When I met Frederick Noronha in Goa, he mentioned two important books - Fish Curry and Rice ; A Source Book on Goa, Its Ecology and Life-style
by Claude Alvares and Jalyatra by Nitya Jacob. He even presented me with a copy of Jalyatra. Since then that book has been my guiding post. After reading about Gharats (water mill) and Hidrums (water pump) in that book, I searched for them in Uttarakhand and understood how water has been creating livelihoods and generating electricity. I even met Nitya in Delhi and had a discussion about his book and my journey. I recommend Jalyatra to people who are fans of Water. India Water Portal also has a post on “Interview of Nitya Jacob by Frederick ‘FN’ Noronha”. You can read it for more information about the book and its concept.

About 22 years ago people at Saboli were determined to stop the activity - felling of trees and destruction of land used for livestock grazing. Yes, government was clearing a large patch of land in the peaks near Ranichauri in Uttarakhand (the then part of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarpradesh) to make way for an agricultural university. The local people in the region took the issue to the streets - protested, shouted slogans, condemned the authorities and brought out demonstrations. The authorities did not budge while the people did not stop the protest and this led to a deadlock.

The authorities called upon a meeting with locals. In the meeting authorities promised - free water supply to Saboli, employment to local people, new and better varieties of seeds for their fields and new techniques (which would be found in the university through research) to increase yield. The naive villagers were lured by these promises. Authorities easily cleared 100 acres of oak forest and pastureland to build a university at approximately 6500ft. Soon the expansive university came into life. The problem of land was solved. Now there was problem of water at that height. Water flows downwards and since the university is at the peak, it does not have sufficient water to feed its intellectual staff and students. Large pipelines were laid through the land used by people to trek and take the livestock uphill for grazing. Promise of good and free water kept the villagers silent. University started to pump water from below. The land which was feeding streams with water soon became a thirsty monster consuming thousands of litres everyday.

Within few years of University’s operation, people started to get piped water supply and few of the localites got employed at the university. Over 22 years much as changed. The university has started charging people for water. Now the villagers have to pay hefty water bill of Rs.135/month, which is costlier than most of the Indian cities, for the erratic water supply. As most of the streams were forest fed, clearing the patch has dried them out. Now only 15 out of 80 streams are alive. I found these things out while talking to the villagers here at Saboli. These people now laugh at their folly. But I could see the pain in that laughter. Today these villagers have no roads to walk uphill, no fodder for their animals and almost no water for themselves. The university no longer employs any locals.

To visit university website that cleared forests and affected biodiversity to make a facility to study forestry, click here.