A Book and a Disciple
At first he mentions a book. Before anything else he mentions a book. At the end, he again reminds one of that book. In between, he cites that book. One hears about a book influencing someone, but he unfailingly and repeatedly acknowledges that he has lived and evolved with that book. That he owes his work and success to that book is an understatement. Indeed, he claims his entire endeavor has been, and will be, merely to follow the vision of the book.
He is Farhad Contractor, an awardee of the prestigious Sanskriti award for Outstanding Social Work-Water harvesting in arid areas of Rajasthan. And the book is "Aaj Bhi Kharen Hain Talab", an undisputed classic on water harvesting, which has been translated into several Indian and European languages. Farhad names Anupam Misra, its author and a veteran Gandhian as his Mentor and Guru.
When did this wok on water conservation begin?
Farhad immediately recalls his first encounter with the book. Till this encounter, he occasionally undertook some work, but the vision of the book altered the course of his thinking and methodology. Notably, he, a Gujarati, couldn't read the Hindi book with great ease. Yet, he read and re-read it. Consuming and admiring a book, a devoted reader is usually caught up with a natural impulse to meet the author. He was no exception. But he deferred his desire and vowed to meet his would-be-Guru only when he had done something substantial to share with the mentor. Before approaching Misra, Farhad worked for three years in the most arid areas of Rajasthan, and then went to share his work with Misra. And since then, the disciple, as he humbly terms himself, is on extremely close terms with the mentor.
So what does Farhad do?
Simple, revival of traditional knowledge in the driest parts of Rajasthan. After the book experience, he moved to Barmer and extensively toured the desert villages. He found the echoes of the principles of water harvesting, which the book had already articulated so well, spread across the desert. And he realized he had nothing to share with the native people. Indeed, they never needed anything. Be it a hydrological scientist or a civil engineer, they never required anything. Their indigenous methods have performed miracles for thousands of years. An outsider can, at best, be a clerk.
What was in the book, which changed his life?
At first, it establishes that "new technology" has little relevance in the desert. That native knowledge is more detailed and scientific. Local people could identify the exact spots of potable water amidst the sprawling saline areas. Incredible, Isn't it? You get a team of geologists and hydrologists and yet may not locate the water easily. But native people know where exactly the potable water lies. Interestingly, all around a well of potable water lies salt, salinity, sand and sand dunes.
If all knowledge is local, what does he exactly do?
Nothing. Farhad doesn't arrogate himself with any credit. He simply motivates people to revive their own wells so that they do not remain dependent on the government. Notably, government has not even provided two percent of their drinking water requirements, not to mention irrigation and other uses. Government installed hand-pumps are dried up. They spend more than a lakh rupees on a single structure, and all get dried soon. He challenges to know, if even a drop of water is left in the government structures.
But why doesn't the government work with the local people?
Indira Gandhi canal also promised to bring water to the desert. Farhad laughs with scorn. Government spending is a source of fraud and consequent earning. Indira canal is filled with sand. It couldn't have brought, and can't bring water to desert. It's foolish to assume that a canal can survive amidst sand dunes.
Indira canal may be a failure. But, Narmada dam is bringing water to Rann areas of Gujarat. Narendra Modi, Chief Minister Gujarat repeatedly points at it. Farhad is quick to take dig at it. For how many days they can provide water? And at what cost? Compare the cost of a well with Narmada canals. Such projects can provide water only for few hours in a day. Their long term viability is still to be seen. Indira canal is already a failure. A canal is not suited to the desert topography. Take a well, it runs round the clock and lasts for centuries. A well constructed for mere 50000/- runs at least for a hundred years.
Revival of Isawal well
The revival is a rare tale. But before the tale, an ignorant reader must understand the meaning of a well. City dwellers usually consider a well an antique, even prehistoric structure, which stylish bathroom taps have totally replaced. But wait, you can not have taps in a desert nor bath tubs amidst sand dunes. A well is the life-line of a desert. Desert village life revolves around a well. Amidst salty and sandy lands, a well of potable water is a divine intervention. A well is hope, relief & belief. It's a source of joy, an occasion of festivity. More importantly, it as a testament to traditional knowledge. Even as the costly and elaborate water structures of government do not survive a month, a simple well remains for centuries. A well, hence, survives the generations, generations speak through a well. Ask a native, and he bows down before a well. For him, a well embodies cumulative wisdom and the bequeathed legacy of his ancestors.
Now about the Isawal well. It is the only well of potable water within a radius of fifty kilometers in Jaisalmer. Next such well is located fifty five kilometers across the border in Pakistan. Isawal well was in a dilapidated condition. More than a hundred year old, it served local population and some ten thousand head of cattle, which flocked the well from across fifty kilometers. Farhad gathered local people and they renovated and revived the well. They constructed utility structures around the well-small tanks to store water. The revived well now lives for the next hundred years. And the budget-a mere Rs.55000/-. Out of which local people contributed Rs.22000/-. You don't need a statistician to compare this cost with the water it provides to millions and millions of cattle and humans over a period of a hundred years.
A Kotha(storage tank) of the Isawal well
A storage tank at Isawal well--water from this tank goes to the adjoining smaller structure, where cattle are watered
Cattle at the Isawal well
Isawal well after revival
A pond amidst the salty Rann
Note the clarity of water,One cannot identify the water level
More than anything, this desert experience teaches humility and resilience. Humility, for Farhad is humbled before "Aaj Bhi Kharen Hain Talab" and local knowledge. Resilience, for desert people have survived amidst all odds. Even as metros face, despite elaborate arrangements, water crisis, villages of the Rajasthan were never evacuated due to water shortage.
An eye-opener the desert experience throws before us--a challenge and an occasion of introspection.
Ashutosh Bhardwaj
Feb 2007
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A worker with Sambhaav Trust explains how the Nanduwali river was revived. The river Nanduwali flowing south of Sariska has now been made perennial principally by ensuring base flow. This has been done by a series of storage and recharge structures. Open wells have sprung back to life and agriculture is now annual. The process of how the community got engaged in the whole revival with the help of Sambhav is explained in this video.