india water action: village committee summons water goddess to raise awareness

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Country water actions are stories that showcase water reforms undertaken by individuals,

communities, organizations, and governments in Asia-Pacific countries and elsewhere.

Coun t ry Wat e r Act ions

I nd ia : V i l l age Com m i t t ee Sum m ons Wat e r Goddess to Ra ise Aw arenessA p r i l 2 0 0 6

Aridity reigned in dust-covered Salwaha village in CentralIndia, and whatever little water the village had was unsafeand filthy. This is no longer the case today. Young womenand men, who had the audacity to challenge the wisdom of village elders, called upon the water goddess for help andwere granted more than the clean drinking water theyexpected.

I NVOKI NG THE WA TER GODDESS

A week-long "Jal Utsav" orwater festival in Salwaha,

Madhya Pradesh was heldin January this year tocelebrate the success of the tribal village's watermanagement andconservation efforts. Youngmembers of the WaterConservation Committeewho organized the festivaloffered prayers, sweets, and flowers to the 'Jal Devi,' orWater Goddess. The Jal Devi was instrumental in increasingvillagers' awareness on the importance of waterconservation.

"We organized the festival along the lines of the GaneshUtsavs as a strategy to involve the people in watermanagement," says Keshav Paneriya, secretary of the

Water Conservation Committee. Ganesh Utsavs are majorfestivals in this part of India where Hindus worship andcelebrate Lord Ganesh.

DRY W ELLS AND UN RESPONSI VE VI LLAGERS

The Centre for Advanced Research and Development(CARD), a non-government organization that beganlivelihood support activities in Salwaha in 2003, broughttogether a group of young women and men to manage andconserve the water available in the village. Once organized,the group became the Water Conservation Committee.

"The village had a major problem as almost all watersources had dried up and where there was little water, itwas dirty and filthy," said Yogendra Lodhi, who works at the

Poorest Areas Civil Society (PACS) programme of CARD.The settlement had five ponds and four wells, but water inthree ponds and two wells were highly polluted.

"We began to think about this, but whenever we took upthe matter with the village elders, we were told that it wasnot our concern and the Panchayat or government wouldlook into the problem," said water committee memberAkhilesh Paneriya.

Dinesh Chowksey, another committee member, added, "Wewere fed up with the impasse. Women were faced withgrowing water problems everyday but the authorities dolittle to find a solution."

Within two years, the Water Conservation Committeerestored the wells and ponds, but water supply still fell shortof the needs of the 1,712 people in Salwaha. The onlyalternative sources of water were two hand pumps in nearbysettlements.

The committee also succeeded in getting locals to elect avillage headman of their choice and place two of theirsupporters as block level members of the village council. Inearly 2005, CARD took 20 newly elected representatives toNew Delhi to show them how parliament functioned andexpose them to other organizations involved in waterconservation. When they returned, the representatives

narrated their experience at the Gram Sabha (villagecouncil), which motivated some local youth present to dosomething similar on their own.

COMMUNI TY CLEAN -UP EFFORTS

The committee first tookup cleaning the main welland raising 1,000 rupees(about US$22) for hiring apump. Within a week, thewell was as good as new.The job cost many timesless than what the villagecouncil said would beneeded for the task. "After

the cleaning was done,everyone was full of praises," said Paneirya.

The council members initially suspected the interests of thecommittee members, fearing that they were challengingtheir political standing. In mid-2005, a dog fell into the welland people stopped using the water. The membersapproached the village elders for permission to clean thewell but were not allowed to take on the task. That waswhen public opinion began turning against the village chief,who eventually cooperated with the committee.

The group then decided to take on the village pond that wasbeing used as an open-toilet by the villagers. More villagersturned out to lend a hand in the clean-up. They also tried toconvince people to build toilets and even took on guard dutyto get villagers that still defecated near the pond to clean

their mess.

With a clean pond, the committee decided to raise fish inthe waters, for which, again, they needed approval of thevillage council. Their application was rejected yet again.Undeterred, they borrowed 3,000 rupees (about US$67)from CARD to purchase fingerlings and released them intothe pond. Although they still do not have permission fromthe village council, they have not faced any resistanceeither.

"Many people have been working as volunteers so we will tryto ensure that there is a fair distribution of the revenue fromthe fish," says Keshav. "We also need money to paywatchmen and take up other cleaning and restoration jobsin nearby villages."

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JAL DEVI WA TCHES HER W ATER

The Water Conservation Committee's activities have helped warm up relations with the village elders. It was the opposition thatthe committee still faces from the village council that led them to think about holding a Jal Ustav.

The Jal Devi is now believed to be resting at the bottom of the pond where she was immersed amid chanting of Vedic hymns.Knowledge of her presence there as guardian of the waters serves as deterrent to people who would have otherwise polluted thesurroundings.

 _______________________________

Based on the article of Sushmi ta Malav iya , Asia Water Wire journalist

The views expressed in this article are the views of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the Asian Development Bank

(ADB), or its Board of Governors, or the governments they represent. ADB does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this paper and

accepts no responsibility for any consequence of their use. Terminology used may not necessarily be consistent with ADB official terms.

*This article was first published online at ADB's Water for All website in April 2006: http://www.adb.org/water/actions/IND/water-goddess.asp.

The Country Water Action series was developed to showcase reforms and good practices in the water sector undertaken by ADB’s member countries. It

offers a mix of experience and insights from projects funded by ADB and those undertaken directly by civil society, local governments, the private

sector, media, and the academe. The Country Water Actions are regularly featured in ADB’s Water for All News, which covers water sector developments

in the Asia and Pacific region.