Citizens, state officials come together to rejuvenate Ur river in MP

The Ur is almost 85 km in length. Increased encroachment has led to a decline in forest cover and there's a steady emptying of traditional ponds

Proximity is enough for a spark of inspiration between two districts separated by a state border. Tikamgarh, situated in northern Madhya Pradesh, has taken inspiration from Uttar Pradesh’s Lalitpur district on how to rejuvenate a river.

Lalitpur, which is an hour’s drive from Tikamgarh, had revived the Ody a couple of years ago. The 18 km river in Lalitpur had over years of neglect begun to resemble a drain. But a focused effort of two years led by locals and supported by the district administration ensured that it became a river again with flowing water and associated benefits for drought-prone villages on its periphery.

What Tikamgarh is attempting is a bit more ambitious.

The Ur river is almost 85 km long and rainfall in the region has been both delayed and insufficient. Increased encroachment has led to a decline in forest cover and there’s a steady emptying of traditional ponds. People rely heavily on groundwater for household and irrigation, leading to a depletion of the reserves and a growing scarcity.

In August 2019, a “Panchmukhi Samvaay” (Collaborative Pentagon) was set up at a workshop led by the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation in the state. It brought together government, business and financial institutions, civil society, the panchayati raj and knowledge institutions to embark on a river rejuvenation project in Tikamgarh, among other similar plans across the state.

The typical model of building water bunds and pumps for irrigation ignores the fact that many rivers survive with a perennial flow of rivulets and tributaries that help recharge them.

Rivers need not only be recharged by rainwater, which is seasonal and subject to a large segment of run-off.

One of the ways to recharge underground water sources is to ensure soil absorption and low run-off of rainwater. To do this, 110 pits or farm ponds are dug on every small plot of land in the area. It serves two purposes: conserving water for irrigation, and recharging the ground reserves. A similar approach was followed at Anora village in Lalitpur.

The complexity of the project requires collaboration from all the stakeholders and experts from outside.

“Saying I want to revive a river is akin to saying I want to save the tiger,” explains Vijay Mahajan, CEO of Rajiv Gandhi Foundation, one of the civil society bodies involved with the project.

In order to save the tiger, one must save the deer. To save the deer, one must save the grasses. And to save the grasses in turn, one must save the entire ecosystem.

“It is the same for a river,” he argues, saying that the project is one of complex “hydrological ecosystem redevelopment” and requires a fair amount of technical expertise.

In Tikamgarh on the ground, the project is being driven by Sanjay Sharma, an IIT alumnus who is enrolled in a doctoral programme on self-sustaining rural development solutions. At least three civil society bodies have joined hands to pool resources to see the project through.

These include the Manjari Foundation, known for its work on watershed management and community mobilisation; the Kabil Foundation that helps facilitate MGNREGA work in Chhattisgarh, West Bengal and Assam for watershed management; and the Rajiv Gandhi Institute for Contemporary Studies, which will help with policy research and advocacy.

The project cost of approximately Rs 550 crore is likely to be met primarily through MGNREGA funds.

But above all, an effort like this requires all members of the community, who are the primary stakeholders, to come together and push it forward.

To this end, a large group of volunteers trained by the zila parishad is creating awareness. A video on the project shows volunteers speaking to three young children. It explains the objectives of the exercise and is a testimony to how much emphasis the project leaders lay on community involvement. The work had stalled after a change in government (Madhya Pradesh had elections in November 2018). The pandemic has disrupted it a second time. Now, with leadership changes at the block and district levels, the project is expected to kick off over the next couple of months.

Tackling India’s growing water scarcity needs a countrywide effort.

If the Tikamgarh projects succeeds in reviving the river, Ur, like Ody, will chart the right course for others to emulate.