Rajendra Singh
“Build a johad!”
On Mahatma Gandhi’s birthday in 1985, five young men led by Rajendra Singh got off the bus at Kishori Village in Alwar, Rajasthan, India. They belonged to the Tarun Bharat Sangh (TBS), founded by Singh. They had come to the village “wanting to fight injustice against all people”, but had no clue where to start. Advice came when they met Mangu Lal, an old man in Gopalpura: “Build johads and you will get results”, he told them. The Hindi term johad refers to a small earthen check dam that captures and conserves rainwater. A typical johad would be about 1400 feet long, 20 feet high and 50 feet wide.
Taking the advice seriously, TBS built the first johad in Gopalpura. The next year, the wells in the village had water even in summer. Following this success, another johad was built in Bhaonta in the Aravali Hills. In this case, the result was even more dramatic, since the Arvari River, which had gone dry, now came back to life. Mangu Lal had been proved right and the mission of TBS was clear.
Dramatic results
In village after village in this drought-stricken part of Rajasthan, TBS built johads with the active participation of the villagers. More than 10,000 johads have been built in 800 villages. More rivers such as Ruparel, Bhagwani, Sarsa, and Jahajwali started flowing again. As the rivers returned, so did the men who had gone away from the villages looking for work in the cities. Agricultural yields and milk production increased and diesel consumption by pumps went down drastically. The green cover in the adjoining Sariska Sanctuary increased enormously.
People’s participation
What is the secret of Rajendra Singh’s success? It is the complete involvement of the villagers in the task. A TBS Team would visit a village only if invited. Meetings would be held and work would start only when the villagers were convinced of the feasibility of the project and were ready to contribute at least a third of the cost. Their contribution was in the form of their own labour and their knowledge of the traditional methods.
A detailed study of the work (by Prof.G.D.Agarwal, formerly of the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur) talks about the low cost of the structures and the perfection with which they were built, even though no engineering calculations had been made. Further, the structures withstood the heavy rainfall in 1995 and 1996. Agarwal called it “the largest-ever mobilization of people in the cause of environmental regeneration”.
Hurdles
The remarkable work of TBS has not been without impediments. Back in 1985, the villagers first thought that the young men were terrorists and child-lifters. Later, when the villagers were with TBS, the fight was with mine owners and the government. TBS helped the people take possession of nullahs and rainwater drains from the owner of marble mines inside the Sariska Sanctuary. Next, the government filed a case against TBS under the Irrigation and Drainage Act. This Act, dating from the colonial times, actually makes it illegal for villagers to construct check dams!
In June 2001, TBS received a notice from the Irrigation Department that the earthen groundwater-recharge structure, which it had helped to build in the village Lava ka Baas was both technically unsafe and illegal. TBS was given 15 days to remove the structure. The village, with just one hand pump, was desperate for water and the people had put in Rs.3 lakhs out of their meagre resources to build the johad. The Centre for Science and Environment, New Delhi and other groups took up the cause of TBS and the villagers. Eventually, the Rajasthan Chief Minister intervened and the matter was dropped. However, the final sad twist in the story occurred in 2003, when heavy rains washed away the johad in Lava Ka Baas.
Honours
International recognition and honour came to Rajendra Singh in 2001 with the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Community Leadership. Singh responded that the villagers really deserved the honour. They taught him the value of water. He only helped them revive their “dying wisdom”. Rajendra Singh is also the recipient of the Jamunalal Bajaj Award and the Stockholm Water Prize.
Water University
TBS has set up the Tarun Jal Vidyapeeth (Water University or TJV), which trains people from all over India in rainwater harvesting. TJV is a twofold alliance, between the rural traditions and the inspiration from Mahatma Gandhi, and between the ancient and proven wisdom and modern scientific methods.
TJV has been conducting training courses such as a 2-year “Water Warriors” programme and several short-term capacity-building courses for all stakeholders in water management such as village institutions, village officers, NGOs, academicians, scientists, bureaucrats, and social activists.
Meanwhile, Rajendra Singh, now known as the Waterman of India, travels around the country carrying the message of water conservation. He has also organizing Pani Panchayat or Water Parliament in distant villages to make people aware of the traditional water conservation wisdom, the urgency of groundwater recharge for maintaining underground aquifers and advocating community control over natural resources.
Afterword: There are a number of videos on YouTube showing Rajendra Singh’s work including this TEDx talk in Hindi. A documentary on his life and work is also being made Ravindra Chauhan.
This message goes to prove that some serious NGOs are doing excellent ground work at grass-root level and that requires to be acknowledged and encouraged. It is interesting to note that check dams if constructed well, would improve the water tables in the surrounding ares and water lasts longer under the ground, during summers. But if the very same water that is checked during rainy season, from its flow-off, is used in filling up aquifers under the ground, it will prevent water from evaporation and may last much longer in holding water in water tables. It can definitely help in improving efficient use of water. It may appear to be costly and technology driven in the beginning. But in the long run it will prove to be viable. The ultimate aim is to hide water from the sun.