The water crisis in Bundelkhand cuts deep, intertwining with the region’s very identity. It’s a narrative fraught with pain and desperation, where each drop of water becomes a battleground for survival.
In the heart of this crisis lie stories of migration, tales of families torn apart as they seek refuge in distant lands. But it’s not just physical displacement that scars this land; it’s the anguish etched into the souls of those who remain. It’s the silent struggles of girls and women, forced to stand in long queues under the scorching sun, their dreams fading with each passing day.
For them, water isn’t just a necessity—it’s a lifeline, a precious commodity that dictates their every move. It’s a burden that weighs heavy on their shoulders, forcing some to abandon their education in pursuit of this elusive resource.
Sitting amidst the rustic charm of his kuccha house, Ashok Awasthi, clad in a vibrant saffron dhoti and a simple vest, speaking with Organiser recounted, “This village was drought-prone almost 20 years ago, and over 80 per cent of the families would migrate from here.” His voice carried the weight of years of struggle and resilience for water.
Organiser visited the village of Jakhni, nestled in the heart of Banda district, Uttar Pradesh, that was once a desolate landscape in the arid expanses of Bundelkhand. The soil bore scars of relentless droughts, with cracks so gaping that even a cow might stumble into them.
Yet, as I beheld the scene before me, it seemed almost surreal. Fields stretched out before my eyes, adorned with golden heaps of wheat, and ponds shimmered with life-giving water, surrounded by a lush canopy of trees. It was a transformation beyond belief.
An Oasis of Hope
Awasthi’s eyes gleamed with pride as he spoke of the village’s remarkable journey. “This was all done with community initiative relying on traditional approaches lost somewhere in history” he declared, his voice tinged with triumph, “an arid land has become an oasis of hope.” Against all odds, Jakhni had emerged as a beacon of hope, a testament to the indomitable spirit of its people.
Today, the village stands tall as a model for the nation, tackling water-related challenges with unwavering resolve. It is hailed as the epitome of Adarsh Swaraj Jal Gram, a water village where victory is not just a dream but a tangible reality.
Jakhni is a small village with around 1,600 people, mostly farmers. It’s in a rocky area called Bundelkhand, which doesn’t get much rain. Even when it does rain, the water mostly runs off instead of soaking into the ground because the rocks underneath are not very absorbent. This region gets between 800 and 1,300 millimetres of rain each year, but locals joke that like their children who often leave for better opportunities, the rainwater leaves too.
Awasthi reminisced about his childhood in Jakhni, recalling, “Water scarcity was daunting.” Having shifted to Gujarat for employment, he returned to his village only in the early 2000s. Now, Jakhni is a “Jal Gram” with a water council called Jal Panchayat. Awasthi is one of the 27 members of this council.
He attributes the village’s transformation to Uma Shankar Pandey, a water conservationist honoured with the Padma Shri Award in 2023. He also received the Jal Yodha Samman in 2020 from the Ministry of Jal Shakti.
Pandey, the brain behind the Jal Panchayat, envisioned and orchestrated Jakhni’s revival. Reflecting on their journey, Awasthi recounted, “Under Uma Shankar ji’s guidance, we embarked on a mission to reclaim Jakhni’s parched land. We began with constructing embankments, known as Medh Bandi, around fields to stem water runoff and prevent soil erosion. Then comes Neher Nirman, to direct the flow of water in the village.”
Speaking with Organiser, Uma Shankar Pandey shared his inspiration drawn from a water conservation seminar in Delhi in 2005, featuring Dr APJ Abdul Kalam. “During Dr. Kalam’s discourse,” Pandey recollects, “he introduced the concept of ‘jalgrams‘—villages championing water conservation. Instantly, I thought of Jakhni as the prime candidate for such practices.”
Community-Led Initiatives
Pandey relied on the age-old water conservation techniques embraced by Bundelkhand’s farmers involving medh bandi or Bund formation, and that was the foundation of his strategy. His task primarily involved engaging with the community and persuading them of the efficacy of these methods.
“My fellow villagers may not be affluent, but they are astute,” Pandey remarks. “Many initially hesitated, opting to observe the performance of our bunds for a season.” Eventually, only 10 farmers volunteered to undertake the additional labour of constructing bunds across 25 hectares of farmland. Fortunately, the practice yielded positive results, enabling the farmers to achieve a bountiful rice harvest without relying solely on rainfall for irrigation.
Notably, rice is harvested in regions with water in surplus, sowing and harvesting rice in Bundelkhand was itself a miracle.
The subsequent year witnessed a surge in bund construction, expanding to cover over 300 hectares. However, ongoing erosion necessitated substantial maintenance efforts.
Recognising this challenge, Pandey innovated by proposing the plantation of trees and even an additional crop of lentils on the bunds to mitigate erosion damage. This ingenious approach proved successful, leading Pandey to christen the initiative “Khet par med, med par ped” (bunds in fields, trees on bunds).
He expanded his efforts beyond mere bund construction, exploring various avenues to alleviate water scarcity. This included desilting and deepening existing village ponds, constructing new ponds near fields, reviving dry wells, and implementing tree planting initiatives.
Success Beyond Imagination
The most significant beneficiaries of these water conservation techniques have been the farmers, according to Awasthi. Following the construction of bunds in the fields, one farmer took the initiative to sow Basmati rice, a premium variety, in Jakhni. The endeavour proved successful, yielding a plentiful Basmati rice harvest. Despite facing challenges in finding buyers locally, they managed to sell their produce in Atarra at a profitable rate. This success story spurred many other farmers to follow suit, leading to a substantial increase in Basmati rice cultivation. By 2007, Jakhni’s farmers had sold over 500 quintals of Basmati rice at Rs 3800 per quintal.
Witnessing the remarkable rise in farm income, families who had previously migrated from the village returned. Awasthi proudly shares that the village now boasts seven revived ponds, aided by government support.
Additionally, abandoned wells have been rejuvenated, and a traditional practice known as “Gao ka paani Gao me, Ghar ka paani Ghar me” (village water stays in the village, household water stays at home) has been adopted. This practice ensures that water within the village is conserved and utilised effectively, contributing significantly to the restoration of groundwater levels in the region.
Presently, Jakhni features 33 wells, 25 hand pumps, and six perennially filled ponds, indicating the successful recharge of its aquifers. Banda district leads the state in the number of wells, with significant efforts made by the district administration in water conservation. In the first quarter of 2023, almost 800 wells were dug, while work on 2,552 others was in progress. Furthermore, the district administration constructed 4,200 bunds, established 200 new ponds, and implemented 4,500 soak pits during the same period.
Awasthi mentions that in addition to cultivating Basmati rice, they also grow wheat, lentils, vegetables, and various other crops.
Accompanying Awasthi was another elderly villager in his sixties named Nirbhay Singh, who elaborated on the remarkable progress Jakhni has made over the years. He reminisced about the village’s beginnings in water conservation efforts back in 2005, noting that while they were primarily young at the time, even teenagers like Raja Bhaiya Verma actively participated. Singh observed that now, even educated youth are returning to the village to engage in farming due to its lucrative returns. Currently, the village boasts 57 tractors, and on average, every villager, including those without land ownership, earns a minimum of Rs 2.5 lakh per season or crop.
A Model Village
The successful collaborative endeavour in Jakhni has emerged as a beacon for emulation by others.
Heera Lal, the former district collector, is credited with championing this idea’s dissemination from Banda to other parts of the state and even beyond. Having witnessed Jakhni’s success firsthand, Lal, in his capacity as the district’s top official, utilised available funds to propagate its water conservation model. This included initiatives such as bund construction, well desilting, pond construction, and more, throughout the Banda district. By the conclusion of 2018, according to the district magistrate’s office, the Jakhni model had been replicated in 470 villages across the district.
Lal took further action by urging farmers in Banda to construct contour trenches to intercept and detain water flowing downhill. Crucially, community members began convening regularly to address their water supply concerns. Lal elaborates, “In 2019, in collaboration with WaterAid India, I orchestrated jal chaupals [water budgeting meetings] across these villages to persuade locals that alongside groundwater extraction, they must also prioritise its replenishment.”
While the concept of water budgeting, assessing water availability and sustainability by monitoring its inflow and outflow, is not novel, Banda diverged from conventional approaches by fostering community-driven discussions in the village chaupal (central square).
In the summer of 2019, “I attended a jal chaupal in Mahuee, a nearby village to Jakhni. Using a water budget checklist devised by WaterAid, villagers meticulously documented their existing water sources, calculated their daily water consumption analogous to a bank statement, and assessed their efforts towards replenishing these sources” added Lal.
Lal recalls how these meetings not only raised awareness about prudent water usage but also galvanised communities to undertake numerous micro-projects aimed at recharging water in their localities. These initiatives encompassed the excavation of soak pits around hand pumps and communal water sources to redirect wastewater to the underground aquifer, rainwater harvesting from individual rooftops, desilting of ageing ponds, and the construction of contour trenches, among others.
Endless Records
Within a year, the campaign, named Bhujal Badhao Payjal Bachao (recharge groundwater, save drinking water), facilitated the creation of 2,605 contour trenches, approximately 260 wells, and 2,183 hand pumps, contributing to a water conservation capacity of 3,930 kiloliters.
Pandey told Organiser that the idea of ‘Atal Bhujal Yojna’ draws its inspiration from the success of Jakhni model.
This effort was acknowledged by the Limca Book of Records in February 2020 for constructing the highest number of contour trenches and organising the most jal choupals in a single month. Furthermore, the Banda district administration received the Smart Cities award in 2019 in recognition of this achievement.
Significantly, these endeavours yielded tangible results in water supply: Lal notes that by 2020, groundwater levels in Banda had surged by nearly 1.4 meters.
In the ensuing decade, the ripple effects of such conservation efforts reverberated. In 2016 and 2017, the Indian government rolled out 1,050 “water villages” nationwide, inspired by the Jakhni model.
Notably, the practice of bund-making has gained traction in Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and other states across India. Pandey attributes this widespread adoption to the model’s simplicity and replicability. “The ease of bund-making requiring only individual initiative and minimal public investment, coupled with its profound impact on groundwater levels, has facilitated its acceptance by both civilians and governments,” he asserts. Pandey’s contributions were recognised with the Padma Shri, India’s fourth-highest civilian honour, in 2023.
Water Conservation: Our Duty
Nevertheless, relying solely on bunds, soak pits, ponds, and rainwater harvesting techniques does not ensure resilience against drought. In recent years, Bundelkhand has experienced increasingly erratic rainfall patterns, with untimely showers wreaking havoc on crops. Climate change has also led to a decrease in overall rainfall, casting doubt on the efficacy of the colloquial saying in Banda, “catching the raindrops where they fall.”
Yet, these conservation practices signify a crucial stride towards water security, particularly as projections indicate that by 2030, global demand for freshwater may surpass supply by up to 40 per cent, leaving approximately 1.6 billion people worldwide without access to clean drinking water.
In the meantime, Pandey is gearing up to establish the nation’s first-ever Jal Pathshala within the upcoming year, emphasising that his mission is far from complete. “The class will amalgamate insights on water conservation and security from all corners of India,” he explains. “Instead of solely relying on academics and experts, I envision ordinary individuals with practical experience taking the lead in teaching.”
He queries, “In a nation like Bharat, where everyone is entitled to equal rights in all aspects, how has water transformed into a commodity to be bought and sold? This cannot be tolerated; water is the essence of life, and it must be preserved. I’ve dedicated my life to this cause, traversing nearly every district in this country. I firmly believe that the responsibility to conserve water lies with us, the people, and not solely with the government!”
“Persistence is key. We must continue constructing bunds in other regions and persuading more individuals about the significance of conserving every raindrop,” he asserts. “For water cannot be created—it can only be conserved for the benefit of future generations.”
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