Community Partnership in Water
By Dr Arvind Kumar
Traditional wisdom, indigenous skills and community efforts play significant role in successful management of water scarcity. Media reports indicate that well-concerted community efforts, supported by the World Bank and the United Nations Development Programme, have helped in overcoming the challenge of scarce water supply in places in India where there are no perennial rivers, groundwater is saline and summers are harsh. It is further observed from media reports that about 200 villages of Pali, Barmer and Jodhpur districts in the Marwar region of Rajasthan are success stories in this context where owing to cooperation between communities, today 300,000 people in these villages have finally got access to clean drinking water. Villagers joined hands together to participate in constructing water structures and conserving water sources.
The villagers have created a water management fund, with the help of a civil society, to restore and build 300 water harvesting structures and undertake sustenance and maintenance activities. The women have also come forward breaking social norms to participate in building equitable access to water. Women now manage and operate small water enterprises as a source of income. Even rural areas in Maharashtra have benefitted from similar projects. These projects have brought in focus more than one important points:
Ø Community approach results in efficient upkeep and maintenance of water resources.
Ø Decentralisation of social governance system can successfully address water shortage problem.
Ø A water supply model involving stakeholders works because it instills a sense of ownership as communities operate, manage and maintain their water resources.
Ø Involvement of women in community projects can lead to their empowerment.
