Author: Rajesh Tandon
In the districts of Jodhpur, Jaisalmer, Bikaner of the Thar desert of Rajasthan, March indicates potential for the quality of life during the next 3-4 months. Local women monitor the levels of water in nearby rivers, canals, ponds, and many other traditional water harvesting and storage systems built for humans and cattle. During a recent visit to nearly 50 villages of this region, deep insights were gathered by a team of a local civil society organisation, GRAVIS, about the traditional systems of water harvesting and storage and advanced technical knowledge possessed by local communities hundreds of years ago. In Baap village of Jodhpur district, a pond ‘Megharaj sar’ was built 500 years ago to store rain water; a number of smaller storage tanks called ‘beriyan’ were also built, with water body 30-40 feet below surface. Over the years, this system provided adequate water for use by humans and cattle. Along with sound technical knowledge of locating and storing water, the communities had developed an elaborate social system for the use of that water. Separate arrangement for cattle and household were established and monitored by community leaders. Women played a very important role in monitoring compliance and ensuring penalties to those violating these social norms and protocols. Each village, panchayat, and hamlet of this region had similar arrangements–both technically sound and socially advanced–for water harvesting, storage, recharge, and use. Alas, now many such arrangements are weakened. The government’s programme of piped water supply tends to ignore local water sources and traditional knowledge, despite the Prime Minister’s appeal last year. Several such ponds and other structures have dried up, resulting in reduced agricultural outputs and cattle rearing. Social arrangements for compliance have broken down. Traditional technical knowledge has been devalued. Migration to urban centres for wage labour has increased in desperation. This month of March has been highlighting several important national and international commitments that have been made over the years. These commitments are also a call to action by citizens of the world to take steps towards realising the goals set. International Working Women’s Day on March 8 has begun to gain worldwide attention, from schools to institutions, markets to media. Now consider World Consumer Rights Day—March 15. In many countries like India, while the speed and breadth of consumption has grown rapidly, awareness about and protection of rights of consumers are largely inadequate. Rapidly increasing consumption rates also tend to ‘consume’ natural resources, beyond their carrying capacities. Over-consumption is resulting in over-exploitation of land, forests and water. Do we know that SDG 12 (amongst the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals) is about promoting sustainable consumption! March 14, as well, was celebrated worldwide as International Day of Action for Rivers. Rivers are a source of not just water, but life, livelihoods, trade, culture and communities. Celebrated after the First International Meeting of People Affected by Dams in Brazil in March 1997, this day reminds us all to not ‘overconsume’ and ‘over-dam’ our rivers. In February 1985, the first such meeting of People Affected by Dams in India was held in Ranchi, especially listening to tribal communities living around the Koel Karo river. Late Baba Amte led a nation-wide movement for the river Narmada the following year, appealing for ‘Collective Will Against Large Dams’. This year, the theme of International Day of Action for Rivers is ‘Rights of Rivers’; last year, the theme, appropriately, was ‘Women, Water & Climate Change’.
While rural women of the Thar desert may not have heard about SDGs or the aforementioned important International Days, they had worked through generations to evolve balanced and socially sustainable consumption of water (the most precious resource in their habitation), with deep practical and technical knowledge about water systems, topography and hydrology. Champions of ‘rights of rivers’ and SDGs can learn a great deal from these rural women in Jodhpur and Jaisalmer. These communities believe that water, land and forests were common resource (‘shamlat’ in their language), to be protected, conserved, used and recharged collectively, for common public good. In the remaining fortnight of this month of March, as other important International Days are celebrated (International Day of Forests on March 21; World Water Day on March 22), perhaps the recognition of inter-relatedness between these important celebrations is highlighted, just as all 17 SDGs are inter-related. Women as anchor of social capital and local knowledge continue to be critical to such a recognition. March is also the month of spring, new beginnings. Many communities celebrate New Year this time of the year—Navroz by Parsis, Ugadi in Andhra and Karnataka, Gudi Padwa in western region, and others. This is the season of new beginnings. Hence a reminder to new beginnings, inter-connected with our past, sustainable in our eco-zones, using local knowledge and social capital!
Insights from participatory research across Kochi, Bengaluru, and Ahmedabad reveal that disability-inclusive mobility demands far more than infrastructure compliance. It requires recognising the diversity of disabilities, the intersecting barriers of gender and class, and the wisdom that communities hold in identifying practical solutions.
This blog, written by our intern Kush Rastogi, a B.A. English (Hons) student at Amity University, Noida, reflects on Dr. Rajesh Tandon’s podcast 'Reimagining Civil Society'. It captures powerful stories of literacy movements in India, highlighting civil society’s role in empowerment, innovation, and inclusive education.
India’s Gram Panchayats today govern at a time of profound transition. Climate change is intensifying floods, droughts, and heat stress, public health risks such as water-borne diseases are becoming more frequent, rural youth migration is hollowing out local economies and digital systems are expanding faster than local capacities to use them meaningfully.
