Vulnerability – Agricultural and rainfall aspects.

The last few weeks have been an enriching experience for me. Although, we did have field trips and training in our Masters program at TERI, nothing quite prepares you for the surprises the field throws up at you. These rapport building exercises have helped me understand some aspects of life in Peri Urban areas. The reality of life in such areas is quite contradictory to what I had thought it would be.

I had notions that these areas would be far more developed than traditional villages, although that might be true for certain areas in the village, like the ones which are dominated by the land holding class and have seen a incredible rise in disposable income.

The visit I made to Budheda, gave me a firsthand experience of what vulnerability and uncertainty actually means to the locals in daily life. Budheda, one of our principal study villages, relied on waste water from the Gurgaon waste water canal to irrigate crops.

The irrigation of crops from waste water, although having its own flaws, did allow some respite to the farmers from untimely rainfall.  The waste water supply in the canal has been stopped, and the lack of rainfall this summer isn’t helping the farmers cause either. The perspective of certain people, I spoke to in the field was that this supply should not have been stopped during these months, as this is our main time to grow Bajra.

A person, I met told me, that people who had access to water sowed bajra in the end of June, but I did not, it’s better to be unemployed than to be in debt, he said this because, now in end August it has started to rain more than it should. People without the ability to sow are vulnerable, but even the people who have the initial ability can’t protect themselves from untimely rain.

In Jhanjhrola Khera during early July, people said that “ iss baar toh barish hi nayi hui , Bajra bhi ugana mushkil pad gaya hai” ( It has not rained at all this time, even growing Bajra has become difficult).But now as seen in Budheda , they might be a victim of untimely rain.

Listening, interacting with the villagers, gave me an insight into the neglected shadow of the city.

While, Gurgaon city barely 35 minutes from the village, is pegged to be the millennium city of India, the lands of Jhanjhrola khera, Budheda are totally dependent on rain for agriculture.

Good Luck ti Lubhu Water Resource Committee

Lubhu water resource committee was constituted after the intervention from the nec-peri-urban research team at Lubhu. The team is committed to improve the water services at Lubhu and aims in establishing water security in this VDC. On August 25^th, 2012, Lubhu Water Supply and Sanitation Committee had its first general assembly. I represented the Nec peri-urban research team.

Participating in the VDC as an invitee was a refreshing experience as I was going to back to the field after a short gap after the source conservation campaign. More to that, it was really good to see that the Water Supply Committee constituted (after the initiation of the Peri-urban Water Security Project) in the area has been persistently functioning and exploring every possible alternative to overcome decades long water insecurity at Lubhu.

The half a day program constituted local people from different wards with a good converge of both male and female and had of the presence of  VDC Secretary. -Since, it was the wedding season, participation from the women was a little doubtful. However, despite their hectic schedule, a good number of them have turned up for the event. This is due to the significant activity of providing good water services to the Lubhu residents. From project perspective, I was satisfied for selecting Lubhu as the Pilot Intervention Site.

During the program, the key functionaries of the committee disseminated the information on the current status of the committee, activities conducted since its initiation and the constraints in achieving water security at Lubhu. They have also provided the details of various organizations which are supporting us in this endeavor. Additionally, the Committee not only acknowledged Nepal Engineering College and the project team for the continuous support and guidance; but also appealed the local community to support the Committee in its journey towards establishing water security.

The committee elaborated how the activities of the committee have currently been affected due to limited budget disbursement from the Governmental Annual Budget. It was said that the impact is not only in delaying the construction of the water related infrastructures, but the knock on effect has been on the entire project planning and decision making for the further activities. The social unity and determination in achieving water security has come to light when a local individual Mr. Basudev Kumar Shrestha provided NRs. 200,000 to the committee on loan. This helped in the progression of the construction of the reservoir..

However, the committee is still under the financial constraints and has been exploring for the possible support.

We, the Peri-urban Research team express our  hearty thanks to the LUBHU residents for their continuous support in achieving water security at Lubhu.

Diverting the flow

SaciWATERs comes up with another publication…

“Diverting the Flow” provides an overview of gender, equity and water issues relevant to south Asia. The essays empirically illustrate and theoretically argue how gender intersects with other axes of social difference such as class, caste, ethnicity, age and religion to shape water access, use and management practices. The book clearly shows how understanding, and changing the use, distribution and management of water is conditional upon understanding and accommodating gender relations.

Dr. Anjal Prakash has also a chapter in this.

http://zubaanbooks.com/zubaan_books_details.asp?BookID=199