Focus Group Discussions were organized with men and women residing in Ghata village and Gautampuri Colony to understand the historical trajectory of water use in the village as well as the daily usage, storage, and collection patterns of water. Through the discussion, community members not only shared their views but also tried demystifying and reflecting upon the issue in detail. To initiate the discussion, the facilitator visited the community at a time when community members were relatively free from their jobs and household chores. This allowed the community members to participate and contribute to the discussion in a peaceful way.
Ghata Village
The traditional and dominant water bodies situated in the village, like the lakes and ponds, have dried up long ago. They attribute it to two reasons: declining rainfall and expansion of the city. The drains that supply water to the water bodies are now blocked due to the unplanned growth of the city. This has cut off the sources of replenishment of lakes and ponds. Over the years, the dry weather of Gurugram has made the sites of lakes and ponds a landfill. As the community people put it:
“The amount of rainfall that the city is receiving has declined over the past five years. Due to a lack of proper drainage, if it rains at all, there are flash floods in the city. However, since our village is situated on a slope, the water runs off into the nearby drain that runs till Delhi.”
“Even though Gurugram has dry weather, the winters used to be longer than it was before. Now winters are short. There is no green cover around Gurugram anymore. Trees have been felled to construct high-rise buildings.”
The changing weather patterns in the city, as indicated by the community members, also have a profound impact on the agricultural lands. Even though seasonal agriculture is practiced in areas around Gurugram, the agricultural land has turned infertile, and this has forced many farmers to sell their land to construction companies. The compensation for land has incentivized the farmers to never have to return to agriculture. The previous generation has sold off land in Gurugram beyond redemption, however, the new generation is concerned about the declining green cover in the city.
Along with the phenomenon of urbanization, it is important to also capture the attention of the community towards the damage caused to the landscape due to climate change. While they admit that the environment has suffered considerable strain due to urban expansion and the temperatures, the villagers were unable to link the changes that they observed to climate change. Infertility of agricultural lands, drying up of traditional water bodies, the disappearance of streams and rivulets flowing from mountains, and the pollution of natural sources of replenishment of groundwater all owe their genesis to the phenomenon of climate change. One of the respondents, when asked about climate change remarked:
“I have heard the younger people in the village, those who attend school, attributing the rising temperatures to global warming. However, we have all passed our prime. It is now for the youth to act on making the world more livable.”
The older generation of men living in Ghata were privy to sustainability. For them, the infertile land and decreasing avenues for irrigation were reasons enough to abandon agriculture on a highly saline and already unproductive soil profile, making sustainable farming a cause of concern. The high salinity of the soil is due to the high rate of groundwater extraction. However, the new generation of youth in the village are aware of ‘global warming and its disparate effects on their daily life. One of the adolescents in the village said:
“We have learned about it in school. I know that the biggest impact will be on water resources since lakes and rivers are drying up.”
The women in the urban informal settlements in Gurugram are undaunted by the dialogues around climate change. For them, the water shortage issues have been a thing of the past. The landlords have fixed motors in their lanes and water is available for all domestic uses including cooking, washing, and bathing twice a day, in the morning and the evening. They say:
“Our water needs are met in this settlement and not a day goes by when we don’t get water. However, I am aware of others living in other settlements in Gurugram who buy water from private tankers. In peak summers, when water usage goes up, they pay exorbitant rates just to get a pot of water for perhaps the entire days’ use.”
Gautampuri Colony
Acute water crisis and sanitation have been an issue of huge concern in the Gautampuri resettlement colony. With the recent development, separate water connections at the household level have been installed for a better supply of water within the community. However, there are still some households that do not have connections and are left with no choice but to walk to nearby areas to fill water. Alongside, only a few households have individual water tanks in the households for storing water. One of the community members stated that:
“Initially, when we shifted here, we had to travel to Aligaon to collect water. Aligoan is a nearby colony, where water tankers used to be parked. There were a lot of clashes that used to take place during those hours. Even the kids used to accompany us. However, even now not every household has metered connections.”
When asked about Climate Change, both the men and women were clueless about the issue of climate change. Community members for more than 20 years have been facing the issue of water scarcity, however, now they have started accepting it as part of their lives.
“Water scarcity is something that we have adapted ourselves with. For the past few days, there has been a water supply cut in the community. A year back, the sewage pipeline was cut due to nearby road construction. The problem has increased since then. There have been days when there has been no water in the community, and we had to stay all night to check if the water supply was started by the authorities.”
Acute water crisis including contamination of water supplies have been observed as impacts of climate change, impacting the health of individuals and communities. The water in the community comes in two forms which are brine water (Khara Pani) and sweet/potable water (Meetha Pani), through two separate water connections. Brine/hard water is used for household chores such as washing and cleaning, and community members do not have to pay any amount/fee for the same to any authority. While sweet water is used for drinking and cooking purposes and comes at a cost. Community members do not have water filters at their houses, and thus, in cases where there is no supply of sweet water, they have to use brine water was drinking purposes. Many women also reported incidents of severe infection post consumption of the brine water in the community and within the family.
“After consuming the Khara Pani, community members have fallen sick many a times. A couple of months back, I also got extremely unwell after consuming this dirty water. Water got collected in my lungs, and I had to take leave from work. A couple of months back, even the Meetha Pani being supplied was infected. Jaundice, dengue, malaria, and lung infection are the diseases that community members have been infected with. I became weak, and it took me months to recover from several infections the water had caused.”
Over the years, the number of residents living in the community has too increased dramatically, putting pressure on the use of water in the community. The rapid urbanisation and its adverse consequences have led to water pollution, air pollution, housing congestion, and despoliation of the physical environment in the settlement. Along with this, heavy rains in the monsoons create a major challenge in the community. Heavy water logging makes it difficult for the community members to walk through the roads. According to the men in the community, the problem of waterlogging in the community is due to poor drainage systems and poor sewage lines. Some of the men also pointed toward the diverse caste-based activities of community members as being the reason for waterlogging. One of the respondents when asked about the reason for the waterlogging, said:
“The sewage lines were not connected, so the waste of Gautampuri remains in the community only. The drains begin to overflow if they are not cleaned, especially on rainy days which causes waterlogging. Waterlogging will continue to happen in the community because of the Dabang caste the community, which owns pigs and goats. The pigs and goats carry the solid waste out from the drains to the roads which lead to the cluttering of the streets. Sometimes the MCD trucks come, and they take out the litter from the drains and keep it on the sides. But the animals bring back to the same roads.”
After understanding the issue deeper, it was explored that waterlogging in and around the community is because of the dumping of waste. The garbage collection van sent across the city by the Municipal Corporation, for the collection of household waste has not been visiting the community for months. It is because of this that the domesticated animals when roaming within the community, pick up the garbage. The researcher played an important role here to make the community members understand the issue in detail without pointing out people from different backgrounds. The Inadequate water, sanitation, and hygiene services by the government led to garbage collection, waterlogging, and contamination of water. This has further led to cases of diarrheal, dengue, and malaria infection cases in the community. The community is not only getting affected by climate change but also contributing to it.
When asked about the changes in weather patterns and their effects on their lives, this is what the community members had to say:
“We have observed that rains over time have reduced. I think it is good for a community because it avoids waterlogging. We don’t know why this change in the environment is taking place, but whatever the reason is, it is turning out to be beneficial for us. During the days of heavy rains, we are not able to walk on the streets water enters our houses, even children are unable to visit schools. There have been cases where children have fallen into the potholes.”
The co-creation process recognises the community's knowledge and makes them co-researchers FGDs were used to get in-depth information from the community members about their understanding of the issue. The conversation began with helping the community members understand the issue and the role they can play in this process of knowledge sharing and generation. Community members were encouraged to ask questions and clarify doubts whenever required. A safe and non-biased environment was created for the discussion, so that community members from diverse backgrounds could share their experiences and knowledge.