A Case study on Chandrabhaga Stream |n Garhwa|

n|ma|aya Uttarakhand
rob|em Ident|f|ed
1en vlllages have been consldered for Lhe case sLudy whlch come wlLhln Chandrabhaga
waLershed locaLed ln Carwhal reglon of Lhe wesLern Plmalaya Chandrabhaga ls a small
sLream dralnlng lnLo Lhe 8haglraLhl rlver 1he perennlal flow of Lhe sLream ls Lhe ma[or
source of waLer for boLh drlnklng and lrrlgaLlon waLer ln Lhe area ConLlnued envlronmenLal
degradaLlon demographlc changes and breakdown of LradlLlonal soclal arrangemenLs have
lead Lo waLer scarclLy and confllcLs
1hls case sLudy elaboraLes on Lhe ways Lo resolve confllcLs ln use of fresh waLer resources aL
local level ConfllcLs wlLhln and beLween communlLles and beLween dlfferenL oLher users
wlLhln Lhe waLershed are dlscussed An effecLlve way Lo neuLrallze confllcLs ls Lhe promoLlon
of communlLy parLlclpaLlon 1he role of caLalyLlc bodles such as nongovernmenLal
organlzaLlons ln bulldlng and faclllLaLlng local organlzaLlonal conLrol can be helpful
1hls sLudy hlghllghLs Lhe lnvolvemenL of Srl 8huvaneshwarl Mahlla Ashram (S8MA) ln waLer
schemes from confronLaLlon of Lhe CovernmenL and has been an acLlve collaboraLor of
SWA!AL a waLershed program launched by Lhe CovernmenL of u wlLh World 8ank
asslsLance S8MA ls a local nCC acLlve ln Lhe area for lasL 30 years
@he |n|t|a| s|tuat|on
arller Chandrabhaga waLer was adequaLe Lo meeL Lhe drlnklng and lrrlgaLlon needs of all
Lhe lnhablLanLs Chandrabhaga draws lLs waLer from Lhree sources ralnfall durlng monsoon
melLlng snow [usL afLer wlnLer and regulaLed waLer from Lhe foresL 1he source of Lhe
sLream ls Lhe surrounded by good quallLy oak foresL whlch ls regarded by Plndu and Musllm
lnhablLanLs as Lhe sacred grove preslded over by Lhe local delLy goddess Chandrabadanl
8ecause of Lhe sLrong rellglous and culLural value aLLached Lo Lhe sacred grove no Lree
felllng ls allowed As a consequence Lhe foresL quallLy has remalned lnLacL 1he access Lo
Lhese foresL paLches ls open Lo all vlllages who have cusLomary rlghLs Lo graze Lhelr anlmals
and collecL on headloads fodder and fuel
1here have been several changes LhaL have lmpacLed Lhe hydrologlcal balance ln Lhe area
llrsLly conLlnued loss of foresL cover beLween 30007000 feeL has meanL loss of soll
molsLure and drylng of several small waLer polnLs WlLhouL adequaLe foresL cover soll
eroslon durlng monsoon ls aggravaLed due Lo whlch agrlculLural producLlvlLy has gone down
ln order Lo compensaLe Lhe loss of producLlvlLy new land ls broughL under Lhe plough 1he
culLlvaLed area has lncreased by more Lhan 40 per cenL ln Lhe lasL 23 years
Secondly boLh human and anlmal populaLlon has lncreased slgnlflcanLly whlch ls around 2
per cenL per year MlgraLlon ln Lhe Chandrabhaga was found Lo be around 26 per cenL
MlgraLlon enLalls a hlgh cosL Lo Lhe communlLy parLlcularly women who are lefL behlnd noL
only Lo feLch waLer from far dlsLances ln mounLalnous areas buL also Lo ensure LhaL Lhere ls
adequaLe food fodder and fuel for Lhe famlly MlgraLlon ls hlgher ln Lhe vlllages wlLh greaLer
waLer scarclLy Slnce glrlchlldren bear a dlsproporLlonaLe share of Lhe household burden
waLer scarclLy also plays a declslve facLor ln hlgh drop ouL raLes of glrls enrolled ln prlmary
schools MlgraLlon ls relaLlvely more among hlgher casLes LhaL are also maLerlally well
endowed Where such mlgraLlon ls permanenL Lhe posslblllLles of lnvesLmenL ln agrlculLure
are losL Slnce waLer feLchlng boLh lrrlgaLlon and drlnklng waLer ls consldered a female Lask
Lhe male mlgraLlon who are Lhe bread earners of Lhe famlly dlscourage lnvesLmenL ln elLher
conservlng waLer sources or ln channellng waLer flows LhaL reduces burden on women
1hlrdly Lhe spread of road neLworks ln Lhe lasL 30 years have encouraged new seLLlemenLs
and Lownshlps away from Lhe meanderlng flows of Lhe rlvers 8efore Lhls hlll vlllages and
small Lowns were locaLed by Lhe rlverslde ln Lhe sLudy area Lhe vlllages were locaLed
around Lhe Chandrabhaga sLream 1hese roadslde seLLlemenLs do noL have LradlLlonal waLer
polnLs 1hese new seLLlemenLs are pollLlcally well connecLed and have succeeded ln
dlverLlng publlc expendlLure and avallable waLer Lo caLer Lo Lhelr needs under Lhe pressure
of urban lobby Lhe CovernmenL of uLLarakhand has leglslaLed Lransfer of all surplus waLer
from waLersheds Lo deflclenL areas 1hough such Lransfer of a resource ln excess sounds
raLlonal lL offers arblLrary powers Lo bureaucracy on deflnlng whaL are surplus and how a
scarce resource would be shared
Sharlng of waLer and Lhe scarclLy of lL ls Lhe rooL cause of many confllcLs ln Lhe
Chandrabhaga
% Low castes and the h|gher castes WlLhln Lhe vlllages Parl[ans are usually noL allowed Lo
Lake waLer from Lhe sprlng whlch Lhe upper casLe 8a[puLs use uurlng summer when many
waLer polnLs dry up Lhe Parl[ans are forced Lo walk long dlsLances Lo feLch waLer
2% Upstream and downstream 1he upsLream vlllagers clalm Lo have Lhe flrsL rlghL Lo
avallable waLer leadlng Lo confllcL wlLh downsLream users
3% State contro| and peop|e 8ecause of urbanblas ln governance Lhe bureaucracy ls more
lncllned Lo meeL demands of clLy dwellers 1he rural needs are ofLen lgnored 1hls plLs Lhe
rural populaLlon agalnsL Lhe urban populaLlon
4% Interdepartmenta| |ssues 1he loresL WaLer and 8evenue laws were framed for
dlfferenL purposes 60 of Lhe land ln 1ehrl Carwhal ls under [urlsdlcLlon of loresL
ueparLmenL 1hese land hold much waLer 1he loresL ueparLmenLs chlef concern ls Lo
proLecL foresLs wlLh llLLle care for Lhe demands for drlnklng or lrrlgaLlon waLer 1he schemes
proposed by local auLhorlLles and waLer deparLmenL Lo save waLer on foresLland ls ofLen
Lurned down 1hls puLs people ln confllcL wlLh Lhe foresL deparLmenL
Changes that occurred a|ong the t|me
uurlng Lhe brlLlsh perlod foresLs were naLlonallsed due Lo whlch Chandrabhaga sLream
flowlng ouL of Lhe khandogl loresL 8eserve came under Lhe [urlsdlcLlon of Lhe governmenL
Powever ln Lhe absence of demand from nearby area Lhere was no lnLervenLlon by Lhe
governmenL Lo Lransfer waLer ouLslde Lhe area 1hus Lhe communlLles conLlnued Lo access
Chandrabhaga waLer Lo meeL Lhelr cusLomary uses 1hough Lhere was no confllcL wlLh Lhe
governmenL Lhere remalned sLrong Lenslon beLween vlllages upsLream domlnaLed by hlgh
casLe small landowners and Lhe downsLream vlllages lnhablLed low casLes 1he upsLream
vlllages dependenL on labour from downsLream Lo work on Lhelr perennlal crops ln Lurn
Lhe upsLream vlllages allowed caLLle grazlng and collecLlon of fodder and fuelwood from
Lhelr land Lo Lhe downsLream worklng communlLles Powever wlLh Lhe openlng of road
neLwork new economlc opporLunlLles appeared 1he labourlng class could seasonally
mlgraLe Lo Lhe plalns 1he hlgher casLes because of beLLer soclal endowmenLs were ln
poslLlon Lo Lake advanLage of Lhe markeL economy lnsLead of perennlal crops Lhey opLed
for labour savlng cashglvlng apple and oLher frulL orchards 1hus Lhelr dependence on
downsLream labour was reduced 1he downsLream vlllages reLallaLed by grazlng ln upsLream
farms and collecLlng fodder and fuel as before 1he upsLream vlllages responded by blocklng
Lhe enLry paLhs of Lhe downsLream vlllages wherever posslble 1he sLream was regularly
polluLed wlLh faecal conLamlnaLlon whlch was a punlshmenL meLed ouL Lo downsLream
lnhablLanLs
1he soluLlon Lo Lhe waLer shorLage problem was found by PlndolakhalPlnsakhal scheme
pumplng waLer from Alaknanda rlver Lo sLorage Lanks consLrucLed ln upsLream and
connecLed Lo vlllages ln Lhe area ach vlllage recelved plped waLer dellvered aL sLandposLs
1he selecLlon of Lhe slLes Lhe laylng of plpellnes Lhe Llmlng and quanLum of waLer dellvery
was enLlrely managed by Lhe u !al nlgam WaLer was avallable free of any charge oor
malnLenance of plpellnes and sLandposLs has resulLed ln low and erraLlc supplles lleld
observaLlons show LhaL Lhe acLual amounL of waLer avallable ls 16 kllo/llLres/day lnsLead of
a planned supply of 69 kllo/llLres/day 1he scheme also dld noL address lnLervlllage rlvalry
resulLlng ln saboLage of plpellnes Clven Lhe englneerlng defecLs of Lhe waLer works and
poor malnLenance Lhe u !al nlgam scheme remalns a monumenL of grand fallure
AfLer Lhe fallure of Lhe PlndolakhalPlnsakhal scheme S8MA lnlLlaLed a selfhelp pro[ecL ln
Lhe form of WlS8 lnlLlally vlllage meeLlngs were held separaLely and laLer Lhe communlLy
leaders were broughL LogeLher lnLo a Chandrabhaga coordlnaLlon commlLLee 1he upsLream
vlllages lmmedlaLely ceased faecal conLamlnaLlon of Chandrabhaga and ln Lurn Lhe
downsLream vlllages agreed Lo regulaLe grazlng lnLo upsLream farmlands 1he nexL acLlon
was Lo reallgn lrrlgaLlon channels and checkdamns ln such a way LhaL waLer wasLage ls
reduced and crop appllcaLlon efflclency lmproved AddlLlonal sLorage Lanks and lrrlgaLlon
channels were consLrucLed wlLh maLerlal and labour conLrlbuLlon from Lhe beneflclary
households Funding Ior WISER came Irom Central Government agency CAPART as well
GTZ, a German donor.
As a resu|t
1he lessons learned from Lhe WlS8 scheme were lncorporaLed ln Lhe W8alded SWA!AL
1hls has moved communlLles lnLo LrlparLlLe parLnershlp beLween Lhe CovernmenL WaLer
ueparLmenL nCC and Lhe vlllages lL should be noLed LhaL waLer remalns a SLaLe resource
and Lhere ls no proposal Lo manage Lhe resource [olnLly by Lhe CovernmenL and Lhe
communlLy
a) negoLlaLlonbased soluLlon Lo old lnLercommunlLy confllcLs ls a good way Lo puL aslde
some sLumbllng blocks
b) WaLersheds raLher Lhan lndlvldual sLreams should be Laken as Lhe unlL for developmenL
plannlng ln Lhe Plmalaya 1wo slmulLaneous acLlons are necessary one ls Lhe regeneraLlon
of blomass WlLhouL proLecLlon of foresL cover waLer sources cannoL be conserved 1he
oLher ls lnLroducLlon of user fees for Lhe managemenL of Lhe servlces
c) 1here ls need for lnLermedlary supporL organlzaLlons llke S8MA LhaL llnks Lhe governmenL
agencles and Lhe local communlLy 1he supporL organlzaLlon faclllLaLes Lhe plannlng
lmplemenLaLlon and dellvery of lnformaLlon and goods Lo Lhe communlLy 1he formaLlon of
user groups ls a means for creaLlng a sLrong sLake ln Lhe waLer developmenL schemes
eople lnlLlaLe acLlvlLles meeLlng Lhelr soclal needs Some of Lhem have Laken up llmlLed
afforesLaLlon work on vlllage commons 1he empowerlng of Lhe communlLles has revlved
Lhe LradlLlonal raLlonlng of Lhe waLer to balance the supply and use oI water Ior irrigation
purposes
Conc|us|on
eing a native and once a resident oI Devprayag, I have been as close observer oI the
problems above. With the help oI externally aided World ank and GTZ projects these
problems have been taken care oI well through watershed management . The local NGOs like
SA have been catalytic in bringing up local problems to the Iore and in association with
SWAJAL has been successIul in its objectives like: SWA!AL had succeeded ln persuadlng
Lhe CovernmenL Lo access waLer sources wlLhln loresL ueparLmenLs [urlsdlcLlon for
developmenL ln order Lo meeL drlnklng and lrrlgaLlon demands

eference Manab ChakraborLy


Subm|tted by Meenaksh| Dhyan|
Subm|tted to Mrsrad|pta Deb Date $$20