REVIVAL
OF ARVARI RIVER
What
a Leader, and People can do.
SARASIJ
MAJUMDER
REVIVAL
OF ARVARI RIVER—
Arvari river is a small river, may be
the smallest, in the ALWAR, Indian state
of Rajasthan.
The 90 km. long river flows through the Alwar District
of Rajasthan. It got dried, and was
revived in 1990. It remained dry for 60 years.
The turnaround started in 1986, when
people of Bhanota- Kolyala village with
the help of Tarun Bharat Sangha, managed by Rajendra Singh, constructed a
JOHAD, (earthen check dam) at the source
of the dried river; following this, villages that lay in its catchment area, and
along the dried river bed, they also built tiny earthen dams, the largest being
a 244 mt. long and 7 mt. High Concrete dam, most of them were in the Aravalli
hills; eventually when the number of dams reached 375, the river started to
flow again in 1990, after remaining dry for over 60 years.
Villagers talk about Arvari's rebirth
as if it was the birth of a child. "Like a child, it, too, remained in the
womb as we started recharging the earth with water," explains Dhanua.
Indeed, Arvari's gradual way to a perennial life is similar to that of a child
learning to walk. In 1990, it flowed till October. In 1991 till January next
year. In 1992 till February next year. In 1993 till March next year. In 1994 it
flowed till April next year. But in 1995 the flow did not cease. It has been perennial
since.
The village-based NGO ‘Tarun
Bharat Sangh‘ (TBS) brought water
back to over 1,000 villages and revived five rivers in the province of Rajasthan that were dry or drying
up: the Arvari, Ruparel,
Sarsa, Bhagani and Jahajwali.
The number is increasing.
Together they have built over 8,600 Johads
– small, hand built, earthen dams – and other water conservation structures to
collect rainwater for the dry seasons. But they didn’t stop there. In 1998 the
‘Arvari River Parliament’ was formed to help manage the health of the river
into the future. This unique, highly successful body won a battle with a
bureaucracy in India with a reputation for slowness, combatted the powerful
mining lobby, and enabled villagers – including women and people from diverse
castes – to take charge of their own water management. Through discussion and
planning, sharing of information and collaboration, the needs and wants of many
different families who live alongside the river are balanced and compromises
agreed.
In 2004, the river was awarded the
`International River Prize’. And in 2013, an ‘Arvari River Child Parliament’
was formed to embed the water culture into the next generation.
In March 2000, the then President, K.
R. Narayanan visited the area to present the "Down to Earth — Joseph. C.
John Award" to the villagers. Rajendra Singh was awarded the Magsaysay
Award in 2001.
Due to Water harvesting methods, the
river has become a perennial river from seasonal one. To ensure that the Arvari
remains clean and healthy and also to solve internal disputes, the 70-odd
villages in the Arvari basin have also taking care of the Arvari River Parliament .
LESSONS:-
Two
lessons from this incident translate to other locations and across cultures:
First, the
physical return of water in a controlled way to an arid environment is possible
using low-tech, cheap, accessible solutions;
Second,
the guardianship of a natural resource can be achieved effectively by using a
communal parliament where all interests are represented equally and fair
decisions are taken.
FUTURE
There are more than 30 DRIED, or
DRYING rivers in Rajasthan, which I am sure, can be REVIVED this way.
CAN DRIED SARASWATI
RIVER BE REVIVED ALSO THIS WAY??
SURELY, A PROJECT WORTH CONSIDERING.
I have read about it, at many digital
sites and visited the RIVER site near Aravalli also, on my way to ALWAR last
year, early summer. But could not take a
GOOD PHOTOGRAPH due to local vegetation, Shrubs, BUSHES etc. by the river side. Hope to
revisit in this MONSOON at a different location.
SOME REFERENCES:-
https://www.instagram.com/andrew.millison/reel/CwZQwGvRnWU/#:~:text=Arvari%20River%20Restoration-,Check%20out%20the%20inspiring%20Arvari%20River%20Restoration%20in%20Rajasthan%2C%20India,River%20flows%20perennially%20once%20again.
https://rapidtransition.org/stories/nature-and-local-democracy-how-a-river-parliament-shows-what-community-control-can-do/
https://www.thehansindia.com/posts/index/News-Analysis/2016-06-13/The-rebirth-of-Arvari-River/234700
IMAGE: GOOGLE
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