, both local governance and water became important. The two campaigns made water conservation a people's movement. In the drought during 1999-2002, the campaign built nearly 1 million storage structures and the good monsoon of 2003 filled them up.

The two campaigns made water a non-issue during elections. In fact, an RSS survey in 30,000 panchayats found water wasn't a problem. The BJP amended its Bijli, Sadak, Pani campaign. Now, it was just bijli and sadak.

Tags:

India Environment Portal Knowledge for change

Browse by subjects