Books and Book Reviews

This paper attempts to analyse the impact of several government guidelines related to watershed management on the People's institutions that have emerged in watershed programmes where NGOs have a role. 

This paper is a revised edition of a keynote for a Workshop organised by the India Canada Environment Facility in September 2003. It addresses several concerns and issues related to the practice of forming people's groups for natural resource management.

Integrated Farm Development (IFD) is an innovative concept in farming where various resources (farm waste) are integrated and utilised in order to reap maximum benefits. 

MYRADA's Krishi Vigyan Kendra initiated the IFD programme based on LEISA concept in 2001. Using the participatory approach of community based organisations like Self Help Groups (SHGs) and farmers groups, MYRADA-KVK implemented IFD. 

The book contains a few pieces on rainwater harvesting by Shree Padre edited by C. K. SujithKumar and published as a book. A practical guide for rainwater harvesting, the book very clearly highlights the necessity for conservation of water. It explains the causes for drought and decline of water table. It goes on to explain the theoretical aspects of technology and shares some of the success stories of rainwater harvesting in parts of India and abroad.

This book talks about the practise of soil and water conservation adopted by Dr. Mallanna in Bagalkote. Bagalkote is a district in northern Karnataka, which is known for scanty rainfall. 

Madakas are manmade structures for storing rainwater that was abundantly prevalent in Kasargod District of Kerala. Pallas on the contrary, were similar structures but not man made. Pallas and Madakas met the water requirements of the settlements around these structures. 

They were not just water bodies but were an important part of society. People would come together to build these structures and maintain them by removing silt deposited in them from time to time. This process brought the society together and taught the lesson of sharing and conserving water resources.

Rainwater harvesting is not a new science in India. There are several traditional practices across the country where rainwater was stored safely and used in times of need. One such example is the 'Taankaa' system in Gujarat.

Around 10,000 houses in the city of Ahmedabad have large underground tanks or 'taankaas' that can each store 25,000 litres of rainwater. These serve as mini reservoirs for families during water scarcity. When tested for quality, they have proven to meet WHO norms.

It is an astonishing thing to see the five rivers of Alwar in Rajasthan flowing for more than 6-8 months in a year. This is no miracle though. It is the result of a decade-long effort by Jal Jungle Andolan lead by Dr. Rajendra Singh. 

Traditional rainwater harvesting structues called Johads that are native to Rajasthan were rvived by involving communities, which led to this change. Shree Padre writes more about the effort in this book titled "Matte Roopararel Battalilla".

'Talaparige' is a well known traditional source of water in Tumkur region in Karnataka. These are also seen in Kolar, Bellary and Chitradurga districts of Karnataka. So far, there has been no exhaustive documentation about this source of water.

This book attempt to give the concept, design, construction and maintainence details of Talipariges based on knowledge accumulated from farmers.

Rainwater and You:

• contains ideas that anyone can use anywhere
• gives essential details about hte background of rainwater utilisation in urban, rural and islands
• gives designs for rainwater utilisation systems and points of maintenance
• gives examples of actual uses in individual homes, large buildings and community facilities

Mannu Mattu Neeru by Shree Padre gives examples of local knowledge and agricultural practices that have successfully helped overcome a drought situation in the state of Karnataka.

These age-old practices, which have been in use for generations now, have helped families survive in circumstances of accute drought and famine.