 Hello everyone. Welcome to NPTEL course on rural water resource management. This is week eight lecture three. In this week we have been looking at the issues in rural water resource management especially from the schemes that are existing and the local agenda of participation with farmers and also stakeholders etc. We also looked at the UN definition of water security and what are the four themes where water security is assessed. We understood that it is not a single ownership or stakeholders perspective. There should be a combined holistic approach for water management. If one or two of these fail, if you do not acknowledge these partners in assessing and monitoring these rural water resources, then there is potential of the system to collapse. Let us move on further to look at what are the issues that we have noticed in rural water resource management. In today's lecture we will discuss about ownership. What is ownership? Let us define this word. When someone gives you a gift or for example for your birthday a gift is given. Who is the owner of the gift? Is the owner the person who bought the gift or is it you because you have in possession the gift? And that is the question which is being raised here when you talk about the assets. Remember last class we showed a map of where the water resources are placed by the government especially the Mandrega project. Under the Mandrega there is NRM and in NRM there is some water resource projects. So in the water resource projects the government has put the Mandrega money. However, there is no ownership of these structures. In the previous years before the Mandrega was given in as assets it was given as money started with 100 rupees and then now it has increased based on inflation. So when the government gives a farmer money then the money goes into them and they are the owner. But if the cost and then the pay which they give them the money which is given is based on the work which is done like making a tank for rural irrigation or storing water why is that not taken as ownership? So this is the question where the government also wants to know. We have given you a platform. We have given you the money and construction materials etc. Now we have constructed it but if you do not take care of it who is the loser? There is no rules and suggestions say that if we build this you have to take it ownership. Since the rules are not there people are still not sure who is the owner and or there is laziness and they don't want to see others getting the benefit because only some part of the society would be working on the water where others would be enjoying. So they want to be very sure that either all should participate as a rule or mandate or no one participates. Unfortunately, the latter is what is happening. No one is participating in most of these programs. Let's take some examples. So these wells you could see should be managed properly excuse me properly along the edges. If these routes and other obstructions happen then slowly the structures will break and then collapse into the well. So here's a well where the labor for digging the well hand digging and placing all these structures there is a labor cost was given as an NRM project to the farmers. They were paid for it but then if you don't manage it then who's problems? Same thing on this check dam also they've given you the money for the machinery the ingredients the concrete the rocks and cement. They've also given you a location and a labor to construct it the labor cost per day cost but after it is running for some years if it breaks down no one is taking care of and the Mandrega money now moves to the next asset. So after one asset it goes to the next asset next asset. They want to build many assets for water resource management but this one is a loss now all the money that has been put all the time that has been put is a loss. Another thing is it is built on government land for example this one is built on the river across the river and that river is owned by no one by the government. A farmer might have the land on this side. So this part of the land may be owned by farmer A and this part of the land may be owned by farmer B but in between the river and the buffers along the river or the stream is owned by the government you cannot encroach it. This is another reason like they don't want to get in because it is not on their land. So who owns these structures and maintains them is the most important question and that is what ownership means. On paper on record it is Mandrega assets it is assets which are paid by the Mandrega and it is the government assets and normally government assets are taken care by government. For example you have street lights you have roads if it breaks then you call the corporation office the city office and then they fix it if the bulbs are not coming up in the street you call them they fix it or they maintain it often. Even the divider in cities where it has flowers and plants is maintained by the government but here once it is built once it is given to the farmers not as a property but as an asset it has to be making by either and because the government Mandrega has to move on to the next projects there is no capacity built and it is not viable to build that capacity to maintain this. So it has to be the government or the local NGOs who help in making these structures. So government NGOs or government agencies construct them but then what happens they put so much time and effort and NGOs are very very important like that foundation here it is Marvi it was ACT all these foundations and NGOs who work on the ground for the people are getting affected because they see this in front of their eyes getting wasted which should have been taken care. So the long-term sustainability is not achieved it's not that the farmers don't know the benefit of it that is the other point when the water was flowing they could see that okay the water is ponding I can lift it for my irrigation when there's water in the well they could see they could access the water for domestic use then why not manage it why not maintain it is the question. The other ownership also okay so one side it is the maintenance and management by the locals who are actually using them and there is lack of ownership by agencies on the medium to higher structures the user structure might have changed example from irrigation to domestic use so in which circumstances that the ownership itself becomes a question mark is the question okay let's take a classic example of Bangalore. In Bangalore initially there was a lot of agriculture happening inside the city along the periphery etc but slowly when urbanization happened what happens to the rural lakes so there were lakes inside the city which was giving water to the agricultural field so it was managed by the agricultural department but once that land has been sold and urbanization happens then there is no mandate for the agricultural agency to maintain the lake then what happens the urban agency should take it up but suddenly a lake cannot be built and given to the ownership of the of the urban agency right so that is where now the lake stands without an ownership and that is what we are trying to tell here the user structure might have changed from irrigation to domestic use when it becomes domestic it is delta even mission when it becomes to irrigation it is agricultural department you see how they are two different sectors just for water okay you built a dam or small check dam or and the check dam is holding the water and then siphoning it into the tanks and filtration for drinking for example once it was irrigation and once the irrigation land has all taken up and groundwater has been used then this is more used for domestic use so now the irrigation department won't manage it because it is not their mandate just because it was once irrigation structure it is not their mandate which is compulsion to maintain it it is the domestic sector which is the delta even mission for example less budget for operations and maintenance this is where the agency have to give it out or just let it go and then go to the next less budget for operations and maintenance if you look at these structures there is a budget for labor there's a budget for the materials like sand, silt, clay, cement, rocks etc there's a budget for the engineers but there's no budget for maintenance because these projects have to close in two years three years for example they'll say build a check dam within one year this is the budget where is the budget to maintain it suppose it breaks after two years which budget should you put to repair it otherwise the whole structure is gone okay like we saw in the previous slide if one part of the check dam is broken the entire work objective of the check dam is gone and slowly the other parts also start to break so less budget for operations and maintenance are not thinking about that budget is an issue for water management. Project term and new projects as I said the agency is there for building check dams and they are not constantly looking for old projects and renewing it they're making new new projects because every year you get tax money and the tax money goes to Mandrega and the Mandrega goes to NRM so it's like us a cascading effect so they have less manpower for example a thousand engineers are there their goal is to go and build these water infrastructures and there's no capacity or team built for management and maintenance so it is on the stakeholders it is on us like academics and and faculties research centers to look at these and give it to the public and the agency government agency to repair and manage it so the need of the hour which means the urgent urgent need is role of NGOs what is an NGO for those who don't know much about it it is a non-governmental organization it is a non-profit organization okay which means they have a setup like a company a consultancy company but they do not take profit there's no profit which they have to record and then sustain in the system it is just for example it will be an office and with a lot of staff and volunteers they will collect money from the government and then they will do it for the public no profit built it is only the salaries which are as per the government rules and regulations the salaries are kept only that salaries they'll take so it is like a company which does not work for a profit there's no profit here okay so that is a non-profit agency and non-governmental is because it is not associated with a government sector however it works for the government projects so for example I make medicine as an as a company I'm making medicine and for I sell it to the government I sell it to the government and the government buys the medicine and distributes it to the public how the medicine helps the local how the medicine has to be administered the doctor cannot go everywhere and do it it is the role of NGOs that is how NGOs are in the sector and they're very very important because these are run by people who do not care about profits most of them I'm saying the most of the NGOs and it has a goal of rural development or development of the public development of the ecosystem for example there's an NGO for forest there's an NGO for public there is an NGO for animals birds dogs etc so many NGOs work with people on the ground and train them to build capacity so the role of NGOs have been very important in this capacity building the government officer who's making the assets the infrastructure check dams etc need not teach the public about the check dams their role is they get the money call the people show this is the check dam I'm going to build it they build it give it to the people and go to the next project but who's there to teach them about maintenance about forming together and using the water no one and that is not the role of the government so here is where NGOs play the role so I hope you understand that the NGOs is like a bridge between the public and the government agency they are well trained people most of them are well trained people educated people I work for an NGO for example before I came to IIT Bombay and this is one of the leading NGOs in India so it was very active working with the people on the ground to show what is water conservation how to use groundwater better etc so I'll show you some images on these and how you can think about water management from the perspective of NGOs which are the pillars in achieving the rural water management with the government and with the public because they don't they need not talk much between them however the NGOs know how to talk to the government agency and the NGOs know how to talk to the local people they sensitize them to understand the role of these water management schemes and infrastructure so the sensitization part or teaching part clarification part is done by these NGOs for example there's an NGO for studies education of girls etc what they do is they go to these remote villages tribal villages and set up a camp and then they do these teaching of classes and educational activities physical activities etc there are other NGOs who have health camps for rural regions because sometimes the rural people may not go to the hospital they're afraid but these NGOs go there and then say okay you have to have these vaccinations you have to have these medicines so it is a it is a very important role that NGOs play so they sensitize them they first talk to them they clarify all the doubts and then they get them on board for water conservation so it is their role to understand to make them understand these water management schemes and infrastructures train the locals to maintain these prices structures there's no price for this check dams however it is it is very very valuable because the farmers do not pay a price they're not going to play okay I'm going to give you money to build a check dam they're not paying all they're doing is using the benefits are they paying every month for the check dam not they are using the benefits and thinking it is free so it is not free that is what the local NGOs train them also they identify volunteers in the location who they could train and let them manage the water better why does this happen because the NGO also has to go to the next asset next village next district for example dawn foundation as I said they work in one area in madurai but if they said okay I'll only work in madurai then only the benefits are with madurai in south india then they work again to another location and then coimbatore etc etc vasan is a good NGO who which works with the udisha government for millets they are very very well known for providing you know training materials to grow millets etc but then if they say okay I only work in karnataka or where they are from then the benefits are not reached and there is no sustainable also for one check dam you cannot have one NGO sitting there so it is better to identify the volunteers train them and then just closely watch them or you have phone call often every month or so and then let them develop the system and then you go to the next system that is the beauty of an NGO's work better acceptance if trained by locals so the NGOs would train the volunteers for example there's a village of 100 people and then there are 10 percent of youth 10 are college going kids the NGO would talk to the 10 person and say I will train you on these water you go train the rest 90% of the population and then they will do now the 90% of the population would readily agree with their own local youth rather than an NGO or a government agency telling them so it is the goal of the NGO to find these volunteers make them understand the concept of water conservation and then they will take care of better monitoring the locals are there the monitoring is better the NGOs are there they will think creatively on how to monitor so for example when I was in the NGO we use satellites to monitor these activities of how the check dams are built how the water is being stored etc that is very very valuable data long-term capacity is built as I said the Wasan Dan Foundation if you go there readily people know it the villagers know it they don't know the government agency which built the check dam but they know the NGO who helped them to understand the check dam so that is the beauty it's not like taking credit but they make them understand so long-term capacity is built between the NGO and NGO directly tells this is built by the government we are there to help you and then the bridge is formed so there's long term bridges form and they also monitor them quite oftenly on all things are done so what are the ways forward moving on the best way for ownership is to have public participatory with NGOs where NGOs are able to train the public so understand that ownership was not taken because they didn't understand the system also they know how to manage a check dam for example they don't know how to build rebuild a check dam and it's broken so what do they do they just don't take care of it so that is where this public participatory the NGOs help a lot because they train but they won't do it they let the people do the work they're only there for training one example is this where NGOs call the volunteers so these are the local volunteers from the village and then the NGO person you could see is telling them how to use the water level meter how to look at the well and know the depth of the water well so that you know how much groundwater you use if you know how much groundwater is level is there then you know how much you can pump otherwise you'll just take out all the water you lose energy diesel pump and or you waste the water and you could see all the youth are participating from younger people school kids everyone will be there because they normally do these activities on a weekend let's take some case studies one is a tank restoration by Dhan foundation in south of it here you could see here that first they would go and talk to the public and say this area was initially a traditionally a tank a village tank which was catering for water now since the kings rules all went off that tank has been just there no one has taken care of it and the government as I said has a mandate only for some part of the tank not all the time so it is up to the people and the southern foundation went into the ground identified the volunteers got some money from donations and also government to help build the structure of the dam on the size of the tank on the banks the banks and all but they need labor so they brought the people saying that we will only work on the tank if all the for every person of every house have to come and help okay you could see all the locals helping and then now the water is rejuvenated people are happy they can readily use the water for their own village it's not like they're building it for someone else it is for them but they need that push and that gentle push is given by the NGO so another case study I'm going to show is from NM Satguru foundation which is also a very known well known NGO in Dahod Gujarat where I do have some field experience you could see that water was just wasted it was just going along the big big elevations just going down without getting stored in those regions and water is already less and if it is not sustainably checked or sustainably stored it just goes down and then goes as a loss to the system so what they did is they brought the community together they got some funds from their resources and then as I said donations volunteers but most importantly the government schemes etc they talked to the government and then they built these massive massive structures look at it they built this in 85 days along with the people and this indicating their interest involvement and ownership so what has happened is because they all of these locals help to hand build this check dam they equally have rights to use it everyone is enjoying the benefit and if something happens all these people who took part will come back again and they know how they built it so they know how to repair it okay so this is how beautifully NGOs can work on building a public participatory approach okay so public participation is called public participatory approach and also ownership once the public participates then the NGO will set back and say okay bye you take care of your check dam I'll go to the next check dam because there's a lot of barriers for work needed and when that happens these people would readily work on it and manage it this village people for example suppose they cannot solve the issue suppose there's a major engineering problem still they have the NGOs one number they know the NGO people they will just readily go to the office and then say we have this issue can you come and help us and they'll readily help us or the NGOs can connect with the engineers from the water resource department state or central government and then help to repribute initially the villagers didn't know who to ask if something happens and breaks they don't know who to ask to to solve these issues but now they know the NGO and the NGO has all the connections they go by they go by rules and regulation they cannot just build anywhere they have to get clearances from the government they have to notify all these water resource departments and then they do this so they have the connections and they know how to make the bridges between the people and the government so all this was built as I said through involvement and ownership it's not only building structures maintenance is an issue water long-term sustainability is an issue so how do you address it by building involvement ownership and long-term goals this is what this project has done so what also they told us now you've okay we've built the check dam we've built a long check dam water is being stored how can you use it and as I said it is a holistic approach it's not just storing the water so what they also did is typical soil and moisture conservation works have you being used along with the water conservation okay so soil for example they said okay it should be tilling base levels and on the sides you have to have buns to prevent the water from going and also prevent the soil from eroding to the ground elevations so they made these buns made sure the water stays inside the field made sure the soil doesn't get eroded by wind or by water flow and they have specified watershed development programs within the community all this was built along with the community so some of the NGO people would be highly educated PhDs or engineers, masters etc so they know how to do these and along with the traditional knowledge of the public both of these would share knowledge and then make these constructions and those would stand along for a long time and NGOs not only work on one aspect they try to cover the holistic aspect for example here they said okay we block the water we also do soil and water conservation so that we can have the whole benefit and it is for the community and program implemented by the community can do better if supported by local and government funds so local is your panchayat funds your local body funds and the government would be two types your central and state government there are central government money for example money which can be used for NRM activities and there is the state water department funds which can be used so there are funds which can be used to make these kind of activities they cannot pay for salaries for the locals because it is their own property their own village they're working for so most of the time they won't pay for salaries but they can pay for the instruments for example they're in a big jcp to come and dig these buns they need a cement work so those raw materials they can purchase that is where I'm trying to end this session as convergence of funds is necessary each rural entity can access available funds and missions which means there is a judgment mission for example for rural drinking water supply it mandates to have a tank or water tank on the top but the water has to go there and there should be water so the pump they'll give but where is the water and the water doesn't come there are some issues with the mission so you can use that part of the money to actually take care of these storage structures so that water can be stored and from the storage it can go to the tank and tank the tap okay where people can all use it for drinking and domestic use so this is a quick example I've given the possibility of these funds depend on the location and the government scheme which is already there the benefits from each one can be evaluated against common goals so here a common goal is storing the water and using it domestic use it can be agricultural use etc so for the storing if there's no funds we can tie it up with the domestic use which is gelgemon mission or the agricultural department mystery of agriculture and navigation to make these water resources more act for the rural village and a common goal is saving the water and using it for development and on continuation of the benefits through convergence of funds so this is the maintenance evaluation part so maybe gelgemon has money to take care of the tanks so that money can also the person who's taking care of the tank can also take care of the check dam which is storing the water putting the water to the tank there's one common linkage without the tank there's no water for the public without the check dam there's no water for the tank something like that analogy I'm saying need to understand the government's keeps in depth this is where I'm saying all these examples can be given but is it possible or not is there a line drawn by the government saying no check dam should supply water for the tank all these has to be looked at and that is the role of the government officer and the NGO so if you're in a village and you want to help identify good NGOs nearby identify the government agencies they will also recommend some NGOs who have worked in those areas and most of them are actually registered so and actually do a lot of work you can just quickly look at what work they've done they published reports books papers etc so there's a lot of examples we can give and I'll be happy to go through these examples in the next class until then thank you I will conclude here