Vibha Sharma writes from Sanchor in Rajasthan a unique Water Sharing n The project is a unique example of farmers’ responsibility through ownership share in water n To create a sense of belonging, the concept of participatory irrigation management has been introduced through the water users’ association n Water is given in bulk in ‘diggies’ for each ‘chak’. Farmers are allocated water as per their land requirement. They lift water from ‘diggies’ using pumps and irrigate fields with sprinklers It is not long back when Gomtiben and Jassiben would trudge for almost three kilometres everyday under the scorching sun to fetch water that barely fulfilled their drinking and cooking needs, let alone meet other requirements. It is also not long back when their husbands would leave home for weeks to work as labourers in the neighbouring Gujarat to keep their hearths burning. Limited resources and tough living conditions left no scope for anything else, let alone plan for the future. Then one day, the Narmada Canal Project changed it all. In 2008, it brought the life-saving water to the parched areas of Jalore and Barmer - the regions that were left without the benefit of preceding project - the Indira Gandhi Canal, which transformed parched Bikaner, Churu, Hanumangarh, Jaisalmer, Jodhpur, Sriganganagar and also parts of Barmer. Men no longer have to go out to find work. Now they have their own fields to look after. Life has become easier for women as well. Children have started going to school and parents are now thinking about their future rather than ways to get two square meal together. Though the project has repeatedly missed deadlines and probably will miss the next as well, it has brought heart-warming change to the lives of thousands in the remote and forgotten villages desperate for drinking water and meeting irrigation needs through a unique feature that makes farmers “bhagidaars” or owner of water. Initiated in 1993, the project was to be completed in 2002-03 at an estimated cost of Rs 467.53 crore. Ten years down the line, the distribution system is far from complete. The cost has escalated to Rs 2481.49 crore and is likely to be completed in 2012-13. The story at Ground Zero is different. Sources say the project may take another three years to realise its full potential provided everything goes well regarding fund allocation. The funds for the financial year 2011-12 are yet to be released by the Centre. Skeptical, Jalore MP Deviji M. Patel says: “After five years, we would still be standing at the same spot”. There are other problems as well - of water-logging and precious water going waste as the distribution system is far from complete. But despite his political compulsions and cynicism, the BJP MP affirms the tangible results of the project. “If it was not there we would be finished,” Patel adds, graciously. The results in the Command Area (the region that is covered under the distribution system) are for everyone to see. The difference between haves and have-nots is stark here - the lush green wheat fields and pomegranate orchards irrigated by modern sprinkler systems of the canal contrasting directly with vast expanses of wasteland. “The total responsibility of farm irrigation system is with farmers. The state provides pump unit installed at diggi main and sub-main buried pipes while the water users’ association (WUA) members arrange sprinkler sets. The maintenance of the equipment used in water distribution to members is done by WUAs. The general pattern so far has been that farmers give only water charges as monetary contribution,” Bhiyaram, president of the WUA, says. Benefits of the project can be seen right from Shilu village in Jalore from where the network begins in the non-riparian state of Rajasthan after the canal traversed 458 kms from Sardar Sarowar dam in Gujarat. (To be continued)