In 2007, during a severe drinking water crisis in the Tikamgarh district of Bundelkhand, India, WaterAid supported its partner Parmath Samaj Sevi Sansthan to provide drinking water to excluded communities through a series of small emergency interventions in 20 panchayats. These interventions included tanker supplies, digging deeper wells and repairing handpumps. Since then, communities have been working to develop drinking water security plans, which they are confident of implementing with financial support from government programmes.

Tikamgarh district is in the northern part of Madhya Pradesh state in India on the Bundelkhand plateau between the Jamni and Dhasan rivers. The district covers an area of 5,048 square kilometres with a population of over one million. Villages in Jatara development block have experienced successive droughts for the past four years. The current water scarcity bears testimony to the mismanagement and gradual degradation of water conservation structures and rampant water resource mismanagement in this district that once boasted more than 900 water harvesting ponds.

Tool for social control

Water is often used as a tool for social control, to suppress people belonging to ‘lower castes’ or dalits and thus reinforce their low status. Tikamgarh was no exception, given that Bundelkhand is steeped in feudalism and caste-based discrimination. The panchayat initiated a tanker service to provide water to habitations in Jatara block villages during peak summers when water scarcity was at an all-time high. However the tanker service was restricted to the upper castes. As Gulab, a villager from Mastapur, recalls “Our habitations did not get water from the tanker supply since we are dalits.” The impact of water scarcity was severely felt by women who had to spend gruelling hours collecting water. The men also complained; “I was not able to get food on time because my wife spends her morning in fetching water. How could I leave for work on time?” asks Jagdish. With support from WaterAid, Parmarth initiated an emergency project in 2007 in 20 panchayats to provide water in the villages that had been left out. Tankers were sent three times a day to the dalit habitations to address the needs of the socially excluded. In addition, 35 hand pumps were restored, 10 wells blasted and deepened, 2 hand pumps installed and 72 hand pumps repaired so that drinking water was available.

Thinking beyond

This initiative helped tide over the immediate water scarcity for the people. But this was a short term measure, barely enough to tide over the crisis period. People were, however, desperate for a long term solution to their water crisis. Kalpana, who lives in Hateri village, said, “We are not able to send our daughters to school because they help us in collecting water. If the water problem is solved, our daughters can also go to school.” There was a need to develop water security plans. A pilot project was initiated in seven villages of the block: Achara, Mastapur, Nandanwara, Shankargarh, Hateri, Basnera and Kati. People were encouraged to form a Village Water and Sanitation Committee (VWSC) as a sub committee of the panchayat with representation from all sections of society. Under the Constitution of India, the panchayat is mandated to ensure drinking water for the villagers. Women were particularly engaged to become part of the VWSC because the shortage of water impacts on them most. However, feudalism is still a major problem in the villages. Project staff faced resentment from upper class people who saw them as a threat to their dominance over dalits and tribals.

Getting started

Relief from water shortage was the need of the hour and differences were shelved to form the VWSCs in the villages. A water budgeting exercise was carried out to estimate the water requirements of humans and livestock and to estimate the water availability from rainfall and other groundwater sources. This helped to estimate the total demand and availability of water and subsequently led to planning water harvesting and conservation. An assessment of all the water sources in the villages was also done as part of the project, including the status of traditional water conservation structures. The plan was subsequently developed by villagers with the engagement of VWSC members, identifying future actions to improve water services.

Implementing the plan

Now that the plans have been prepared, the villagers are pursuing the construction of check-dams and deepening wells under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA), the Government of India’s rural wage programme to help panchayats carry out village development. Negotiations with district Public Health Engineering Department (PHED) officials won their support for the repair of handpumps. The project staff, along with the villagers, have started to monitor the level of the water table and to maintain a monthly log. This data is being shared with the PHED. Regular follow up with panchayats and district level authorities have resulted in implementation plans from three villages being accepted. This describes a gradual progression from providing water services during emergencies to securing water to overcome water scarcity. It has also enhanced the engagement of the community with the government and made people more aware of water conservation issues. The VWSC have been empowered to take actions and marginalised communities have gained a platform to voice their concerns and seek solutions. What is most encouraging is that the district administration of Tikamgarh recently decided to follow the water security plan approach to address groundwater depletion and plan all drinking water supply programmes in the district.

Indira Khurana and Romit Sen, WaterAid India

Tags: participatory management, south asia, water lifting devices, water resources management