The issues should be examined by proceeding from the basic necessity of humans to form groups and organize them into society, as identified at various levels of consolidating the groups. The necessity stems, first, from the biological obligation of the human species. Humans, among perhaps all living creatures, have long periods of childhood and old age, two stages in life when they are obliged to depend on others. Therefore, family is a primordial human group, associated with many involuntary groupings of larger dimensions and variable content, to which an individual is affiliated at birth: kinship, clan, tribe, caste, ethnicity, etc. Any group which forms the basis of survival with KINS with last more.
What is important is to emphasize that it is through reference to a structure of rules or collective norms that all human behaviour is meaningful and coherent to the subject himself and to those with whom or among whom the subject acts.
The human beings act not as individual people but as units or parts of a whole, that is they are considered in their relationships with others and with a collectivity according to the position that they occupy with in the collectivity and the roles that they play. What kind of relationship exist between object (water, man) and activity (use of water)? What kind of activity will lead to sustainability ?
Four criteria for sustainable development are as follows:
-
Activities must be technically feasible. That means farmers will not take up any activity on micro water management for which they do not have technical skill or competence and they can not perform it locally.
-
Activities should be economically viable. Farmers will not take up any activity e.g. pisciculture where the input will be more than the output.
-
It should be ecologically sound. The activity should not have adverse effect on environment like polluting water or reducing the ground water label.
-
Above all it should be socially acceptable. Even if the activity is technically feasible, economically viable and ecologically sound but is not accepted by the people it will not be possible to implement it and develop new social norm and behaviour.
If a bigger area has to be planned steps of Micro Water Management has to be considered and implemented following a sequence. In order to achieve this there has to be the macro level framework (Government, political, legislative, fiscal and economic policy) and its critical coordination between the micro level activities (individual, communities, families). There has to be good feedback system between the levels. The micro level activities should influence macro level decision making. The broad-based official (administrative and political) recognition, acceptance and support for pluralism would make the programme more sustainable.
Pluralism deals with the fact that human activities are increasingly characterised by different types of organisation and groups, who although concerned with the same resources (such as water) are often acting independently and have sometimes conflicting perception, values, objectives and even knowledge system. Thus a common goal has to be set and achieved. Finally there should be the responsibility of local stakeholders, with increasing awareness and with the opportunity to innovate new mechanisms for accommodating multiple interests in water and rural development.
For this one has to encourage participation of multiple stakeholder in water resources development and management. Secondly one has to develop, enhance and strengthen institutions on a decentralised and participatory manner and of course build individual capacities based on social and technical skills as continuous learning process.
Now there is a question of where has been such experience and how is it possible ?
A study was conducted on Micro-level Water Management in various schemes and districts mainly that of North Bengal. All the schemes fall under the North Bengal Terai Development Project and IBRAD has been working to help in the capacity building of the cultivators to enable them to run and manage their respective schemes effectively and organize series of orientation programme for the Government officials and the Panchayat functionary.
The Patterns of the Source of Water at the Various Schemes
The existent water resources in most of the villages as could be identified in the course of the discussions with their respective villagers are common sources like that of wells, ponds, river and of course floods. Wells are available in almost all the schemes which includes the Chekormari, Debittor Panigram, Goursingjote, M. P. Bhuskadanga, Kismat Dasgram, Khattimari, Kharija Jamaldaha and last but not the list Babupara. Similarly there is the presence of tubewells though not abundant in most of the schemes. These wells and tubewells, some in all the schemes are government made while the others are not. Then there is one of the biggest natural water resource, the rain water. River as a natural resource is available in few of the villages. Debittor Panigram gets to utilise river Lutunga. Babupara has river Cheniajan bounding its eastern side. Similarly Khattimari uses river Khattimari, Goursingjote makes use of the Bataria river, and Checkormari has river Swarnamati.
These natural water resources are however not able to meet the demands and needs of the villagers for the different activities. Each resource in each of the schemes has its constraints and limitations. For example, most of the wells are uncovered and a lot of impurities gets mixed with the water making it thus unsuitable for drinking purposes. Thus is the prevalence of enteric diseases in most of the villages. The water level in most of the villages are gradually decreasing leading to complete dryness of the wells, during summer.
Problem also lies with the tubewells. A considerable amount of iron is found in water from tubewells in schemes such as Khattimari, M. P. Bhuskadanga, Kismat Dasgram and Debittor Panigram. The water is blackish is colour and is absolutely unsuitable for washing of cloths and brushing of teeth. Here a special mention of Goursingjote is needed as here the condition seems worse. The level of the water in the wells is going down every year and even the tubewells dry up in the summer. The water table here is so low that even construction of deep tubewells has not improved the situation. Ponds are present in almost all the villages, mainly used for jute retting. The foul smell that accompanies jute retting makes life of the villagers sometimes miserable. Some of the ponds also gets dry during the drier season. River water, where available is the only source of irrigation. In Kismat Dasgram the river becomes very thin during April – May due to the Boro paddy cultivation. The river Swarnamati on which the village Chekormari, has been divided up into small canals upstream because of excessive use for irrigation. This has weakened the flow of the river as a result, the depth of the river has become shallow. The villagers are dependent on the river. In case of Khattimari, there are no sanitary latrines. The villagers use the river and the river banks for the purpose of sanitation. This causes another problem of water pollution. Floods are however helpful when it increases the fertility of the soil and causes havok when destroys the cultivation.
The villagers however were not able to perceive the existing problems. In many cases they were not aware of answer to address the problem of the increasing scarcity of the natural resource.
PRA exercise for resource mapping were done. Identification of resource, opportunity and threats were also discussed. Information was received from the villagers on the availability of the resource with them. Thus we know that Checkormari was previously a dense forest and the entire area was under a Zamindar. Information points to the aspect that what was previously a paddy field was later on covered by a specific type of grass known as ‘Kash’, leading to infertile conditions of the soil. Similarly Khattimari was also covered by forests where the wild animals were the only inhabitants. It was only after the Bangladesh war and the gradual influx of people that it gradually transformed to a cultivable area. It also saw various floods caused by the river Torsa and thus leading to wide spread damage of the crops.
The problem once identified dealing with the natural resource of water leads instantly to the big question as to whether and how is the solution can be sought. The question at the topmost section of the mind is regarding what could be the possible solution.
The technique to the solution is through sensitising the villagers belonging to these various schemes. They are taught to think rationally and approach logically. Solutions can be attained only through practical way of attending to the situations. Solutions can also be achieved by driving commitments from the villagers. Then of course are the various concrete steps that have to be taken in order to meet the problems. As for examples the wells should be covered and protected by concrete platforms to prevent impurities from falling into it. According to the villagers the tubewells and wells have to dug deeper in order to get rid of the presence of high percentage of iron in the water. Ponds mud to be dug deeper in order for the purpose of jute retting and fishing. Boro cultivation at the river bed needs to be stopped immediately and lastly proper sanitation facilities have to be developed in order to make use of the river for washing and other purposes.
Farmers were facilitated to identify their problems, what could be the solutions, developing plan of action and it’s implementation by using steps of sensitisation.
For example, farmers of Babupara told that their drinking water is contaminated. The facilitator listened to their problem.
Facilitator then recognised and appreciated their problem.
He then asked the farmers whether the problem could be solved? What are the options available to solve the problem?
Framers said that the wells have to be cleared, mud has to be removed and the cracks are to be repaired.
Then they were asked whether they themselves can take some steps to solve the problem for their own well being or they will depend on the outsiders to solve the problem? How much money and time they need to solve the problem? What would be the consequences (measuring consequences by the farmers themselves) if they take initiative to solve the problem and if they sit idle?
Farmers said they would take action to solve the problem.
A plan of action was made stating who will do what, when they will start the work, how they will perform, where they will start etc.
Accordingly the farmers of Babupara cleaned their wells. They used the RLI pumpset to take out the water from the wells. They cleared the muds from the wells, repaired the cracks, gave bleaching powder in the wells. They have completed cleaning all the wells within the commands area of the mini RLI. They are also keeping monthly records to monitor whether their water borne diseases are reducing in number or not.
This is one example to show how through sensitisation people can be activated to take action for problem solving.
Ways out to solve the problems
Sensitisation is bring about participatory management of this water bodies.
To elicit any active participation responsible behaviour of community it is essential that they (a) understand the extent of the problem and how they daily suffering directly from it. (b) Themselves think of way to solve these problems.
To achieve (a) and (b) the definite way is –
First the community identified the existing sources of water / forms of water bodies – in (1), (2) and (3) the broad classification made in this regard include – wells (Kaccha, pacca), tubewells, river, rain water, dug wells and flood water.
Second the community is made to realise that water from any of the above sources are indeed essential for their survival. Once, community realise the value / contribution / importance of water, they can feel the urge to preserve it – otherwise if they treat water as “free good” there will always be a tendency to squander, waste and mismanage.
The process by which this realisation is elicited of the community by asking them to identify the uses of water from different sources.
Water for drinking and other household use like cleaning and washing are generally collected from tubewells and wells. Ponds are used for commercial use like jute retting. River water is used for bathing, irrigation and fishing. Also when ponds and rivers dry up, the beds are used to carry out cultivation. Apart from river, irrigation is also carried on with rain water and dug wells. Flood water that deposits silts also serve useful purpose for agriculture.
Once the uses are identified the third step in this regard is to identify what causes (a) Pollution to water (i.e. deterioration of its quality – so that it is renderable unusable for some particular purpose like drinking). (b) Depuration in available of quantity of water.
It is important to identify the causes of (a) and (b) so that effective address measures to check (a) and facilitate sustainable use and management to check (b) is carried out.
The general cause of (a) is
- Contamination from human waster and pesticides (river).
- Open and cracked wells.
- Iron content in ground water.
The general cause of (b) are
- Unsustainable extraction of ground water with machine.
- Non-equitable sharing of river water with a neighbouring country.
Finally, the community thinks of indigenous ways to address these problems. This is where community participation to plan, execute, monitor and control different programmes towards sustainable water resource management is carried. In this step not only the community bonding is strengthened in this effort to achieve a common goal, also, creative problem – solving attitude of the community is encouraged. This enabled them to become more independent, capable and efficient human beings and motivates them to take active part in solving the problem that ails them. This the crucial step towards sustainable development.
Several such PRA meetings were held with the following sequences :
- Meeting at the block level to discuss the concept of micro water management with the Sabhapati and then meeting at the concerned Gram Panchayat to develop action plan.
- Developing identity with the water and instilling self respect among the villagers so that they take pride in their water, develop a sense of belongingness towards their water and could link their survival and satisfaction with water.
- Conducting general PRA to identify the water resources and problems related to water.
- Identification of SICO and creating a group of like minded people. Orientation of the SICOs were made so that they would have trust and relationship among themselves and would set common goal for micro water management. They developed rules and regulations to stop misuse and wastage of water, have clear roles and responsibilities to achieve the goal, developed control mechanism and monitoring mechanism to check indiscriminate and improper use of water.
- They have started doing group work which are specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, tangible and time bound like well cleaning, clearing the ponds and use the pond for pisciculture, health monitoring, repairing cracks of the wells etc.
- Role of Panchayat and the SICO was made clear. Panchayat is providing support by giving some materials e.g., bleaching powder.
- Developing mechanism to measure the impact of restriction on use of water resource.
- Conducting participatory household survey to monitor the health status.
- Women are now taking active role in water management. Women groups are formed in Mathchulka and 147 Bhotbari and they are taking part to implement the plan of actions related to micro water management.
- After identification of the problems, the villagers are identifying the opportunities and options to solve the problems and to start certain activities like well cleaning, construction of platforms for tubewells, pisciculture etc.
- They then prioritised the activities considering the four factors i.e., socially acceptable, technically feasible, economically viable and ecologically sound and selected the activity which fulfilled all the four conditions.
- Some of them started self help groups for women and are raising fund by giving monthly subscriptions. They also started income generation activities like pisciculture in some areas and are exploring the possibilities of marketing, formation of cooperatives etc.
What were the expected output?
- Villagers will develop new social order and behaviour for better usage and less wastage of water.
- New rules and regulations and control mechanism will be developed to check wastage, misuse and pollution of water.
- Villagers will take initiative to get safe drinking water.
- The water will be utilized for agricultural purposes and to have more yield.
- Water bodies will be used for multiple purposes like agriculture, pisciculture, duckery, processing of agricultural products etc.
- Villagers will learn to use the water on a sustainable basis as well as their economic conditions will be improved.
- Villagers will be able to manage flood hazards.
- There will be proper water harvesting.
- Health conditions will be improved because of proper water treatment.
Present Status of 20 Sites for Micro-Level Water -Management
Future activities, recommended for institutionalization of Micro Water Management
- District level workshop. Block level workshop and formation of working groups. Identification of the G.Ps and selection of sites by the working groups.
- Introduction with the villagers. Conducting PRA. Common goal setting for water management. Implementation of small actions in the field.
- Facilitating villagers to develop new rules, regulations, control mechanism for water management. Developing and implementing plan of action for micro water management.
- Developing mechanism to monitor the process and measure the change. District level and block level review meeting of the working groups. Integration with other sectors looking into the progress of work.
- Implementation work continues. Exploring opportunities for marketing network and economic returns. Measuring health status.
- Review meeting at block and district level. Technical training to the villagers. Developing participatory indicators to measure the impact of micro water management on new social institutions, ecology and economy.
- State level feedback workshop. Developing network among the villagers for sustainable micro water management.
- Review meeting at the block level. Developing institutional linkages.
- Exchange visits to have spread effect.
- Documentation of the process. Feedback workshops at G.P. block and district level.
- State level policy workshop. Standardization of training material for replication.