By Lalitha Sridhar

06/11/2003

The Bhal region of the Indian state of Gujarat borders the jaw-shaped Gulf of Khambat on its Western shores. In the local language, Bhal means forehead. It stands for a topography as flat and barren as a forehead.  It is in this region that Utthan, an NGO (Non Government Organization), has brought water to a mirage of unfulfilled hopes.  Till Utthan had brought a paradigm shift in the situation, Bhal had regularly witnessed literal struggles over water. Scenes of women engaged in physical fights and fisticuffs over a pitiful quantity of drinking water were not uncommon.

Says Founder-Director of Utthan, Nafisa Barot, “We began work in 1981. In the Bhal, one could find the World Bank and other organizations giving tons of money to lay pipes. But there never was enough or even adequate water. Women said, if you want to do anything for us, then just take care of our water needs.  People like me, with education and a certain ‘background’, aspire for clean water. At Bhal, the women would say, please, just any water.”

Bhal’s Women Face Overwhelming Hardships

In some parts of India, women walk kilometers every day for water

The women of this region, part of the vast swathe of its larger coastal territory called Saurashtra, have been oppressed since history.  Divided into no less than 200 princely states prior to the Indian independence in 1947, feudalism ordained that women were ruled by men. Doing backbreaking work everyday, they were allowed no say in arranging for the most fundamental needs of life: water, food, fuel and fodder. More troubles awaited them in the years to come.

In the last few decades, as farming became commercial, hybrid cotton and groundnut were cultivated. Groundwater was pumped indiscriminately with the subsidized power that the government made available to farmers. Increased land was brought under irrigation and grasslands taken over. Fodder for cattle became scarce and inaccessible. Several milk cooperatives closed down as the poor sold their cows and buffaloes, often to butchers.  Seawater incursion destroyed both land and water resources. Older women remember watching wells go saline and muddy. Fights over a pitcher of drinking water were not uncommon. The coastal districts of Bhavnagar and Amreli, with rich mangroves and orchards, are now devastated.  What is left is a classic case study of the destructive powers of human greed.

The government’s attempts to help reached only the rich and the politically well connected. Piped water and tanker supplies aggravated gender inequities and strife over water. The Panchayat had no answers for the real issues of survival that included sustainable employment. The poor fell sick, with almost an epidemic of fluorosis. Skin diseases, miscarriages, infertility, childhood diarrhoea and a debilitating process by which, before forty, great numbers of people complained of pain in their limbs and difficulty in walking were common. Migration to the cities began. The women were left behind to take care of the elders, the children and the cattle. Acute water scarcity also escalated into shortage of fodder and fuel. Women endured extreme hardship in order to achieve fundamental survival. 

Says Barot, “These issues are not visible. The whole area was not visible. After Self Help Groups were organized, we found 60% of the loans were taken for family health problems, almost always for water related diseases.  When activists asked, ‘why are you having 7 to 8 children? The women would laugh, ‘do you know how many of them will survive?’”

The Women Rise

The Utthan Development Action Planning Team began by setting up Pani Samitis  (Water Committees), Mahila (Women) Samitis, Yuvak (Youth) Samitis, Watershed Committees and Gram Sabhas (village councils). A powerful women’s movement evolved and grew into an institution called ‘Mahiti’. Escalating into a forceful grassroots power, the movement forced local and higher authorities to pressurize the Gujarat Water Supply and Sewerage Board (GWSSB) to support decentralized rainwater harvesting structures in the villages. Till then, centralized control of piped water supply had only aggravated flashpoint tensions.

With growing awareness and a sense of control over their resources, women’s groups also engineered the overthrow of the Darbars - an omnipotent caste of moneylenders who profited from the poverty of their borrowers by charging usury rates of interest. A film by Utthan shows the stark contrast in the ‘before’ (a shocking and pitiable fight over water in a large well that has almost gone dry) and ‘after’ (tanks and bunds that are full up to the brim with harvested water).

Says Barot, “Women in these regions walked kilometers every day for water. There is serious groundwater depletion. Pipes come over long distances and users have no control. Pilferage is rampant.  Traditional harvesting structures like tanks and bunds became defunct. Decentralization by faraway authorities followed the principle that ‘that’s not good quality water, drink safe (piped) water.’”

Utthan wanted to revive the ponds, but deforestation had taken place. Less than 25 years back, mangroves and pilloos (a tree which grows in saline soil) were rich and profuse.  Now desertification is everywhere. Utthan’s People’s Learning Centers became a forum to talk and bring out different ideas.  One of the villagers said that plastic was used for irrigation, so why not for harvesting water?  That brought about an experiment in lining ponds with plastic to prevent loss through percolation and evaporation. Corporates like IPCL (Indian Petro Chemicals Limited) came forward with funds. In 1987, Bhal survived the worst drought in a long time without its tanks and wells going dry.  Says Barot, “It looks easy now but it was not so!”

Utthan has succeeded in communicating the voice of the people to the far-away government.  There were political reasons for not listening to the people’s voice.  It meant that the authorities would have to admit that pipelines are not working.  It meant that the authorities would have to accept accountability. It would also mean that money for maintenance would stop.  It was important to bridge the physical and mental distance between the people and their political leaders. 

Finally, Utthan was able to secure high quality water at the doorstep of the villagers. Bhal dwellings now have hand pumps near their entrance.  Roof water harvesting structures have also been installed. Each house has its own underground tank. It is dug before the house is constructed and exists directly below the house.  A pot filled with limestone and covered with cloth is dropped into it. In the darkness, there are no algae and there is no aeration. Most importantly, it is affordable and it works. 

It was a long struggle, but in the end the government had to listen. Utthan also believes that it is not enough to have water. Changing people’s habits, and ensuring discipline at the household level are also key factors.  Utthan has also started a school programme to ensure a chain effect of awareness.  Says Barot, “Conservation and hygiene have cultural implications. The ladle for removing water was part of a woman’s dowry. Tumblers for drinking water would have a curvature for hygiene. This made it possible to hold and drink water without touching it. Water is life. Traditional societies already knew that.”

Expanding the Experience

With Mahiti fully organized and established, Utthan’s core team withdrew from the Bhal region to the neighbouring Amreli and Bhavnagar districts in 1994. Mahiti is headed by its local leader, Devoobhen, a dalit (formerly the ‘untouchables’). Mahiti covers 40 villages in 2 districts. Says Barot, “It was time for us to replicate what had worked. This time we did not have the insecurity of not knowing whether it would work or not.”

In Amreli and Bhavnagar, the course of action was the same - grouping people into empowered committees, spreading awareness about their rights, offering doable solutions, facilitating the creation of self-help groups and guiding the entire process as it took its course.  Utthan held discussions, showed films and took the women to the neighbouring Bhal area to see for themselves. This way the key leaders and the beneficiaries were both in touch with the principal livelihood issues and ways to overcome them, not in a predetermined manner but by finding answers at various levels, often unique to a particular situation. These measures enabled the people to secure better control over local resources and their protection.

Says Barot, “Earlier, in the piped water system, if no water was piped into pits after waiting the whole night, the situation often became dangerous.  There used to be killings over the stealing of water. Fortunately, in regions where we work, things are much better now.”

Looking Towards a Better Future

“There used to be killings over the stealing of water. Fortunately, in regions where we work, things are much better now.”

Presently, Utthan’s interventions have saved women from walking long distances to find water.  They have been able to engage themselves in productive work - there has been a 40-50% increase in employment levels via locally driven activities. Safe drinking water has drastically reduced the incidence of water borne diseases and infant/child mortality.  In the Rabada village, with the construction of a check dam at the Ramtali river, 70% of the drinking water needs of the village has been achieved by recharging 100 wells and repairing hand pumps (the government had sanctioned funds for 60 wells and the remaining came from a door-to-door collection drive launched by the women, at Rs.150 per household a contribution towards the labour fee).

Pravah (Flow) is Utthan’s platform for voluntary organizations and others interested in solving drinking water problems, all of whom are encouraged to participate. It works as an advocacy group at policy levels. The government initially refused to participate, but by the time the project reached its implementation stage, they too were partners. There are villages in Bhal now where the number of students has increased from 40 to 240 simply because of the new availability of water and sanitation in schools.

Says Barot, “The government must help us build our local resources. Resistance is there only because there is devolution of power and not just decentralization, which means, ‘I’ll give you a project, you participate’. Water is also linked to hygiene and health.  Sanitation is a gender issue too.”

Sources:

• An interview with Nafisa Barot.

• Utthan literature.

• Voices of the Invisible: Understanding Gender Equity and Power Decentralization Leading to Sustainability, Prosperity, Justice and Equity/ by Nafisa Barot

* 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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