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dam-l President of India honours Rainwater harvesting.



Source: The Times of India, March 29, 2000

              A manmade oasis in arid country

              By Chandrika Mago

              The Times of India News Service

              HAMIRPUR: He is aged 70 - or maybe 80. There is no
              unanimity on this. But Dhanua clearly remembers the
              parched land almost impossible to cultivate which sent him

              in search of work to Delhi. There, he worked as a loader
              for years, through the period when Gandhi was shot and
              Indira Gandhi got married.

              The years passed.... till his village Bhaonta-Kolyala in
              Rajasthan's Alwar district saw the light, elders advising
the
              educated to stop talking about the arid land and start
              digging, harking back to tradition and creating crescent-
              shaped earthen dams. This helped harness the rainwater,
              bringing to life the wells and eventually the Arvari river
-
              their life-giver.

              The change inspired others and neighbouring villages took
              to restoring old dams called `johad' and building news
ones.
              Some have allowed portions of their land to be submerged,
              believing that being able to till the rest makes for a
good
              bargain. The villagers have now formed a river parliament,

              meeting regularly to discuss its management.

              On Tuesday, in what is possibly a first, President K R
              Narayanan flew over to Hamirpur, a few kilometres from
              Bhaonta-Kolyala, to honour the village with the first Down

              to Earth-Joseph C John award. John founded Friends of
              The Trees, described as India's first environmental
society.
              The award has been instituted by the Centre for Science
              and Environment. The attempt: To rigorously scrutinise
              community efforts and select an ``outstanding'' one.

              And, Dhanua was on hand, with others of his village, to
              receive the citation and Rs 1 lakh given by the trust
named
              after John. What would they do with the money? ``Paani ka
              kaam,'' responded Arjun Gujar, another elder from the
              village. They will waste no more time in waiting for the
              sarkar (government) to do things.

              Water remained a constant theme through the function, as
              hundreds of curious villagers walked or drove kilometres
to
              the gay shamiana which had sprung up overnight amid the
              heat and dust, on the banks of an Arvari reeling under
three
              years of scarce rainfall. And, as the speeches went on,
the
              gaily-dressed women began suddenly to trail out,
ostensibly
              in search of water to drink. The tankers had been kept
              away by the administration and security.

              It wasn't all sweetness and light. As Rajendra Singh of
the
              Tarun Bharat Sangh, which is helping the villagers with
this
              work, said the President's presence at such a function
              would give their message speed and direction, the
              disgruntled elements sniggered at claims of changes,
              maintaining no real work had been done.

              It wasn't something Dhanua, Arjun Gujar and company
              would accept. The water level has risen and it's just
about
              15-20 ft from the ground. Foodgrain production has
              doubled. Milk production is up. Expenses on diesel, to
              pump out water from wells, have gone down as the
              watertable has risen.

              The final tally: 238 water harvesting structures in the
503-sq
              km watershed of the 45-km-long river. As CSE chief Anil
              Agarwal put it, the work here has shown there's no village

              which cannot harness its water - whatever there is of it.