Think Tank

By Lalitha Sridhar

20/09/2004

“Water is life, physical, emotional and spiritual. It should not be considered merely as an economic resource. Sharing water is an ethical imperative and an expression of human solidarity. The intimate relationship between water and people should be explicitly taken into account in all decision-making processes.”

3rd World Water Forum, 2003

Development of Humane Action Foundation has initiated a tremendous effort to revive village tanks Photo credit: Lalitha Sridhar

When this writer was researching the subject of temple tanks in Tamil Nadu, India’s southernmost state, it became clear that the subject would remain incomplete without understanding the common village tanks as well. As the country reels under repeated droughts, its people only have to look - and learn - from the wisdom of its agrarian ancestors, evolved over centuries.

Common village tanks belonged to, and were cared for, by all the members of the community. They are spread over the entire peninsular Deccan plateau, and have a history of not less than 2,000 years.

Irrigation structures of this nature have played a particularly important role in the development of South India’s agrarian economy. Even today there exist more than 140,000 large and small tanks in the southern states of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, taking care of not less than 25 percent of the total land under irrigation. Most are in a state of disuse, neglected both by the State and the people they were meant to serve.

One organization, the Madurai-based DHAN (Development of Humane Action) Foundation, has initiated a tremendous effort to revive village tanks, and thereby, the fortunes of the people who depend upon them.

Looking Behind to Stay Ahead

Tanks are common property resources. They were typically constructed and maintained by the villages they served. Institutional mechanisms in the form of gramasabhas (village assemblies), that existed in different forms and names, protected village tanks over centuries.

Today, however, tanks have become the victims of centralization and the breakdown of localized control. Farmers are no longer involved in tank maintenance. Siltation and urbanization has taken its toll. Weeds have taken over where waters used to be. Choked or leaky sluices, large-scale encroachment, damaged weirs and dilapidated bunds are only some of the problems that tank revivalists face.

The word ‘tank’ has its name derived from the Portuguese word tanque. Ooranis and kanmois of Tamil Nadu, Kares of Karnataka and Cheruvus of Andhra Pradesh are all commonly referred to, in modern or English lexicon, as tanks. It must be noted that these highly evolved systems worked in dual ways. The kanmois are storage reservoirs formed by earthen bunds constructed across geological slopes. Ooranis are ponds; the main source of drinking water for people of a community. The latter did not have modern mortar work; they were dug below ground level for collecting rainwater and runoff. The structural evolution is truly amazing.

For example, Moondradukku Kanmai (three-tier tank with varying storage levels) is located in Athoor, 20 km from Dindigul, in the Madurai district. It has stone inscriptions that date it to the Sangam period of Tamil history, over two millennia ago. Despite three years of drought in India’s southernmost state, this tank still has water to its brim. So complete is the tank system, it includes water bodies, tank structures, feeder canals and supply channels, besides wells, wetlands, semi-dry tank fed lands, soils and plants, animals and birds, and aquatic life. The revival in Athoor too is a result of DHAN’s sustained efforts.

Says A. Gurunathan, program leader at DHAN Foundation, “We can rightly say that the tank system is one of the oldest man-made ecosystems. As an agricultural system, it is distinct in cropping practices, varieties and water management. As an engineering system, it is historically one of the oldest in irrigation engineering design. As a management system, it is capable of becoming an administratively and financially self-reliant structure. As a social system the tank serves and benefits various groups and sections of the village community such as farmers, fisher folk, artisans and those who raise animals - and, in each of these cases, especially the women since availability of water for various uses directly impacts their health, the time available for productive work and, therefore, quality of life.”

Waterworld

Tanks play a critical role in recharging groundwater Photo credit: Lalitha Sridhar

Tanks play a critical role in recharging groundwater. They are village assets - they provide space for fishery and duck rearing; their silt improves soil fertility. They also act as flood moderators and drought mitigators, besides supporting the brick making cottage industry by providing it with rich raw material in the form of earth. Tanks provide life-saving and need-based irrigation to rainfed crops.

There were 500,000 tanks in India (Ministry of Irrigation census 1986) but the area under tank irrigation has been steadily dwindling. From 4.49 Mha (million hectares) in 1960-61, their number was down to 2.90 Mha in 1989-90 (figures last available), a loss of 1.59 Mha to simple mismanagement. Since the rate of urbanization and related problems has only increased, it may be reasonably said that tanks are under more serious stress now than ever before.

Says M. P. Vasimalai, founder-director of DHAN, “We believe that tanks can be revived and conserved only with the regeneration of local management. The centralization of tank administration in the last two centuries by the British colonial administration led to severe consequences - it alienated the local community from taking up collective efforts towards the betterment of tanks.”

Investments on the preservation of tanks also declined. This resulted in the deterioration of tank systems. In the last three decades, the decline in tank-fed agriculture has become more and more rapid, and has badly affected agricultural production in many places. Marginal and small farmers have been forced into a cycle of deprivation and debt. They are also now increasingly at the mercy of the monsoons and its unpredictability. The tank was their bank, and they have nothing saved now to help them in times of difficulty.

Water for All: A Reality

DHAN ensures the participation of both men and women in the planning and implementation of the program Photo credit: Lalitha Sridhar

DHAN Foundation begins working in an area by identifying the presence of small and marginal cultivators in a majority. They also look for adequate scope for improvement in tank hydrology.

Some things are necessary for success: the community needs to be cohesive and cooperative. Farmers who are willing to contribute a major part of the project cost through labor and money are sought (the landless participate by contributing labor). The emphasis is on ensuring the community is willing to execute the project without involving business-driven contractors. This results in the crucial feeling of community ownership, a trademark of the ancient rules.

DHAN ensures the participation of both men and women in the planning and implementation of the program. As Vasimalai puts it, “Tanks are similar to endangered wildlife. They must be conserved for ecological balance.”

DHAN has so far helped form 763 tank associations, which have been further brought under six tank federations in the states of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. A tank federation is a legal entity, as it gets registered under the Societies Act. Community participation is very important for only that ensures quality and proper maintenance.

DHAN has succeeded in mobilizing nearly two million Indian Rupees (Rs) (about US$43,170 from the people. Another Rs 6.6 million (US$142,470) have been raised from government and rural development agencies. Nearly 40,000 farmers have been involved. Crop production increased by 17 – 33 percent due to additional availability of water. Users have planned and are now implementing the maintenance of more than 500 tanks!

The Story of a Village

Puseri is a small village in the arid Ramanathapuram district of the deep South. Just 250 families live here. The village ancestors had dug and maintained five ooranis (water ponds). One was set aside for drinking and the others were used for various domestic purposes like washing clothes and cattle.

In modern times, the ooranis were neglected after a government-sponsored desalination plant was set up nearby. The facility could not cope with the demand for potable water and soon, acute water scarcity assailed the villagers every summer.

It was in this difficult situation that DHAN brought in its philosophy of ‘trust builds trust’. A tank farmers association was formed and, of the total cost of Rs 105,000, the people raised Rs 35,000. Many villagers provided manual labor for doing the excavation earthwork - this was done innovatively by assigning a piece of land for each sub-community. The job was accomplished in five days. Each family had contributed labor equivalent to Rs 80 – Rs 140.

In the last three years, the renovated ooranis have been filled by rains at least twice annually. Additional storage has alleviated water scarcity. And drinking water needs are met during the height of hot summer. As DHAN says, a tank is a bank.

Puseri smiles again but not all villages do. In Kanmoi village, for example, there are archaeological remains of sluice, field and supply channels, a surplus weir, command and water spread areas, even trees on the foreshore, as traditionally demanded and documented. Status of the tank here:

Year of origin: unknown

Year of disappearance: 1980

Reward for revival: A future generation that will not go thirsty.

Lalitha Sridhar is a Chennai-based freelance journalist keenly interested in development issues. Your emails will be forwarded to her by contacting the editor at: ScienceTech@islam-online.net

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