As recently as March, 2001, Lava ka Baas village in Thanagazi, Alwar, Rajasthan was like
many other water scarce villages in the country facing the devastation caused by a third
year of drought.With a population of about 500 and only one water source, agriculture
was a distant dream.
But on March 12, 2001, the villagers started work on what they thought would change
their destiny. They began constructing an earthen water recharge structure. The villagers
were optimistic and united in their intent. They had been convinced of the wisdom of
building a johad on a drain, or nala, on their communal land by the workers
of Tarun Bharat Sangh (TBS), a non-governmental organisation based in Alwar.
It is because of this faith that the poor villagers contributed Rs 3 lakh of the Rs 8
lakh that was required for construction purposes. The remaining Rs 5 lakh was donated by a
businessperson from Churu district in memory of his mother.
The 225-metre long and 15-metre high johad was completed in a record time of
less than four months. Gopal Singh of TBS, a veteran gajdhar or "barefoot
engineer," with many johads to his credit, helped with the design.
And then the Rajasthan irrigation department showed up at the dam site with the
objective of demolishing the structure. Why? Because the johad violated an
agreement signed between the princely states of Alwar and Bharatpur in 1910.
The villagers rose up and gathered at the site determined not to let the government
destroy the johad that had given them precious water.
Sensing the villagers’ determination, the officials changed their tactics. They
declared the structure unsafe and asked the villagers to reduce the height of the spillway
– making the structure redundant.
Since July 1, the villagers have been standing vigil over their structure while TBS is
garnering support from other villages.
CSE has been consistently promoting the paradigm of community rainwater harvesting as
the paradigm to fight drought and to alleviate poverty. So when on July 1, a Sunday, when
a disturbed Rajendra Singh of Tarun Bharat Sangh called up CSE chairperson Anil Agarwal
and director Sunita Narain, CSE decided to intervene. They contacted chief minister Ashok
Gehlot, sent CSE staffers to get a first hand report and told newspaper and TV journalists
to get to the site.
For the latest details on the struggle to save the Lava ka Baas johad, see the Story to Date.
The story has also been covered in the 31st July issue of Down to Earth.
Please see also the Reports and Documents Page for more detailed information.
Down to Earth has covered the work of Tarun Bharat Sangh’s water harvesting work
in rural Rajasthan twice before:
