Jalyukt Shivar Yojana

tankers

government

chief minister

Marathwada

Hiware Bazar

Horticulture

Four years ago, this column asked whether Maharashtra could ever become tankermukt. This was on the eve of the state’s Assembly elections, with campaign promises in full swing. That summer of 2014 saw more than 5,000 villages and 10,000 hamlets served drinking water by tankers. The state was reeling under a severe drought and the sight of water tankers roaming the parched villages had become common.Jump ahead to the summer of 2018. The official data from theshows that since 2015, the number of tankers has come down steeply. In 2015, atotal of 6,140 tankers were used, which went down to 1,379 in 2016, and further down to 366 in 2017. This year that number is 152 as per data from a week ago. Is this trend showing that the state is on its way to become tanker-mukt?Leave aside for a moment that this data is not yet fully audited. But since the government itself has released this data from its Department of Water Conservation, it is as authentic as you can get. Beyond data doubts, you can also ask a sample of villagers about their experience with water availability, and you get a remarkably positive response. Thehimself said that water table in most parts ofhad gone up by three metres, and that despite nearly 40% less rainfall in some parts, the level of crop production was the same. Other reports also corroborate the success of greater water availability state-wide.What has made this success possible? They say that success has many fathers and so it is with this tanker story. The chief minister launched the flagship Jalyukt Shivar Yojana (JSY) in December 2014. This scheme envisages apartnership between the government and citizens and companies, to engage in water conservation on a war footing. The basic insight was illustrated by the famous ‘Shirpur pattern’ which achieved miraculous increase in water availability in the Shirpur taluka of Dhule district.Of course, there have been numerous efforts on water conservation in the state, such as the Indo-German Watershed Development Project led by the National Bank for Rural Development (NABARD), or the project led by VS Pagay in Tasgaon taluka of Sangli which eventually led to Employment Guarantee Scheme. There are success stories from Anna Hazare’s Ralegan Siddhi, and Popatrao Pawar and his colleagues in villagein Ahmednagar. But since JSY is the most recent and the decline in number of tankers is dramatic, it must be acknowledged and given due credit.The philosophy behind JSY is captured in the Marathi phrase “paani advaa, paani jirawa”, meaning stop the rainwater from running off to the sea by making it seep deep into the soil. As illustrated by the Shirpur example, it is simply a matter of making the channels deeper, wider and longer.One of the key ingredients of JSY are the farm ponds. As per the government data, around 14,000 ponds were dug till mid-2016, and another 25,000 or so were under construction during 2016-17. The CM had announced a Farm Pond on Demand Scheme in February 2016. The ponds were dug with money from government schemes such as JSY, the NationalMission, or NREGA plus volunteer labour. One big impact of the ponds is easy availability of water, causing many farmers to switch to horticulture and cash crops.The JSY also has excellent partnership with citizens’ initiatives such as Paani Foundation, Naam Foundation, and numerous other NGOs and individuals who have passionately linked themselves to this work of water conservation and rainwater harvesting. There is also a Water Cup that villages will compete for, and the winner will be chosen based on objective metrics.Is JSY the only reason for the decline in water tankers? Of course not. The rainfall was much better in the past two years. Other irrigation schemes reached commissioning stage and took off fortuitously at the same time. The topic of water conservation received attention and funding at the national level as well, with the PM popularising the phrase “More Crop Per Drop”.And as with all government initiatives, the JSY is not an unmixed blessing, with one study expressing concern about the long term negative impact of the thousands of farm ponds that are being built under JSY. Other naysayers see it from a political lens and are unimpressed by the publicity and data.But be that as it may, Maharashtra has certainly shown the way regarding a drought-prone state tackling the most difficult challenges of modern times — water conservation.