Author: Sourav Sanyal
Publication: The Indian Express
Date: May 31, 2004
URL: http://www.indianexpress.com/full_story.php?content_id=48007
Introduction: Johranpur dumps untouchability,
finds prosperity in rainwater harvesting
India is shining-at least here.
A unique rainwater harvesting programme in this non-descript village launched
three summers ago has achieved what seemed impossible: weeding out the
casteism and untouchability that had been plaguing the village for years.
Not only has Johranpur in Solan
district of Himachal Pradesh become a model as far as social integration
of the Rajput and Dalit families is concerned, it has also taken the lead
in integrating women from both communities into the mainstream.
''We are like an extended family
and there is absolutely no question of discrimination. We drink the same
water and work together, hand- in-hand for uplift of the economic status
of the village. Before the project, our village was just another piece
of parched land. Today we boast of plantations producing different crops
-mangoes, amla, brinjal, papaya, chillies, gourds and tomatoes. There has
also been a quantum jump in the amount of wheat and maize we could manage
to produce here,'' says 70-year-old Balwant Singh.
Separated by a generation in between,
28- year-old Balbir Singh, who stays in the Harijan basti, agrees. ''We
are one and have no problems with the Rajputs. They are like our own chachas
and mamas and we participate in all their functions just as they do in
ours. We even share drinks,'' he says.
Bhagwan Das, 73, who fought in the
1971 war, chips in. ''Others should learn from us,'' he says. ''We are
probably the first village in the region to do away with untouchability.''
The project that has brought about
this silent revolution here, housing about 15 Rajput and 10 Dalit families,
was conceived and implemented by Chandigarh- based Centre for Soil and
Water Conservation Research and Training Institute (CSWCRTI) and funded
by World Bank.
''Before the project, social evils
like casteism, untouchability and gender biases divided the whole village.
Things have undergone a complete change now,'' says project coordinator
Dr R P Yadav.
Explaining the genesis of the project,
CSWCRTI Director Dr R K Aggarwal says: ''Johranpur literally means a settlement
with a pair of ponds. However, ponds in the village had become redundant
due to heavy silting. The entire run-off was carried through agricultural
fields leading to heavy soil erosion. Our intervention on rainwater management
has doubled the net returns.''
Prior to the inception of the project,
rain-fed maize-wheat was the sole cropping system. ''Wheat crop was failing
two years out of every five and the average yield was very less-11.5 quintals
per hectare for maize and 12.5 quintals per hectare for wheat. But the
implementation of the project has given a meaning to the village name as
ponds have become the source of changing the agricultural scenario,'' Yadav
adds.
Aggarwal attributes the phenomenal
success to people's participation. A watershed society-Krishi Vikas Sangh-has
been constituted and registered with the Himachal government. ''Harvested
rainwater is distributed by the society on equitable basis among all the
farmers at a charge of Rs 30 per hour. The society has earned Rs 16,907
from water charges, membership and fish production. This has had a tremendous
social impact in bringing the entire village together,'' he says.
Further, to integrate village women
with the world outside the four walls of their homes, CSWCRTI has been
imparting vocational training. Satya, the lone woman representative from
the Harijan community in the Sangh, observes: ''We have been taught stitching
and tailoring and also attend classes on picklemaking. It has been a wonderful
experience.''
Kamaljeet Kaur, who has studied
till Class VIII, and her neighbour Kulwant Kaur are elated at the prospect
of attending training sessions on mushroom cultivation. ''Many hotels have
come up on the road to Nalagarh and Baddi and we can easily sell mushrooms
there,'' says Kamaljeet.
The change, even in the economic
sphere, surpasses all expectations. ''Harvested rainwater was recycled
back for sustainable crop production and area receiving supplemental irrigation
grew from 4.81 hectares during 2000-01 to 8.13 during 2002-03. The availability
of supplemental irrigation made it possible for the farmers to adopt remunerative
crops like tomato, ginger, brinjal and horticultural crops, and two (rounds
of) supplemental irrigation provided gross returns worth Rs 5.25, Rs 2.90
and Rs 0.49 lakh per hectare from ginger, tomato and brinjal respectively,''
notes Yadav. Buoyed by the success of the project, villagers from neighbouring
areas have approached CSWCRTI requesting them to start similar programmes.
