Skip to main content

How NGO effort helped communities revive Bundelkhand water tanks, arid farmland

By Bharat Dogra* 
In the Bundelkhand region of Central India water tanks have constituted a very important component of efforts of communities to meet the water needs of people over the centuries.
In particular the period of Chandela and Bundela rulers from 9th to 18th century has been identified as a time when royal patronage was extended to communities for creation of several thousand such structures, many of which are still admired for the wisdom of communities which helped to create these water-bodies with a very sound understanding of local conditions.
With a thorough understanding of the importance of these tanks, these communities contributed to their proper maintenance and protection for a long time. With the advent of colonial rule, however, community efforts suffered in many ways. Apart from neglect of maintenance, encroachments in water retention and catchment areas also contributed to deterioration of tanks.
Another factor of recent times was mistaken interpretation of government rules which became an obstacle for any community initiative to take up periodic de-silting of tanks. As deforestation and soil-erosion in catchment areas worsened at several places, the siltation of tanks also increased and their capacity to meet water needs of villagers and animals was badly eroded.
It was at this stage that a voluntary organization Srijan started discussing the possibilities of taking up de-siltation work with several rural communities. This effort was helped by the studies conducted by the ABV Institute for Good Governance and Policy Analysis (IGG).
Discussions with communities revealed that this work had their strong support. While this work was envisaged mainly as an effort for increasing the water availability and water holding capacity of tanks, farmers were also found to be very enthusiastic regarding the improvement of the fertility of their fields as a result of deposition of fertile silt there. Hence many of them came forward to meet the costs of transporting the removed silt.
Manpokhar, a tank in Lakhaipur village of Tikamgarh district ( Madhya Pradesh) was one of several tanks which was subsequently taken up for de-silting. Recently when I met several villagers here, they were full of praise for this effort.
Ramdevi, a well-informed and articulate woman farmer said, pointing towards the tank (this can be seen in the accompanying photo also) -- look at the tank there. There is still plenty of water in January while this was not the case earlier. However, the patch which was not de-silted has dried up as before. She added, this work is a big blessing particularly for our animals as well as for those roaming around loose. They can quench their thirst here now.
Harbhajan, another farmer, emphasizes the gains made to fertility of fields even more. “When we deposited the the fertile silt in our fields, the yield increased significantly”, he says.
While the deposition of silt was a one-time affair, more sustained gains to farm productivity accrued from the recharging of wells contributed by the presence of more water in the tank and what is more, its longer-term availability. If with more and continuing efforts, the year round presence of water in the tank can be ensured on a sustainable basis, this will make the gain more permanent.
Ashish Ambasta, who has been closely involved in several such efforts in neighbouring district of Nivari, says that three benefits are very clearly visible -- the immediate gains from deposition of fertile silt, the longer-term benefits of improved recharge of water in fields, and the better availability of water for direct human and animal needs.
He particularly mentions the efforts of a woman community leader Shashi Prajapati who played a very important role in mobilizing community efforts for the success of de-silting work in Kudar villge, resulting in almost year-round availability of water in a tank there.
Hence, Ram Devi pleads for more silt removal again in her village this year. However, Srijan team leader Rakesh Singh cautions that they have to distribute their limited resources more evenly so that villages whose need is the greatest can be covered on a priority basis. Besides, he emphasizes that several precautions have to be ensured like leaving the lower layers of silt undisturbed.
Project member Mangal Singh adds that special care has to be taken to protect the bund. If precautions are not observed, then unintended harm can also result. This is an additional reason for making this a community effort. Additional fertile silt for fields can be obtained also by creating a silt-trap which involves only a minor addition to the entire de-silting work.
Project Manager Kamlesh Kurmi emphasizes two aspects of community mobilization in this entire effort. Firstly, farmers should be willing to spend their own resources for carrying the fertile silt from tank to their fields. Secondly, despite the meager capacity of marginal and poorest farmers, somehow it should be ensured in community meetings that they get their fair share of the fertile silt.
Hence, Rakesh Singh adds that while the organization does not at all have the resources to cover the transport costs for all farmers, they try quietly to provide some help to the poorest among them, particularly those from marginalized communities like scheduled tribes and scheduled castes, so that they too can get the removed fertile silt. Another priority group should be the potter artisans who have been passing through very difficult times.
When this work taken up in Tikamgarh gave promising results, this was spread to other districts of Bundelkhand region like Mahoba and Chitrakut ( Uttar Pradesh) and Nivari (Madhya Pradesh) as well as other places with the help of activists and organizations working there .
However there is much more scope for extending this work. A study on rejuvenation of traditional water bodies prepared by the IGG says, citing Irrigation Department sources, says that there are 995 Chandela tanks in Tikamgarh district alone out of which nearly 100 are used for irrigation.
Hence, the potential of using this de-silting as a means of increasing water holding capacity of tanks as well as improving farm productivity is huge in the entire Bundelkhand region as well as other areas where there are many tanks which have not been de-silted for a long time and hence have a huge over-burden of silt. As a cost-effective means of improving water-storage as well as farm productivity, community based de-siltation work taken up with all due precautions can play an important role in several areas.
---
*Honorary convener, Campaign to Save Earth Now. His recent books include ‘Planet in Peril', ‘Protecting Earth for Children' and ‘A Day in 2071’. Pix showing de-silted Manpokhar tank and villagers who live nearby by Kamlesh Kurmi. This is the second article of the series on sustainable farming

Comments

TRENDING

The silencing of conscience: Ideological attacks on India’s judiciary and free thought

By Sunil Kumar*  “Volunteers will pick up sticks to remove every obstacle that comes in the way of Sanatan and saints’ work.” — RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat (November 6, 2024, Chitrakoot) Eleven months later, on October 6, 2025, a man who threw a shoe inside the Supreme Court shouted, “India will not tolerate insults to Sanatan.” This incident was not an isolated act but a continuation of a pattern seen over the past decade—attacks on intellectuals, writers, activists, and journalists, sometimes in the name of institutions, sometimes by individual actors or organizations.

N-power plant at Mithi Virdi: CRZ nod is arbitrary, without jurisdiction

By Krishnakant* A case-appeal has been filed against the order of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) and others granting CRZ clearance for establishment of intake and outfall facility for proposed 6000 MWe Nuclear Power Plant at Mithi Virdi, District Bhavnagar, Gujarat by Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) vide order in F 11-23 /2014-IA- III dated March 3, 2015. The case-appeal in the National Green Tribunal at Western Bench at Pune is filed by Shaktisinh Gohil, Sarpanch of Jasapara; Hajabhai Dihora of Mithi Virdi; Jagrutiben Gohil of Jasapara; Krishnakant and Rohit Prajapati activist of the Paryavaran Suraksha Samiti. The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has issued a notice to the MoEF&CC, Gujarat Pollution Control Board, Gujarat Coastal Zone Management Authority, Atomic Energy Regulatory Board and Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) and case is kept for hearing on August 20, 2015. Appeal No. 23 of 2015 (WZ) is filed, a...

History, culture and literature of Fatehpur, UP, from where Maulana Hasrat Mohani hailed

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat*  Maulana Hasrat Mohani was a member of the Constituent Assembly and an extremely important leader of our freedom movement. Born in Unnao district of Uttar Pradesh, Hasrat Mohani's relationship with nearby district of Fatehpur is interesting and not explored much by biographers and historians. Dr Mohammad Ismail Azad Fatehpuri has written a book on Maulana Hasrat Mohani and Fatehpur. The book is in Urdu.  He has just come out with another important book, 'Hindi kee Pratham Rachna: Chandayan' authored by Mulla Daud Dalmai.' During my recent visit to Fatehpur town, I had an opportunity to meet Dr Mohammad Ismail Azad Fatehpuri and recorded a conversation with him on issues of history, culture and literature of Fatehpur. Sharing this conversation here with you. Kindly click this link. --- *Human rights defender. Facebook https://www.facebook.com/vbrawat , X @freetohumanity, Skype @vbrawat

Celebrating 125 yr old legacy of healthcare work of missionaries

Vilas Shende, director, Mure Memorial Hospital By Moin Qazi* Central India has been one of the most fertile belts for several unique experiments undertaken by missionaries in the field of education and healthcare. The result is a network of several well-known schools, colleges and hospitals that have woven themselves into the social landscape of the region. They have also become a byword for quality and affordable services delivered to all sections of the society. These institutions are characterised by committed and compassionate staff driven by the selfless pursuit of improving the well-being of society. This is the reason why the region has nursed and nurtured so many eminent people who occupy high positions in varied fields across the country as well as beyond. One of the fruits of this legacy is a more than century old iconic hospital that nestles in the heart of Nagpur city. Named as Mure Memorial Hospital after a British warrior who lost his life in a war while defending his cou...

Citizens’ group to recall Justice Chagla’s alarm as India faces ‘undeclared' Emergency

By A Representative  In a move likely to raise eyebrows among the powers-that-be, a voluntary organisation founded during the “dark days” of the Indira Gandhi -imposed Emergency has announced that it will hold a public conference in Ahmedabad to highlight what its office-bearers call today’s “undeclared Emergency.”

New RTI draft rules inspired by citizen-unfriendly, overtly bureaucratic approach

By Venkatesh Nayak* The Department of Personnel and Training , Government of India has invited comments on a new set of Draft Rules (available in English only) to implement The Right to Information Act, 2005 . The RTI Rules were last amended in 2012 after a long period of consultation with various stakeholders. The Government’s move to put the draft RTI Rules out for people’s comments and suggestions for change is a welcome continuation of the tradition of public consultation. Positive aspects of the Draft RTI Rules While 60-65% of the Draft RTI Rules repeat the content of the 2012 RTI Rules, some new aspects deserve appreciation as they clarify the manner of implementation of key provisions of the RTI Act. These are: Provisions for dealing with non-compliance of the orders and directives of the Central Information Commission (CIC) by public authorities- this was missing in the 2012 RTI Rules. Non-compliance is increasingly becoming a major problem- two of my non-compliance cases are...

Epic war against caste system is constitutional responsibility of elected government

Edited by well-known Gujarat Dalit rights leader Martin Macwan, the book, “Bhed-Bharat: An Account of Injustice and Atrocities on Dalits and Adivasis (2014-18)” (available in English and Gujarati*) is a selection of news articles on Dalits and Adivasis (2014-2018) published by Dalit Shakti Prakashan, Ahmedabad. Preface to the book, in which Macwan seeks to answer key questions on why the book is needed today: *** The thought of compiling a book on atrocities on Dalits and thus present an overall Indian picture had occurred to me a long time ago. Absence of such a comprehensive picture is a major reason for a weak social and political consciousness among Dalits as well as non-Dalits. But gradually the idea took a different form. I found that lay readers don’t understand numbers and don’t like to read well-researched articles. The best way to reach out to them was storytelling. As I started writing in Gujarati and sharing the idea of the book with my friends, it occurred to me that while...

Urgent need to study cause of large number of natural deaths in Gulf countries

By Venkatesh Nayak* According to data tabled in Parliament in April 2018, there are 87.76 lakh (8.77 million) Indians in six Gulf countries, namely Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). While replying to an Unstarred Question (#6091) raised in the Lok Sabha, the Union Minister of State for External Affairs said, during the first half of this financial year alone (between April-September 2018), blue-collared Indian workers in these countries had remitted USD 33.47 Billion back home. Not much is known about the human cost of such earnings which swell up the country’s forex reserves quietly. My recent RTI intervention and research of proceedings in Parliament has revealed that between 2012 and mid-2018 more than 24,570 Indian Workers died in these Gulf countries. This works out to an average of more than 10 deaths per day. For every US$ 1 Billion they remitted to India during the same period there were at least 117 deaths of Indian Workers in Gulf ...

'Violation of Apex Court order': Delhi authorities blamed for dog-bite incidents at JLN Stadium

By A Representative   People for Animals (PFA), led by Ms. Ambika Shukla, has held the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) responsible for the recent dog-bite incidents at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, accusing it of violating Supreme Court directions regarding community dogs. The organisation’s on-ground fact-finding mission met stadium authorities and the two affected coaches to verify details surrounding the incidents, both of which occurred on October 3.