Reviving Wisdom
Jaisalmer is a district in the heart of the Thar desert. The annual rainfall in 100 mm. During the 1987 drought, the governments piped water supply ran dry. But there was enough water for the people of Jaisalmer, thanks to traditional rainwater harvesting structures known as kunds. Contrast this with Cherrapunji, a village in the north-east, that has an annual rainfall of 15,000 mm, among the highest in the world. Cherrapunji is officially recorded as suffering from water shortage. These examples are symptomatic of what this book is about. There is a growing anti-dam movement in the country. There are demands for less ecologically destructive systems of water management. But stating this cannot be enough. One needs to know what better systems of water management one can devise. And the book finds an answer in traditional systems of water management.
Such traditional systems of water management can be traced back to the third millennium BC. Ancient dams, built of stone rubble, have been found in Baluchistan and Kutch. Dholavira, a major site of the Indus Valley Civilisation (3000-1500 BC), had reservoirs to collect monsoon runoff and drainage systems. Every third house in Harappa had a well. Evidence of irrigation and water harvesting systems can be found in Kautilyas Arthasastra, circa the 3rd century BC. Archaeological and historical records show that Indians were constructing dams, lakes and irrigation systems during the time of Chandragupta Maurya (321-297 BC). The Junagadh inscriptions of the 2nd century have information about the repair of an embankment and the restoration of lake Sudarsana. In the 11th century AD, King Bhoja of Bhopal created a huge lake. Rajatarangini, the 12th century AD account of Kashmir, describes well-maintained irrigation systems around the Dal and Anchar lakes and the Nandi canal. Till the arrival of the British, West Bengals system of overflow irrigation not only enriched the soil, it also helped to control malaria. These are all examples of traditional water harvesting systems that this volume documents, a treasure trove of technology and traditions that encompasses the 15 ecological zones of the trans-Himalayan region, the Western Himalayas, the Eastern Himalayas, the North-eastern hill ranges, the Brahmaputra valley, the Indo-Gangetic plains, the Thar desert, the Central Highlands, the Eastern Highlands, the Deccan plateau, the Western Ghats, the Western coastal plains, the Eastern Ghats, the Eastern coastal plains and the islands. These fascinating accounts cover about 60 per cent of the book.
How did the decline set in ? Historically, water harvesting structures were left to local communities to manage and maintain, including the establishment of rules for sharing water, penalising offenders and making payments to those who managed water distribution. There were no armies of engineers. Nor were there any public works departments. However, the British destroyed village-based water management systems by building state-controlled bureaucracies and by raising land revenue to a point that in drought years, the entire crop would have to handed over in the form of taxes (often cash) and people became landless and destitute. More importantly, Indias irrigation system over the last 40 years has also contributed to this decline. Traditional water harvesting systems can be revived, provided one recognises that this requires the participation of the community. It cannot be done by a bureaucratic power structure, delinked from farmers control and involvement. In recent years, several successful attempts to
revive small-scale water harvesting systems have been undertaken. Several of these are documented in this book. Rain is centralised. So is the demand for water. Why cant we decentralise supply? Why indeed? Provided this can be done, one will not only document the decline and fall of Indias traditional water harvesting systems, but its potential rise as well.
One has come to expect a certain degree of quality from all publications brought out by the Centre for Science and Environment. This volume is no different. The quality of research is impeccable, the text is reader-friendly and the layout and graphics attractive. The volume ends a bit abruptly though. Many of its earlier publications, like the earlier report on the State of Indias Environment, make one feel depressed. The tone of this volume is different, as there is an undercurrent of optimism. This is the road to post-liberalisation India. Reforms dont mean fiscal deficits and exchange rates alone. For reforms to work, one needs decentralisation and devolution, the dismantling of bureaucracies and the reinvention of government. For water, one now has an account of how it can be done.
Dying Wisdom: State of Indias Environment - 4 Edited by Anil Agarwal & Sunita Narain Centre for Science and Environment Rs 290/404 pages