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DROUGHT
ROLES AND PERSPECTIVES FOR NGO’S
DROUGHT
ROLES AND PERSPECTIVES
FOR NGO’S
A WORKSHOP REPORT
SEARCH Publications.
SEARCH 1990
This report could be reproduced on part or full, for educational
purposes. Kindly acknowledge source.
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PREFACE
I feel it is pertinent here to explain the background of this report. In
order to do that, one needs to share about the evolving roles of
SEARCH as a support institution. SEARCH, during its brief history
of 15 years, has undergone several changes, but it is important to
acknowledge here, two specific milestones which are very sig
nificant. When SEARCH was founded in the mid seventies, it focused
on providing opportunities for young people to get into development.
After 10 years of working with this as the main thrust, through a
programme titled 'Apprenticeship Scheme for Development
Workers', SEARCH changed its orientation in the year 1984. During
the next five years, between 1984 and 1989, the focus was on Human
Resource Development within NGO sector. It was through these
interventions with about 200 odd NGOs in the states of Tamilnadu,Andhra, Karnataka and Orissa that we became conscious of
the need for area analysis of specific regions and focusing on key
issues that dominate those regions. In Tamilnadu during the past six
years, we have been working with NGO partners in the districts of
P.T.T, D.Q.M, Madurai,Trichy and Kamarajar. These interventions
were at the level of people’s organisations, grass root level NGO
workers, middle and senior level staff as well as at the NGO leaders'
level. These interventions also brought us to an awareness of how
little we were focusing on the central issue of this belt,namely,
drought, through our trainings. So, with a view to evolve together with
NGO partners and people's organisations, a perspective on drought,
SEARCH began exploring its strategy of work. And in this context,
one of the steps envisaged by SEARCH was to bring the NGOs who
are active in that region together with environmental experts with
technical background, for an interaction, to a workshop. This report
is basically an outcome of that workshop.
As most of you would agree, putting together a workshop report for
a larger audience who were not part of the workshop is a challenging
task. The workshop followed its own rythm and process, but we were
convinced that the information generated from it needed to be
shared with a larger NGO constituency who would be interested in
the issue of drought and did not attend the workshop. But at the same
time, making sense to somebody who was not there, using basically
the same materials as were1 used in the workshop, was a difficult
CONTENTS
CHAPTER
CRISIS
I
DROUGHT - MANIFESTATION OF A LARGER
Introduction
A Socio-Economic Interpretation to Drought
- What Went Wrong In Sahel? - What Is Happening In Our Country
Today? - The Onslaught On Nature And Its Consequences - Green
Revolution Package - Exhaustive Water Mining - Drought - The
Problem With Myriad Faces Rainfall and Drought
- Rainfall And Monsoon - Can Forests Have Any Effect On Rainfall?
- Role Of Forests In Rainfall Cycle - Albido Effect - Some Case
Illustrations - Conclusion-
CHAPTER II
A BROADER CLASSIFICATION OF DROUGHT
Drought - Meteorological and Hydrological
Hydrological Drought
- Surface Water drought - Soil Water Drought - Groundwater
Drought
CHAPTER III RESPONSES
Introduction
NGO Responses and Experiences
- A change in approach - Drought- an issue to be tackled -
v
Technical Responses
- Social Forestry - Dry Land Farming - Water Shed Management
Eco Development - An NGO Experiment
- Beginning of an ecological perspective - Objectives and program
mes -Points to remember - Feasibility of new irrigation techniques Question of land holdings CHAPTER IV CHALLENGES, PERSPECTIVES AND NGO ROLE
- The Challenge before NGOs - A Geo-Political Perspective - Need
for Collaboration - Reintroducing Old Systems - Using Participatory
Action Research - Long term Perspective for Agriculture - Developing
New Systems of Water Conservation and Utilisation - Policy Re
search and Review - Tools NGOs could Use to Disseminate Infor
mation - Collaboration in Government Programmes - Developing
Community Assets - Need to Develop Relevant Technology - Focus
on Rebuilding Community - An Alternate VisionCHAPTER V SPECIFIC ORIENTATIONS FOR ALTERNATIVE
DROUGHT ACTION OF NGOS IN INDIA - A SET OF ’CRITERIA’
Glossary
Bibiliography
APPENDIX I
APPENDIX
PROGRAMME CONTENT OF THE WORKSHOP
II
ADDRESSES OF THE PARTICIPANTS
thing to do. Therefore, what followed was a compromise, using the
materials that were presented, debated and discussed during the
workshop, and at the same time, elaborating them with necessary
additional information from secondary sources, to present the report
in a more cohesive manner. Therefore this report does not match
with the sequence of events as it occured in the workshop. Nonethe
less, for a large part, it is based on the papers presented at the
workshop. It is important to mention here that this report will be
followed by another, which would be a compilation of the Par
ticipatory Action Research that has been initiated in the wake of this
workshop in this agro-climatic belt with ten NGOs.
We would like to mention here that we cannot claim to have covered
the topic exhaustively in this report. There could be several dimen
sions of the issue which may not be covered at all or inadequately
covered. Likewise, certain approaches may be debatable and we
are aware that there are different standpoints which could be in
variance with the views expressed here. We would like to consider
these as limitations of this report. It may also be pertinent to mention
here that the strength of NGOs in India, by and large, come from their
use of sharp tools of analysis, leading to the process of empower
ment of the poor and mobilisation of marginalised people. Often
NGOs use community organisation towards building up this process.
The underlying assumption of this report is that the alternative
drought action proposed here is based on the foundation of em
powerment and mobilisation of the marginalised people. Since this
report is basically aimed at the NGO constituency and the NGOs are
fairly well-founded in the empowerment process, this aspect is taken
as a pre-requisite and therefore not separately dealt with. It is our
firm belief that if this pre-requisite is not met, the approaches sug
gested in this paper will become mere technical solutions and not a
political solution. For, afterall, drought is a political issue.
F.STEPHEN
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
It is important to acknowledge here the support provided by
Gandhigram University and the Vice-Chancellor, Dr.Oza, in extend
ing their hospitality to us during the workshop and thus making the
workshop possible. We are also grateful to them for the recording
system which enabled us to put together the first draft of the report.
This report would not have seen the light of day, had it not been for
the continuous support and valuable suggestions made by the key
resource persons who attended the workshop. This manuscript was
corrected by Dr.Walter Fernandes, Dr.Meher-Homji, Mr.Bhat and
Mr.Malla Reddy, particularly pertaining to their respective sections.
Mr.Fatimson provided an overall critique and gave very useful com
ments.
At the second stage the report was critiqued by Dr.Badal Sen
Gupta, Consultant, EZE, who provided very helpful insights into the
inadequacies of the report and his contribution provided cohesive
ness to the report. The final draft v/as shared, besides the resource
persons, with Dr.David Mosse, South India Representative, Oxfam
India, Dr.Vijay Padaki, Professor, Institute of Socio Economic
Change, Bangalore and Dr.Badal Sen Gupta. Taking their useful
suggestions and comments, the report has taken its present form,
though we were constrained in taking all the comments and sugges
tions as we were still keeping the report within the frame of the
workshop. We want to record our sincere thanks to all of them for
their valuable time and contributions which went a long way in
bringing out this report.
We will be failing in our duty if we do not thank all the participants
of the workshop, whose active participation and contributions made
the workshop what it was. But we are not able to mention all their
names here for want of space. We sincerely thank everyone who was
associated with the workshop and in the compilation of this report in
one way or the other.
CHAPTER I
DROUGHT - MANIFESTATION OF A LARGER
CRISIS
1. INTRODUCTION
Drought is commonly understood to be a continuous period of dry
weather resulting in acute shortage of water. It is generally assumed
to be a natural phenomenon over which human beings have little or
no control. But how far is this assumption true? Analysis of data from
different regions of the country reveal that scarcity of water, food and
fodder have been occurring systematically over a longer timespan
and even during years of normal rainfall. Therefore it would be too
much of a simplification if we consider drought as just another natural
disaster which recurs periodically. Drought is the consequence of the
imbalance created by human beings on nature, on environment and
ecology. And the people who are the hardest hit by drought are the
poor and marginalised people who do not have the means to tide
over it and among them, the women and the children. Hence one has
to look at the problem of drought both from ecological-environmental
and societal standpoints to really understand it in all its enormity.
One without the other would not be ideal, for any effort for drought proofing has to take into account both these aspects.
2. A SOCIO-ECONOMIC INTERPRETATION TO
DROUGHT *
Drought is a global phenomenon resulting from graver socio
economic realities. The moment anyone speaks of drought or famine,
the names that come to mind instantly are Ethiopia and Sahel in
Africa. (Sahel is the group of African countries immediately to the
* Note : Dr.Walter Fernandes, former Director of Indian Social
Institute, New Delhi, looked at the socio-economic dimensions of
Drought at the workshop.
1
south of the Sahara desert.) These are two areas where drought and
famine wreaked havoc on the lives of the people, and the world
reaction to this devastating tragedy has been, by and large, the
carrying out of welfare measures. Drought and famine are generally
perceived to be natural phenomena, which call for welfare program
mes for those who are the unfortunate victims.
2.1 What Went Wrong in Sahel?
If we analyse the history of Ethiopia and Sahel, we can see that the
drought which occurred there was not natural but brought about by
human hands. These were once fertile lands where there was
balanced cultivation before the lure of foreign exchange made them
dependent on a single crop, namely, groundnut in Sahel and coffee
in Ethiopia. The population of Sahel was mostly involved in farming
and animal husbandry. There existed a mutually beneficial relation
ship between the farmers and the nomadic pastoral groups there.
After the harvest, the farmers would allow the cattle which belonged
to the nomadic pastors to graze on the fields and also provide them
with some food and money. This arrangement ensured that the
farmer got the requisite manure for his fields and the nomadic pastors
and their cattle survived.
Into this balanced atmosphere, the French colonial government
came with groundnut as a viable commercial crop which could ensure
regular supply of cheap cooking oil to France. Likewise, Ethiopia
started growing coffee and exporting it to Europe. It is not difficult to
see what went wrong after this. These countries had to import
machinery and other manufactured goods from Europe. The prices
of these products kept rising while that of groundnut and coffee either
remained stagnant or rose only marginally. To be able to import
manufactured goods and machinery (some of it even luxury items
like automobiles meant for a few rich), these countries had to keep
increasing the land under cultivation of the commercial crops, viz.
groundnut and coffee. More and more agricultural land which was
till then used for staple food production was brought under the
cultivation of these crops. Pasture lands were closed. The fields were
no longer accessible to the nomadic pastors to graze their cattle.
Forests were destroyed either to grow staple food or the commercial
crops or to graze cattle. This affected the rainfall pattern too.
2
Thus, because the rich countries are not prepared to give a better
price for the agricultural produce on which the poor countries are
dependent, the latter have to put more and more of their agricultural
lands under commercial crops, which can be sold in the Western
market while their own people are being deprived of their basic
necessities. Forests are cut down and environment and ecology are
being destablised. While, the benefits of these commercial crops are
monopolised by a few who could appropriate more land, destroy
more forests and cultivate more and more cash crops and thus earn
more foreign exchange. The well-balanced systems of managing
resources in the environment -land, forest and water - which ensured
that these resources were renewed and preserved for posterity,
have been destroyed. This is the root cause of drought, be it in Sahel,
be it in India.
2.2 What is Happening in Our Country Today?
We see that the same thing, may be in a different way, is happening
in India today. Here environment and ecology are destroyed not
merely for export earnings but also,perhaps principally,for consumer
needs (and greed) of the upper classes. To cater to these needs of
the upper and middle classes in India and thereby make enormous
profits and earn foreign exchange through exports, which again is
used up mostly by these same classes, a few industrial groups have
taken control of most of the available resources and are exploiting
these resources. As Gandhiji said,"there is enough in nature for
everyone’s need, but not for anyone’s greed.” What has happened
today is 20% of the country’s population have taken over the
country’s resources, depriving the remaining 80% of their needs.
2.3 The Onslaught on Nature and its Consequences
Traditionally, each community in India had its own systems of
distribution and utilisation of resources, be it water, land, forest or
fisheries. These systems were based on two principles- distribution
and renewal. Though the hirearchies of caste and position in the
communities played their role in the distribution of resources,
everyone at least got their basic needs. Secondly, the resources
were preserved and replenished for the use of future generations.
3
But with the infiltration of modernisation into the villages, a depar
ture occured, from these traditional systems, which led to a total
collapse of the natural balance between man and nature. The
Dominant Development Ideology, professed, propagated and prac
ticed by the elite in India, and the corresponding praxis has led to a
development process in which the rich and more powerful reallocate
the nation’s natural resources in their favour and Modern Technology
is the tool that subserves this process.1
Today, land and forests are being indiscriminately destroyed. More
and more land is used for industries, mines, offices. The poor are
deprived of the land for cultivating food crops like millets, ragi, jowar,
and maize etc, which are replaced by trees like eucalyptus which go
to serve the needs of the big industries. Forests which yielded forest
produce and livelihood for a large number of people, who could
somehow manage to live earlier, are deprived of their livelihood
today. The forests, the land, the water, the common property are
being destroyed. The natural balance between rain and cultivation
and food is being toppled, in the quest for profit by a very limited
class.
2.4 Greers Revolution Package
The Green Revolution has led to increased cultivation of a few crops
in a few areas by a few individuals. Though it raised agricultural
productivity and augmented production, it had adverse effects on the
lives of the poor. It led to greater landlessness among the poor,
whose lands were increasingly taken over by the rich farmers. With
more and more land being brought under Green Revolution technol
ogy, resulting in greater mechanisation, there was a decline in the
labour use which rendered many of the rural peasantry jobless and
induced large scale migration to the cities.
Another consequence of the Green Revolution package has been
a considerable reduction in the production of coarse cereals and
pulses which constituted the staple food of the poor people, giving
way to monocultures of commercial crops. The new high yielding
varieties of seeds together with the intensive use of chemical fer
tilisers and pesticides drained the land of its fertility and the natural
soil nutrients. It destroyed the traditional agricultural systems which
4
had inherent in them, methods of conserving soil and replenishing
its nutrients.2
2.5 Exhaustive Water Mining
The same is the case with water resources too. Around 2,00,000
borewells are being bored in this country every year and the water
level has gone down from 50ft-60ft to 130ft-150ft due to the exhaus
tive water mining . The groundwater has been extensively used not
only for consumption needs but also to serve the needs of the
industries whose demands are far greater. This would also mean that
only the rich can use water and it is the poor and more particularly
the women among them who are the sufferers. They are deprived of
the water they need for survival. Since the water level has gone
down, open wells dry up. The panchayats are controlled by the big
farmers who can afford tube wells and hence the irrigation tanks and
common ponds in the villages are neglected and their maintenance
not looked after. The small farmers are thus deprived of water for
cultivation and women, of drinking water. The latter have to either
depend on unsafe water or walk long distances.
Some participants expressed concern about sea water reportedly
seeping into wells in some places in the drought-prone central belt
of Tamil Nadu. Replying to this, Dr.Meher-Homji said that due to
exhaustive pumping of groundwater, this could happen in the coastal
areas. Even in interior areas like the Deccan, it has been found that
due to over-irrigation, soil becomes saline.
2.6 Drought - the Problem with Myriad Faces
Drought in India is a complex problem with its roots everywhere
and it has become almost a permanent feature on our national scene.
Drought occurs even during years of normal rainfall. Therefore, its
causes cannot be any longer attributed to natural factors alone.
Droughts and famines were always there, but they have become
disastrous for the poor today because there are no resources to fall
back on; the resources of land, water, forests, have all been taken
away from them; the resources are being destroyed for the luxuries
of a few. Forests are treated just as raw materials. Crops are no
5
longer grown for survival needs, but only to make the maximum
profit.This has resulted in the poor being deprived of their land, their
water, their crops, their livelihood and even their survival systems.
It is the poorest groups, the tribals, the dalits, the landless groups
and more particularly the women among them, who are being
destroyed in the process.
3. RAINFALL AND DROUGHT
*
Drought can be defined in many ways and each of these definitions
can also become very subjective. But, according to Dr. Meher- Homji,
to identify drought-prone areas,the criteria that can be employed are
the amount of rainfall received and the number of rainy days. And
the degree of drought - proneness can be decided on the basis of
climatic conditions, agricultural pattern, use of water and irrigation
facilities etc.
In this context, it would be pertinent to examine what is rainfall and
what are the factors affecting it.
There is a difference between dry period and drought and the
duration of dryness varies in the Indian sub-continent from zero
months in one region to almost 12 months in another region. The
factors affecting the rainfall in any particular station are many. In
Tamilnadu.the semi-arid zone in Ramanathapuram and Tirunelveli
districts receives only scanty rainfall. The particular topography of
the zone and its position in relation to Srilanka play a role in reducing
the rainfall to the area.
3.1 Rainfall and Monsoon
Here, we have to distinguish between rainfall and monsoon. Mon
soon is a planetary phenomenon. There are many factors which
affect the monsoon, the temperature of the sea being one among
* Note ; Dr. Meher-Homji, Dean of the Salim Ali School of Ecology
and Head of the Department of Bio-climatology, Pondicherry Univer
sity, gave a scientific discourse on the subject of rainfall and deser
tification and excerpts from it form this section.
6
them. If the temperatures are high in the sea, the monsoon will be
good, but if the sea temperature is low, then it augurs for a poor
monsoon. Though the basic features of the monsoon are repetitive
annually, there are certain anomalies which affect the occurrence of
monsoon rains. "EL NINO" is such a global phenomenon, occuring
every two to seven years which results in the failure of monsoons.
1987 was an "EL NINO" year, which witnessed unprecedented
droughts
Rainfall may either be of orographic origin caused by the effect of
mountains or of convectional origin, produced by the warming up of
the ground surface. Convectional rains are often the most affected
by the presence or absence of forest cover.
3.2 Can Forests have any Effect on Rainfall?
It is true that the amount of rainfall and its distribution has an
important role in determining the pattern of vegetation. But do the
forests affect rainfall pattern?
This question could be answered either by studying the rainfall of
two groups of stations which are climatically similar, out of which one
group has been subjected to heavy deforestation in the recent past
and the other not subjected to such heavy deforestation or by
studying the rainfall pattern at the same station where deforestation
has taken place on a large scale over a period of time. Meteorologists
argue that deforestation has no pronounced effect on rainfall and that
in India, rainfall does not show any trends but fluctuates around a
mean value from year to year. But when this argument was
scrutinised further it became apparent that the scientists while
making this observation had taken into account only big cities like
Bombay and Delhi which had lost their forest cover long back.
Studies were conducted at 30 stations in the Western Ghats on the
basis of several criteria. Hosanagara in Karnataka was a densely
forested area before the Lingnamakki reservoir was constructed. But
now, in this area, the forest cover has been largely destroyed and the
rainfall pattern here shows a considerable reduction in the number of
rainy days as well as the amount of rainfall received, following the
deforestation. On the other hand, at another station where there has
7
not been any considerable change in the extent of forest cover, very
little variation in the rainfall pattern has been observed.
Historical records show that in Ooty, the number of rainy days in
the 5 year period from 1885-1890, excluding the monsoon months
(June - August) was 416 days but in recent years this has come down
drastically due to the effect of deforestation and the subsequent
afforestation programmes of planting Eucalyptus and Australian
Acacia in the region.
3.3 Role of Forests in Rainfall Cycle
There are two aspects of forests which come into play in the rainfall
cycle. One is as generator of rain and the other, as receptor of the
rainfall. Meteorologists are of the opinion that forests have a greater
role as receptors of rain than as generators.
Forests obstruct the wind and make the clouds rain. The presence
of pollen grains and organic debri in the air act as very good
condensation nucleii and help to increase the rainfall. But due to
deforestation and soil erosion in its wake, soil particles would be
floating around in the air, which, being inorganic matter, need very
low temperatures for ice formation and condensation. Dust particles
also increase the subsidence or the sinking motion of air and result
in decreasing rainfall.
Forests preserve a good amount of the rainfall in the soil allowing
water to percolate down into the soil and maintain a high water table.
But, deforestation has dire consequences on the water retention
capacity of the soil. Forests also keep soil temperatures down, at the
optimum level.
Forests have another important role to play in the transpiration of
water from the leaves and the evaporation of trapped water from the
soil. So, with a good forest cover, dense, moist clouds are formed
which can cause rainfall, but in the absence of sufficient forest cover,
the winds would be dry. Transpiration, without doubt, is important in
the rainfall cycle, but meteorological drought is caused more by the
absence of a cooling mechanism which causes the moisture to
condense into rain rather than the absence of moisture in the air.
8
3.4 Albido Effect
Another part played by the forests is in reducing the "albido" effect.
"Albido" is the amount of solar radiation reflected back into the
atmosphere. A dense forest cover absorbs most of the solar radiation
and as a result, vigorous thermal currents are set into motion, which
give rise to rain. But without the forest cover, much of the solar
radiation is reflected back into the atmosphere which results in
heating up the higher strata of the atmosphere. This would augment
the sinking effect of air, which could lead to desertification of the land.
Needless to say,the amount of convectional rainfall also, would be
much less.
3.5 Some Case Illustrations
The hills in Chota Nagpur were once densely forested and used to
enjoy heavy convectional rains which favoured the tea gardens on
the hill slopes. But now due to deforestation, convectional rains have
been reduced to such an extent that it is no longer possible to grow
tea in that area. The Nilgiris have been subjected to large scale
deforestation to make way for various plantations and as a result,the
forest cover here has been greatly reduced and so also the rainfall.
Recently, there was a move to put more forest land in the Nilgiris
under tea cultivation, which met with heavy opposition and conse
quently was stopped. There is a similar move to bring forest land
under tea cultivation in some districts of Orissa which if carried out
could prove disastrous to the severely drought-hit districts of
Kalahandi and Koraput.
In South America, some serious experiments have been conducted
to study the effect of forests on rainfall in the Amazon basin,which is
a densely forested area. It was found that 50-75% of the rainfall here
was recycled.
3.6 Conclusion
Evidences from various parts of the world as well as from India point
to the fact that forest cover does have an effect on rainfall.
9
NOTES:
I.Dr.Sen Gupta, Badal 'Alternative Drought Action ForumsTowards NGO Response to the Phenomenon of Drought in India'.An
unpublished work on Drought, based on a series of workshops on
the subject held in 1987/88.
2.Kothari, Smitu 'Ecology vs. Development: The Struggle
for Survival'Social Action Oct-Dec 1985 Vol 35 No 4
3.Quraishi, M.A. 'Drought Strategy'(1989) B.R.Publishing Cor
poration (New Delhi) pp 88-89
10
CHAPTER h
A BROADER CLASSIFICATION OF DROUGHT
1. DROUGHT- METEOROLOGICAL AND HYDROLOGI
CAL
Various theories have been advanced to establish the correlation
between several factors and drought, but still in common parlance,
the term drought is very closely associated with rainfall and its failure.
Under monsoonic weather conditions, as in India, determining what
exactly can be counted as drought is a complex issue." For official
purposes of declaring drought, a 25% to 50% departure from normal
rainfall is considered moderate drought, while a departure greater
than 50% is considered serious drought"." But drought is no longer
a phenomenon occuring only in the arid regions with scanty rainfall.
High rainfall receiving areas like Kerala and Goa have also been
demanding drought relief, of late ". This necessitates a look into the
different forms of drought and the various causative factors for it.i
" The special situation in which rains do not arrive in time or in
adequate quantity is only one form of drought - meteorological
drought. There are many other processes through which scarcity
gets generated". What needs to be understood in this light is the link
between meteorological drought and hydrological drought - by which
we mean the depletion of water resources with regard to surface
water, soil water or groundwater systems. All these sources are
inseparable and are very much interlinked through the water cycle .
For instance, perennial rivers get their water from the rains during
the rainy season which recharges the groundwater and maintains the
river’s flow throughout the year . Hence any disturbance in the
water cycle could lead to hydrological drought.
Note: We felt that in addition to the discussions held in the workshop,
we need to provide a detailed classification of Drought and its various
contributing factors to present a more comprehensive picture of the
problem; hence this chapter.
13
As we have dealt in detail with meteorological drought in the first
chapter, in this chapter we shall endeavour to look into the factors
causing hydrological drought, which can be further divided into
surface water drought, soil water drought and finally groundwater
drought." Deforestation and hydrological destabilisation in the moun
tain catchments of rivers can make the rivers and streams dry up in
post - monsoon periods, causing surface water drought. Soils can
lose their effective moisture conserving capacity leading to soil
water drought again, inspite of a normal rainfall and good catch
ment. Excessive pumping of groundwater can create an almost
irreversible groundwater drought even if rainfall and soil conditions
are good ". We will also include in our analysis how these resources
have been depleted by the intervention of modern technology into
our eco- system and its linkages with drought.2
2. HYDROLOGICAL DROUGHT
2.1 Surface Water Drought
Surface water drought is the drying up of surface water sources like
streams and rivers. This type of drought occurs due to the destruction
of hydrological stability of the water source in a particular area. It
has been proved scientifically that the major cause for such a
situation is the reduction in forest cover.3 A classic example for this
is the drying up of Cherrapunji due to failure in maintaining the
ecological process which allows rainfall to infiltrate and percolate
below the ground. With the destruction of the hydrological capacity
of the mixed natural forests in the catchment, the 12,000 mm. of
rainfall in Cherrapunji instantly runs off, accentuating the flood situa
tion in Bangladesh. As soon as the monsoon is over, springs and
streams start drying up and water scarcity haunts what was once the
wettest spot on earth.4
2.1.1
Replacing Catchment Forests by Plantations
A major reason for the surface water drought is the indiscriminate
destruction of forests in the catchment areas of rivers. And replacing
these vanishing forests by profitable monoculture plantations of
14
commercial species like pine or eucalyptus has contributed to the
failure in maintaining the natural water cycle in catchment areas.
Studies have pointed out that pine and eucalyptus fail to provide
adequate defense to the soil against the direct hit of the rain drops
during intense storms. Their ecological instability also comes from
their very poor contribution to humus formation. Eucalyptus planta
tions take away a major portion of the moisture remaining in the soil
through evapotranspiration. As a result of the cumulative impact of
these processes over 10 years, the water yield of experimental plots
in the Nilgiris showed a significant decrease when the natural shola
forests and grasslands were replaced by eucalyptus plantations. 5
2.1.2.
Mining and other Causes
" Other causative factors for surface water drought are ecologically
hazardous mining, reckless road construction, overgrazing of lands
in the catchment areas and construction of big dams. In South India,
iron ore mining in the Western Ghat watersheds of Tungabhadra is
creating a situation of drought by reducing base flow and increasing
the silt load in the river".
2.1.3.Big Dams - How Viable Are They?
Construction of Dams was intended to provide irrigation and en
sure more food production . But studies show that 3/4ths of the
country has in no way gained from the water resources stored in the
dams and also confirm the fact that dams have neither effectively
controlled floods in the country nor has the drought protection ex
pected from them been met." The reason why inspite of such heavy
investments these dams are not able to perform as expected lies in
the non-ecological foundations of the engineering structure based
approach. At the basin level no attempt has been made to improve
'in situ' water conservation while a small fraction of the total agricul
tural land has been blessed with excessive water supply, ensuring
the most inefficient use of water for irrigation. The overall efficiency
of water use in large dams is of the order of 35%-40%. Instead of
seeing 'in situ' water conservation and smaller dams as complemen
tary to big dams, they were seen as inefficient competitors. This
non-ecological approach has resulted in excessive silt inflow into the
large dams and reduced water holding capacity. Intensive irrigation
based agriculture in India, thus, by virtue of its all-out dependence
15
on non-local inputs, will not be able to ensure food and nutrition
security on a long term basis
" This of course should not lead us to assume that storage of water
by dams and its transfer is altogether inefficient. Water needs to be
stored. But the form, scale and period is a matter still to be optimized
on ecological grounds. Without such an effort, the crisis of surface
water drought independent of rainfall will further deepen ".
2.1.4.
Surface Water - A Decreasing Resuorce
" Year - round availability of surface water is not only essential for
irrigation but it is the only source for large scale supplies to the
urban-industrial sector and for hydro-power generation. Surface
water drought, thus, undermines all these activities. The reason has
been that water resources development in India has been limited to
utilization and has not touched ecological husbandry ".6 Thus there
is an increasing competition for a decreasing resource.
2.2. Soil Water Drought
Soil water drought means non-availability of water in the soil which
is essential for plant growth. All soils do not have the same resis
tance to drying up and need different water inputs. Organic matter
increases water holding capacity and hence soils rich in organic
matter do not dry up quickly. In India, the soil water balance had
been efficiently maintained with the use of canals, anicuts, tanks and
wells which provided water for ecologically suited crops. But when
large scale canal irrigation system entered the agricultural scene, it
brought along with it a qualitative change in crop selection,increased
use of organic fertilisers and pesticides and need for frequent irriga
tion.?
2.2.1.
The Effects of Green Revolution
" The Green Revolution package of improved seeds, heavy inputs
of fertilisers, pesticides, water, energy, machinery and agricultural
credit - much of it deliberately subsidized to stimulate production led to astonishing productivity increases in parts of Asia and substan
16
tial foreign currency earnings from the export of commodity crops ".8
But the very policies that brought these benefits have led farmers
to practices that can have severe environmental consequences.
" The intensive irrigation needs of Green Revolution agriculture have
created a largely wasteful water requirement in the hope of increased
food production in the limited areas where this irrigation has reached.
The ecological impact of such irrigation has been, in several areas,
large scale water logging and development of wet deserts in fertile
agricultural land and increased salinisation. Further, this agriculture
is so precariously dependent on irrigation that any delay in supply,
either due to actual water scarcity or due to mismanaged distribution
will enhance serious soil water drought ".9
2.2.2.
Chemical Fertilisers and Pesticides
" To maintain soil fertility they excessively apply subsidized chemi
cal fertilizers which run off the land and pollute streams, lakes and
estuaries. And they have come to rely on heavy chemical pesticide
spraying rather than on an integrated approach to pest management
that is more effective and economical in the long run ".10
2.2.3.
Degradation in Dry Land Farming
The Green Revolution package apart from affecting the land and
crops has also changed the cropping pattern in many areas which in
turn destabilised dry land agriculture. " Since irrigation could not
reach all agriculture fields and irrigated agriculture preferentially got
full national financial support for inputs, farmers focused their atten
tion on irrigated lands. Dry lands suffered from lack of attention
which led to the degradation of dry land agriculture ".11
2.2.4.
Less Organic Matter in the Soil
" Loss of drought resistance was further enhanced by the reduced
crop residues that go back to the soil as organic matter. Inorganic
fertilisers and intensive irrigation create the problem of ’lodging'. As
a solution dwarf varieties with much less non- grain biomass produc
tivity have been introduced ".12 Hence all the above discussions go
17
to prove that the present day drought and desertification are the
results of lopsided technology intervention into our eco-system.
2.3. Groundwater Drought
Groundwater is the major source of our drinking water. People
living in arid and semi-arid areas had a traditional system of harvest
ing rain water in a series of small tanks in order to enhance ground
water recharge. Whenever there was a failure of monsoon or rain
the groundwater was an important source to face the water shortage
for them.
2.3.1.
Increased Exploitation of Groundwater
But this scenario changed when energised pumps and credit for
purchasing them came in along with the green revolution package in
large quantities and that contributed immensely to the rapid depletion
of groundwater. The use of groundwater for agriculture increased
phenomenally from the late sixties onwards due to the advent of high
yielding crop varieties, mobilization of institutional resources for
financing the programmes and stepping up of rural electrification.
2.3.2.
Groundwater Drained off by Borewells
" Most groundwater utilization in India is from the shallow aquifer
zone with depth less than 400-500 feet. While pumps have been
distributed liberally to encourage irrigation in arid and semi- arid
areas, the close hydrological link between the local surface water
sources, dug wells and shallow aquifer borewells, have not been
given due importance. As a result, while drought is getting mitigated
for the farmers growing cash crops, energized pumpsets are creating
new drought for marginal and poor peasants by draining down the
water table to below their reach. This phenomenon has become so
pervasive in the hard rock areas of Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra
Pradesh, etc. that large areas have been black-listed to stop
groundwater over-exploitation".i3
18
2.3.3.
Sugarcane Cultivation Affecting Groundwater
A concrete case study of groundwater depletion is given below to
make clear how modern technology contributed very much to this
process.
"In Maharashtra, depletion of groundwater can be directly linked to
the expansion of energized pumpsets, particularly to irrigate sugar
cane. While sugarcane is cultivated on only 2% to 3% of
Maharashtra's land, it consumes several times more water than the
other irrigated crops. This has necessitated the intensive use of
groundwater leading to drying up of wells, both shallow and deep.
The sugar factories have been actively supporting their shareholders
in deepening their borewells. As a result public wells and shallow
wells belonging to small farmers have run dry. During the Sixth Plan,
15,302 out of 17,112 villages with water problems were provided with
water, leaving only 1,810 villages as problem villages. Rapid deple
tion of groundwater resources has, however increased the number
of problem villages with no source of drinking water to a staggering
23,000. This tremendous scarcity is clearly linked with the over
exploitation of groundwater for sugarcane and repeated failure of
food crops. The government, refusing to recognise the role sugar
cane is playing, cites drinking water scarcity as the reason for
increased grants for water development and failure of food crops as
the reason for drought relief".14
2.4. Conclusion
To conclude, it could be said that drought is not a phenomenon
associated with rain alone ,but arising out of several man-made
factors as we have described in the above four categories of drought.
Our attempt here is only to provide a brief introduction to the
causative factors of drought; but there are several studies and
reports which could be of help for further references, which have
been included in the Bibliography.
19
NOTES:
1. Dr. Bandyopadhyay, J. 'Ecology of Drought And Water Scarcity’
Need For An Ecological Water Resource policy , Research Founda
tion For Science and Ecology , Dehradun, India, pp.1-2.
2.
ibid.p.3.
3.4.5.
ibid.pp.7-9.
6.7. ibid.pp.12-15.
8.10. Welsh, B.J. 'Poverty And Environmental degradation’
World Resource Institute, Washington, pp.27-28.
9.Dr.Bandyopadhyay, J. op.cit.p.16.
12.
11.
ibid.pp.16-17.
13. ibid.p.22.
14.ibid.p.26.
20
CHAPTER III
RESPONSES
1. INTRODUCTION
The response of the Government to drought and the varied
problems arising from it has been mostly relief-oriented and conse
quently the programmes too, by and large, fall into the category of
relief and welfare measures.
" The responses of the Government are largely relief based
programmes unrelated to causes and character of drought politicisation of drought, enlargement of public distribution system,
enhancement of State intervention/control and increase in subsidy
and loans leading to greater dependency of the people to the Govern
ment ".1
2. NGO RESPONSES AND EXPERIENCES
Some of the participants who had been working in the area for quite
a number of years shared their experiences. Most of them said that
they had had a relief oriented approach to drought earlier.They dug
wells and deepened the existing wells.They tried to provide alternate
employment to the people and thereby check their migration to other
areas and cities. They also organised the people into sangams and
encouraged them to take up the general issues of their villages.
2.1 A Change in Approach
But slowly, some of them realised that these were all short term
solutions and decided to change their approach to the problem of
Note: Since we did not go in depth into the aspect of government’s
approaches and programmes during the workshop, it has not been
covered extensively in this document.
23
drought.One organisation found out that there was sufficient amount
of rainfall in the area, but the water was not conserved or managed
properly .They felt that this could be done only through the develop
ment of the watershed. Another organisation started organising the
women and educating them on the inadequacies of the government
programmes. Yet others felt the need for evolving a policy plan that
could be implemented by the government.Some members elucidated
how they were giving training to the people on technical aspects by
involving experts. Awareness building on drought was also con
centrated on. One participant spoke about the problems he en
countered from the government and the rich people who tried to
create problems by instigating caste conflicts among the people,
while efforts were on to develop a micro watershed.
2.2 Drought - An Issue to be Tackled
At the end of the sharing what became apparent was that they have
all recognised drought as an issue that needs to be tackled to
alleviate the condition of the people. But the reality and magnitude
of the problem had not struck home for a few - they were still talking
about digging borewells to combat drought. Much importance was
also given to mobilising the people towards empowering them. But
with migration rampant in the region, mobilisation was a task difficult
to fulfil. Mobilisation only if it goes hand in hand with drought proofing measures, can check migration.
3. TECHNICAL RESPONSES
3.1 Social Forestry
Social forestry is the most talked - about measure of the government
to try and set right the ecological balance. With the issue of environ
mental conservation gaining importance all over the world the need
to conserve forests has been recognised by our government also.
Afforestation appears to be a very logical solution, as it tries to
reconstitute the forest cover that has been destroyed.But the affores
tation programmes as they are carried out today leaves one with
many questions regarding their feasibility. They may lead to green
24
deserts rather than providing a safety valve against the ecological
disaster looming over our heads.
3.1.1
Social Forests- the Ideal and the Practice
A forest should consist not only of trees, but also of
plants,creepers,shrubs,bushes and an undergrowth of lesser plants
and grasses.The trees should have economic and social relevance
for the immediate society.A forest of mixed species would provide
the region with food,fuel, fodder and various other means of living.
Such a forest would ensure that the soil-moisture would be retained
and soil erosion prevented and would rightly justify the word "social
forest", because it sustains the neighbouring rural society. But
today, social forestry efforts have been more or less limited to the
planting of monocultures like eucalyptus, which do not provide any
of the requirements of the rural people. The people are robbed of
their food, fuel and means of survival because of these social forestry
programmes. These trees do not offer shelter from the sun or rain
nor do they prevent soil erosion, nor provide manure, not to speak
of their dubious role in further depleting the groundwater resources.
Their only use is in providing timber for the industries, which fact
leaves no doubt about the class that benefits from the social forestry
efforts-the industrialists and the rich powerful class. Where therefore
does this leave the people who are already suffering from the
after-effects of the ecological imbalance? Where they always were at the receiving end of further marginalisation by the government
programmes.
3.2 Dry Land Farming
While tackling the current crisis of water resources, one has to break
away from the traditional approach to water resource management,
which is mainly a legacy left behind by the British agriculture and
irrigation experts who made us dependent on large canal systems
for irrigation. Much before the arrival of the colonial rulers, agriculture
was thriving well in the dry areas here. Sophisticated water manage
ment and agricultural techniques which were evolved particularly for
the dry areas, protected the land fairly well from soil water and
groundwater droughts in these rain-fed areas, which constituted a
large portion of the country’s land. Even today, about 70% of the
25
cultivated area in the country is dependent on rains and this area
produces 42% of the total food production in the country.
But the Green Revolution technology has largely neglected these
rain-fed areas and their development giving priority only to the areas
of already assured irrigation. Though Green Revolution helped in
achieving self sufficiency in food grains, we made no breakthrough
in dry land farming and as a result, the farming practices which were
very much suitable to the dry areas fell into rapid decline.2
It is time we rediscovered the dry land farming techniques which
were used by our forefathers and took efforts to promote them. The
positive aspects of the indigenous wisdom of land and water
management and the cropping systems in dry areas should be made
the starting point of the new water resource policy and not the
assumption that it is only through the intensive irrigation based Green
Revolution agriculture that we can feed our people. Our water resour
ces policy must encourage ‘in situ' conservation of water as against
the large dams.
The development of micro watersheds, contour farming, contour
ploughing and cropping patterns like mixed cropping are a few of
the dry land farming techniques which had been in use in our country
earlier and they need to be encouraged and fostered so as to fulfil
the present day requirements of dry land agriculture.
3.3 Water Shed Management *
In our country, 2/3rd of the land is still dependent on rainfall for
cultivation. To mitigate the impact of drought and to improve the
productivity of dry land areas, the development of micro water sheds
appears to be a plausible solution. This has been taken up seriously
by the Government and water shed development programmes have
been initiated in many of the states. The Karnataka Government has
* Note : Mr.K.V.Bhat, from the State Water Shed Development Cell
under the Government of Karnataka, explained the objectives of the
Water Shed Development Programmes undertaken, particularly in
Karnataka and how they were carried out.
26
started 20 watershed development projects in various districts to suit
the 10 agro climatic zones in the state. The projects envisage the
augmentation of water resources on an integrated basis with situa
tion specific treatment.
3.3.1
Soil Erosion and its Effects
Cultivation on the non-arable lands and hillocks leads to the erosion
of top soil from the ridges down to the valley. This could give rise to
sheet erosion in places and sometimes, lead to formation of ravines.
As a result 20-25% of the cultivable land would become non-cultivable.Soil erosion is also a factor which causes agronomic drought on
account of the poor moisture retention capacity of the soil. Each year,
in India, Rs.8000/- crores worth of soil nutrients are lost due to
erosion which is nearly 300% above the tolerance limit for maintain
ing the productivity. This should be a matter of serious concern to
us, as it would definitely have an impact on the agriculture scene as
a whole, a few years from now.
3.3.2
Watershed and Its Objectives
Watershed can be defined as the area having a particular drainage
point. The objectives of watershed management can be briefly
summed up as conservation of soil and rainwater and sustaining land
to use based on its capacity. This could be achieved through i)
development of arable and non-arable lands ii) evolving alternate land
use systems for marginal and submarginal land iii) in-situ conserva
tion of rain water. This programme is primarily people-oriented and
the development and implementation of such a plan is carried out
based on the people's preferences.The selection of treatment is also
made on their consent from among the available alternatives.
3.3.3
How Water Shed Development is Initiated
Prior plans would be made for developing an area, considering the
preference of the people, down to the last detail and development
activities would be carried out in accordance with this plan.The
officials, before planning a programme for a particular village, visit
the village and meet the villagers together. In the first meeting the
villagers/beneficiaries of micro watershed are explained about the
programme, the approach, the benefits which they can get out of the
27
programme, their role in it, etc. Then they ask the villagers tor their
opinion on how the area should be developed. They study those
suggestions which would come from the villagers and after that they
go to each of the fields and farms along with the farmers and study
their situation. Then, they prepare the treatment which they present
to them in the second meeting. In this programme, the people’s
participation is given top priority unlike in many other programmes.
People are involved at every level right from the beginning and all
the community aspects are dealt by them. Once the land is
developed, it becomes the duty of the farmer to maintain the private
developed land.
3.3.4
Land Treatment
The treatment starts with the ridges and goes down to the valleys.
In order to protect the top soil on the ridges, trees or plants are grown
wherever there is top soil and this vegetation binds the soil. It also
provides fodder and develops a good canopy. Going down the slope,
if the soil is better, block plantations or forestry development are
initiated there,with plants having varied uses to the local people.
Contour trenches or "V’ ditches of *5
4m
0cm
in size are dug
at the rate of 500 trenches per hectare. These trenches help in water
harvesting and checking of erosion.The water shed would be avail
able for underground recharging of water at a very low cost. Trees
are planted on these trenches at the rate of 4 plants per trench. These
trees supply fuel, fodder, food and also provide a good canopy. The
block plantations, once developed, would give the people fuel, fod
der, and minor fibre which they can harvest at various intervals. One
of the plants, either economic or some fruit yielding variety would be
retained in the trench permanently to develop a good canopy as well
as check soil erosion (due to splash effect).
An alternative option in submarginal lands is to grow agave plants,
which find extensive uses in various fields. The cultivation of this
plant has been found to be very economical. Employing an agri-horticultural system of cultivating fruit trees like mango, amlaetc., is also
found to be helpful in developing marginal land and economic in the
long run.
28
3.3.5
Measures to Conserve the Run-off Water
Once the non-arable land is treated, diversion channels should be
provided which would take away the excess run-off water to natural
nallas or percolation tanks. These channels reduce the inflow of
water from non-arable to arable land which would also check the
erosion in arable lands. The excess water is diverted and conserved
in water nallas through percolation tanks or by means of any water
harvesting structures like check dams, which would be highly useful
in rainfed areas to increase the ground water recharges . The water
collected in such structures can also be used to give life saving
irrigation to crops and to rear fish which would provide additional
income to local people. In the arable lands the graded bunds are
stabilised with vegetation and it would have a wost vier to take out
excess water from the field to the waterways. The waterways are
also laid between the fields to make provision to harvest from the
field and to lead to farm ponds. The water so harvested is used in
peripatetic irrigation.
3.3.6
Cultivating the land
Before cultivating the arable lands, the first step is to level the
humps and depressions on the land. Then the farmers are asked to
cultivate along the contours, and lay out small section bunds. These
bunds are stabilised by planting vetiver grass or salosantha hemat.
3.3.7
Increasing the Productivity of Arable Land
All these treatments form part of an integrated approach and are
expected to increase the infiltration of water into the soil,thereby
improving the availability of moisture for crops. The productivity of
arable lands could be improved by the following 4 steps (1) ensuring
availability of water to plants, (2) enhancing the availability of
nutrients, (3) improving the greater character of plants and (4)
following better cropping packages. All these four factors are taken
care of in water shed management to enable the farmers to realise
the impact of this approach, explained Mr. Bhat, who represented the
Karnataka Water Shed Management Cell.
29
3.3.8
Some Critical Questions
Answering questions from the participants, Mr. Bhat said there was
no ground for any possible conflicts with the forest department, as
the watershed management authority was entitled to develop those
areas,which were notified under the gazette and they could develop
those areas,even if they came under reserve forests, without destroy
ing any existing vegetation. (The situation could be different in Tamil
Nadu.) He also made it very clear that under this project, no irrigated
land need to be developed. As for the cost component, the develop
ment charge which would be elicited from the farmers would be
proportionate to the extent of land which needs to be developed for
each farmer. The participants raised serious questions about who
would benefit from these programmes ultimately, with the land
being as unequally distributed as it is at present. Mr. Bhat conceded
that there could be a benefit of site which would go in favour of some
of the farmers, like for instance, if the higher land is being developed,
the person who owns the land below would also enjoy the benefit of
it.
He went on to say that the people themselves know how to conserve
and preserve the forests and the environment,but they need to be
provoked a little and their thinking developed on those lines.He gave
the example of a village near Ahmednagar, where the whole village
collectively took up the watershed management programme and a
new awareness was growing among them that water was the com
mon asset of all the villagers. In another village in Tumkur district,
the villagers themselves decided to stop their goats from grazing in
the forest land, having realised that they had to allow the vegetation
to grow. He was of the opinion that there was an increase in the
standard of living of the people in the developed area due to improved
farm production, increased employment opportunity and augmented
water resources. This view, however, was challenged by some of the
participants in the workshop.
30
4. ECO DEVELOPMENT - AN NGO EXPERIMENT *
RDT is an NGO working in the drought affected district of Ananthapur in Andhra, where some pioneering work in combating drought,
both from sociological and tehnical angles, has been initiated. They
are working with 15,000 families. The main crop in the area, now, is
groundnut. There is hardly any forest cover left in the region, which
is a frightening reality.
4.1 Beginning of an Ecological Perspective
When RDT started their work in 1979, the focus was very much on
community organisation, education, community health, women's
development and vocational skill training. This continued till 1986,
when the programmes were analysed and it was found that there was
a pronounced impact on the lives of the people in all the aspects
mentioned above - health, literacy, nature of work, leadership among
women etc. But following three years of continuous drought in 1984,
1985 and 1986, there was a regression in the impact. There were
starvation deaths and large scale migration. At this time, RDT
realised that if the problem of drought was not attended to very
seriously, all the other programmes would come to nought. Drought
was the important issue in the area and this realisation prompted
RDT to start working with an ecological perspective.
4.2 Objectives and Programmes
The objectives of their work were to minimise the extent of drought
and more importantly to enhance the poor people’s capacity to
withstand drought. They are involved in experiments related to soil
and moisture conservation and putting up water harvesting struc
tures like small percolation tanks and taking steps to preserve the
precious top soil, which has been very badly depleted. The rainfall
* Note : Mr.Malla Reddy, Assistant Director, Rural Development
Trust (RDT), Ananthpur, presented at the workshop RDT’s experien
ces of combating drought.
31
in the area is very low and so it is vital that the rainfall be harvested
in the area where it falls. Though the programme of watershed
management includes both target and non-target people, special
programmes have been designed for the target people, promoting
dry land farming practices among them, such as contour ploughing,
contour bunding etc, to name a few and making compost which can
be used in the place of chemical fertilizers which are quite expensive
and at the same time, very harmful. They also promote horticulture,
particularly cultivation of mango trees which are well suited to the
environmental condition there and kitchen gardens, which could
provide an alternative source of income in case of drought or crop
failures.
Under waste land development farm forestry, they promote the
cultivation of local flora, those trees which were growing in the area
earlier,like neem, tamarind, soapnut etc, and useful to the people,
cultivated in areas where cultivation of groundnut or food grains is
not possible. They are also negotiating with the government to assign
hillocks which have been denuded of all vegetation over the years
to the local communities for cultivation and afforestation. In two
places, the government agreed to let the community own the land or
at least claim the fruits of their labour for themselves. Surprising
ly,50% of the vegetation they had planted was surviving even after
the first year. But, as far as the drought programmes are concerned,
they are still in the initial stages and the progress is very slow,
considering the resources and labour spent. They also realise that it
is necessary to relate to others who are facing similar problems even
in other regions and together work out newer options.
4.3 Points to Remember
Two important points were made by Mr. Malla Reddy, who ex
plained the programmes of RDT. One, unless we attend to the
problem of drought in a drought-prone area, all our efforts in any
other direction would be in vain. Two, it is important to identify those
with whom we are working. For the government and others, the
priority is land and its development. But for us, who are working with
the people, the poor people, unless they are made part of the
development process, all the work would be futile and this process
32
should involve creating awareness at the micro level with a macro
perspective.
4.4 Feasibility of New Irrigation Techniques
Referring to the new methods of irrigation like dry irrigation,
sprinkler irrigation, etc., he said they need to be explored further to
see whether the introduction of such methods would benefit the poor.
Technology is often a tool in the hands of multi nationals, which they
wield for furthering their interests and exploiting the poor.
4.5 Question of Land Holdings
The question of land development becomes difficult when the land
holdings of the rich are also involved. But in such situations,local
solutions have to be found and in some cases, there could even be
dead ends. But we have to work through those difficulties and arrive
at solutions.
33
NOTES:
I.From an unpublished document on the workshop, "Alternative
Drought Action(?): Conceptual Perspectives, Strategic Op
tions, Challenges and Limitations".Udaipur, June 1988
2. Quaraishi,M.A. ‘Drought
Strategy’
B.R.Publishing Corporation, New Delhi.pp.19-21.
34
(1989)
CHAPTER IV
CHALLENGES, PERSPECTIVES AND NGO
ROLE
1. The Challenge before NGOs
What is the solution? Today what is being done by way of measures
to combat drought is relief, relief that gives rise to some employment
and consequently wages. But these relief programmes more often
than not, further destabilise the ecological balance, thus giving rise
to more drought and resultant poverty. None of these measures
tackle the root causes of drought. Therefore,what we need today are
measures for drought - proofing, measures that would help in rebuild-’
ing the resources, in re-establishing the ecological balance.
This has to be done by reviving the bio-mass around us- the trees,
land, water, animals, birds, human beings; but mere revival will not
be enough because the poor do not have access to the resources.
So the revival of the resources should go hand in hand with the
establishment of a new distribution mechanism, an ownership pat
tern that would give back to the poor the livelihood that was taken
away from them as a community. The community should take charge
of the resources and rebuild the resources and with that the ecologi
cal balance. This could be the only solution. And that is the challenge
before the voluntary organisations today.
2. A Geo-political perspective
NGOs need to develop a perspective based on agro-climatic belts
and a common strategy to deal with and tackle an issue of this
magnitude. This would mean recognising the fact that drought
cannot be combated by people working individually to try and arrest
its impact. As part of the strategy, a perspective plan should be
evolved with definite guidelines to facilitate collective action and that
plan would need a collective and sustained effort to make it work.
Such a collective effort would be possible only if there is common
37
understanding of the problem and cooperation among the various
organisations operating in the affected areas.
3. Need for Collaboration
This calls for collaboration; collaboration between various organisa
tions, or rather, social activists who can bring the community together
for a common cause and get the community to act on it, to work
together with research institutions, technical institutions and
mobilise these human resources to act together for the revival of the
surroundings and the community.
Drought is a colossal issue and cannot be tackled by bringing about
a change in the 40 or 50 villages that an NGO works in. It has to be
taken up by everyone within the agro-climatic belt to bring about
change. The voluntary organisations have to identify their strengths
and work together with others so that they could complement each
other and thereby strengthen themselves. Secondly they have to
understand the magnitude of the problems created by drought, most
important among them being migration and the impact of migration
on the lives of the people and more particularly on the women. Thirdly
they have to take the assistance of support institutions and univer
sities and along with them develop a common perspective and plan
to combat drought.
Not only should there be collaboration between NGOs but also
among the people’s organisations of the particular belt. This has to
be facilitated and encouraged by the NGOs, at least initially.
4. Reintroducing Old Systems
NGOs need to deal with the causes of drought and try to
reintroduce the coping mechanisms which the weaker sections have
been deprived of, such as the well-conceived and well-carried-out
systems for the maintenance of ponds and tanks which had been in
prevalence in the earlier days. There was a definite inter- relationship
between the people, land and water, which we are sadly losing or
have already lost today. For example, earlierthe people used to desilt
the village tanks every year. The silt used to be utilised for thatching
or as manure for the fields. The people used to take charge of the
38
resources themselves and meet their needs as well. Now with no
mechanism to cushion the harshness of drought, they have become
totally dependent on government relief for their livelihood.If the
present situation needs to be changed, it is essential that these
long-forgotten mechanisms for coping and survival be ressurected
in today's context.
5. Using Participatory Action Research
These traditional systems and mechanisms can be brought to light
using Participatory Action Research, where the people themselves
are the researchers and researched, both. This could be an effective
methodology to work on the issue of drought where they could, on
their own, rediscover the traditional systems of water conservation
and management. It can bring out the impact of drought on the land,
on agriculture and the people. It could highlight the impact of migra
tion on women, children and the dalits on the one hand and on the
other, it can bring to light the traditional systems for preserving the
soil, the kinds of trees that were grown, crop patterns, and systems
of agriculture.
6. Long Term Perspective for Agriculture
In the same vein, there is a need to develop a long term perspective
where agriculture is concerned. Our lands have retained their fertility
over the centuries because of the judicious cropping pattern of our
ancestors. We also need to take the same precautions so that the
land will be available for future generations.
The cropping pattern of the drought-prone areas should be care
fully looked into and those crops which require less water and help
in replenishing the water table and increasing the moisture in the
atmosphere, need to be increasingly popularised. Crops should be
such that they provide food for the people and fodder for the cat
tle.Considering the urgency of the situation, some hard decisions
may have to be taken, regarding the eating pattern of the people. As
one of the NGO leaders pointed out, high yielding variety paddy
brings in more income but it also brings with it a lot of extra expenses
like the cost of fertilisers,pesticides etc. Added to this, they provide
very less fodder so the farmer has to buy it, which is not the case
39
when normal varieties of paddy are cultivated. Scientific innova
tions should not look at production alone, but at the needs of the
people too.
The NGOs have to try and evolve a common agricultural pattern for
an area making use of the expertise of the various resource agencies
and of the people themselves. Only then will they be able to influence
the government when it introduces a programme like sericulture
development, which would not provide the people with any of their
needs like food, fodder or fuel nor would give them a steady income.
The value of their produce in suh a case would be determined by a
market alien to them and they themselves would be alienated from
their land as it affects the fertility of the soil.
7. Developing New systems of Water Conservation and
Utilisation
Today, in the name of development, concentration is on individual
tube wells, most of them owned by rich farmers.Tanks and other
community resources are badly neglected. The national water policy
itself lays much emphasis on the construction of large dams, with
dire consequences to the lives of the poor. Legislation seems to be
reinforcing this trend towards the monopolisation of common resour
ces by the powerful individuals.
We need to realise that borewells are not the answer to our water
problems. They will only worsen the situation. We ought instead, to
develop new systems of water utilisation and conservation, or rather,
bring to light the old methods, which have gone into disuse.
8. Policy Research and Review - How and Why
Policy research and review is another area that the NGOs should
focus on. This could become absolutely necessary in situations
where the policies adopted by the government are in conflict with the
interests of the poor people. To illustrate the point further,as one
participant pointed out, the government could easily introduce a
lucrative plan to install sugar factories in a drought affected district
under the guise of providing employment to the people. And the
consequences such a policy would have on the people’s lives would
40
be to cause more misery and hardships. The meagre water resources
of the area would be exhausted and the land would lose its fertility
rapidly. And all the benefits would accrue to the industrialists or the
rich landlords. On the sociological side , there would be migration
and community and social life would suffer. Worst of all, the produce
of the land would not be sufficient to feed the people. In such cases,
the NGOs have to take a clear stand and pressurise the government
to review its policies. Another case in point could be the new National
Water Policy (1987). Its original draft did not mention women even
once, though they are responsible for keeping the household sup
plied with food and water, in the present division of labour.
While taking position on any policy which adversely affects the
poor, NGOs need to be armed with sufficient concrete data. Taking
sugar cultivation for example,there should be adequate data to show
how precarious the ground water level is due to indiscriminate
exploitation for the crop, using tube wells, that could well have been
financed by the industrialist, the rate of migration, the hardships
caused to the people on account of migration, especially to the
women,the loss in fertility of the soil etc. In order to carry out policy
research which would unearth the required data, the NGOs can
collaborate with the technical and research institutions in their
respective areas. The findings of any research, or any relevant
information for that matter, should be shared with the people, and
that can help bring about social action, by mobilising the people to
protest against policies that are against their interests.
9. Tools NGOs could use to Disseminate Information
Appropriate methods should be used to disseminate information to
the rural poor people to lead to any kind of mass action. Street theatre
could be one medium. Other popular modes of communication like
folklore, village plays, dances, villupattus etc. can be used effective
ly to create awareness among the people about the ecological
crisis,the need for afforestation, conservation of soil and water, the
dangers of tapping ground water limitlessly and so on. These are
simple media that the people can comprehend easily and the use of
these media in creating an environmental awareness among the
people can help bring about a people’s movement for environmental
reconstruction.
41
10. Collaboration in Government Programmes
Any action, to be really productive, calls tor collaboration with the
Government. It is unfortunate that we, NGOs, often work in isolation
from other agencies. As far as Government is concerned, NGOs tend
to take an either-or position. They may either take an anti-Government stance and not cooperate with the Government at all, or blindly
follow without challenging the perspective or rationale or approach
of a particular Government programme. Both these positions seem
to be unwise.
The government when it introduces a project like social forestry
which has been acclaimed by scientists to be one of the solutions to
tackle the causes of drought, it is up to the NGOs to collaborate with
the government on this programme or not. By working together, they
could influence the choice of trees or organise the people to do it so
that the benefits of the forest go to the community surrounding the
forest and cater to their needs. If there is no collaboration, it is the
people who stand to lose. NGOs should also point out the disparities
in the policies and functions of the various departments and try to
bring about a change so that there will be coordination and therefore
efficiency and effectiveness, in the formulation and implementation
of the programmes for the poor.
11. Developing Community Assets
But it is also necessary to develop the common assets of the people
so that they will be able to support the programmes. For instance.it
is essential that grazing lands for the cattle are developed, or else
the people will have no option but to allow their cattle to graze on the
saplings under the social forestry programme.
12. Need to Develop Relevant Technology
Every technology has its own environment and context. Western
technology might not be adequate for our needs. We should try to
modernise our local technology and traditions in collaboration with
our technical institutions to suit our needs. It would be the job of the
NGOs to familiarise these technologies to the villagers.
42
13. Focus on Rebuilding Community
While the technical aspects are important, re-building the people’s
community has to receive the first priority. The concentration in soil
and water management and afforestation programmes cannot be
primarily on techniques.The most important aspect that should con
cern us in afforestation programmes,is what is planted and who has
access to it and how it benefits the community.
It is very important, to examine how drought is perceived, whether
it is from a purely technical point of view or from a sociological point
of view. Drought could be seen as a problem in itself and dealt with
technically, presupposing that once the problem is solved, the
benefits would naturally go to the poor. But this is a very wrong
assumption which has been proved false time and again in our own
experience in tackling various problems. A purely technological
solution can, on the other hand, further intensify the existing ine
qualities because the basic problem centres around ownership, not
technology.
14. An Alternate Vision
In all our efforts, we should never lose sight of the people who are
our focus - the marginalised women, the children, the dalits and the
marginal farmers and landless labourers. The programmes like so
cial forestry, water shed management, should not become instru
ments in the hands of the powerful to further marginalise the poor.
This necessitates a realignment in the ownership and power struc
tures. This can be brought about by using participatory pedagogy as
a tool. This is a long term vision but our immediate task can be
providing alternate employment to the people so that migration and
further land alienation is arrested and people can take part in this
process. Only the poor woman/man’s attachment to the land can
arrest drought. The real caretaker of the land and the environment
can only be the poor woman/man because to them, Earth is the
mother.
43
CHAPTER V
SPEC8FSC ORIENTATIONS FOR ALTERNA
TIVE DROUGHT ACTION OF NGO’S IN INDIA A SET OF ’CRITERIA’
-by DR.BADAL SEN GUPTA
CONSULTANT, EZE
I. Alternative Drought Action shall be based on community’s and
people’s action.
1. Alternative drought action of the NGOs in India should emerge
from or build upon the initiative of the people. It should be
decentralised, community based and multi-dimensional, social and
economical action of the organised poor at the micro-level.
2. All alternative drought action should be based on people’s vision,
facilitating and ensuring people’s action at all stages of planning and
implementation.
3. All assets created through alternative drought action program
mes shall be for the entire community of the marginalised people, to
be owned and managed by them.
II. Alternative Drought Action shall be directed to the most
neglected eco-regions and to the most marginalised societal
groups.
4. Alternative drought action of either single or several NGOs, to
be a societal action, should ideally attempt to relate to and cover
eco-regions coinciding with administrative (geo-political) areas.
45
5. Alternative drought action of the NGOs in India should be
directed to the most severely drought-affected areas. Thereby,
priority should be attached to those areas which, in the present
inter-regional power context, are perpetually the weaker and
neglected ones.(e.g. Orissa compared to Uttar Pradesh or Gujarat)
6. NGO-related alternative drought action should be exclusively
directed towards the most marginalised groups, among them to
marginal and small farmers and to the landless.
7. Alternative drought action should primarily relate to Dalits and
Adhivasis.
8. Among the marginalised, the primary focus of the drought action
in India should be on WOMEN and CHILDREN.
III. Alternative Drought Action shall be multi-dimensional and
an integrated cultural, social, political, economic and ecological
action.
9. Alternative drought action of the Indian NGOs should necessarily
attach high priority to appropriate ecological measures, e.g. affores
tation, dry-farming, soil and water conservation, etc. Integrated into
it, should be efforts for improvement of the structurally determined
social, economic, cultural and political situation of the poor. Thus,
efforts towards enhancement and consolidation of people’s or
ganisations and bargaining power, people's education, people’s selfdetermination ability, people’s cultural identity etc., should be an
integral part of the action. These should be reinforced by appropriate
measures to meet the basic needs of the poor including their energy
needs, should go hand in hand with regenerative and promotive
ecological actions.
10. Alternative drought action should include measures to
counteract land-alienation, distress-sale or perish of the cattle and
the deterioration of the debt situation and of the present strength of
the organisation of the marginalised people.
11. Alternative drought action in India should concurrently take up
water resources mobilisation, water resources conservation and
management, soil conservation, afforestation and other measures to
46
counteract soil-water, surface water and ground water drought (e.g.
Micro Watershed Management, Pani Panchayat, etc). Particular
care should be taken to avoid ecologically harmful over-exploitation
of ground water. In principle, all these measures (including the
agricultural practices, cropping pattern,etc.) should be ecologically
regenerative, preservative and ideally promotive.
12. Alternative drought action in India should include massive
educational and training efforts with regard to the above require
ments, both at the level of the NGOs as well as particularly, at the
level of the people in the villages to build up and strengthen people's
own ability to take appropriate steps to face, counteract and live with
drought.
IV. Alternative Drought Action shall contribute to social change
and to social justice in favour of the poor and marginalised.
13. Ideally, all alternative drought action measures should con
tribute to the improvement of the socio-economic status of the
marginalised people. In any case, it should prevent deterioration of
the present status.
14. Structural change, justice and participation are basic funda
ments of alternative drought action. If environmental and ecological
demands are the unavoidable over-riding emphasis, definite steps
should be taken to safeguard the interests of the marginalised or to
compensate effectively the socio-economic disadvantage created.
V. Alternative Drought Action shall counteract the onslaught
of the present dominant development ideology and praxis of the
elite.
15. Alternative drought action of the NGOs in India should essen
tially counteract the praxis of the dominant Modernisation Ideology.
It should attempt to re-establish and/or secure the social, cultural,
political and economic sustainability of the poor in human dignity as
well as their autonomy and self- determination with regard to their
total environment. These could be approximated or accomplished
by:
47
- A gradual and realistic departure from the Green Revolution
Package and subsequent renewal, adaptation and promotion of
traditional irrigation and drainage systems, soil and water conserva
tion methods, cropping patterns, dry farming, organic manuring etc.
Thereby, it will be necessary to build up appropriate/alternative
socio-organisational systems to ensure upkeep, maintenance and
management of the infrastructure re- established or newly built up
(particularly drainage and irrigation systems).
-A consequent redirection of the productive activities in the field of
agriculture, forestry, and village crafts and industries, first to meet
the subsistence needs of the people in the area or region, reducing
gradually and realistically the dependency from the organised and
exploitative capitalistic market system. Appropriate forms of ex
change among the marginalised people within a region should be
promoted with systematic promotional and counteracting efforts
against the market forces.
-Application of technology which is socially just, non- violent,non
gendered and has bias towards the marginalised people. Particular
ly, the technology applied should be labour- intensive. Special
attention should be given to research and application or/of post-har
vest technology, secondary production etc.
-Socio-legal advocacy, education and concentrated action (e.g.
public interest litigation) at the micro and macro levels against the
intervention and encroachment of the industry and commerce.
-Renewal and strengthening of the often given but meanwhile
eroded or lost values of cooperation, solidarity, communitarism,
harmony (between nature and humanity) etc. as constitutive ele
ments of the socio-organisational and educational efforts of the
NGOs.
VI. Alternative Drought Action shall build up or contribute to
corporate NGO action,public opinion,advocacy and movements
on the drought issue.
16. Alternative drought action should counteract the onslaught of
national and multinational forces on the genetic wealth and diversity
in our natural environment.
48
17. Alternative drought action should attempt cooperation, coor
dination and issue-based networking in an administrative area and
eco-region (geo-political region) based on a common understanding
and anlysis of the manifestations, effects and root causes of drought.
The action perspective of the NGOs in a region should be oriented
to and guided by a mutually worked out and agreed upon analytical
and operational framework. Subsequently, the NGOs should
mutually ensure a broad diffusion of the common understanding as
well as counteract contradictory drought action and support activity
of national or foreign funding agencies in the eco-regions.
18. Alternative drought action of the NGOs in a region should be
ideally a part of or be reinforced by macro level efforts - awareness
-building and generation of public opinion, advocacy. According to
the needs, resistance movements or promotional campaigns etc.particularly, with regard to the issues like deforestation of upper
catchment areas of the rivers, water policy, rural energy etc.- should
be initiated.
19. With socoi-legal efforts, alternative drought action of the NGOs
should attempt to regain and/or safeguard the rights of the poor and
marginalised on common lands and ensure environmentally
regenerative and promotive utilisation of the same.
20. The NGOs in India, in their alternative drought action, should
attach special relevance to mobilize the middle-class for their cause
as they have an important role in influencing and moulding public
opinion.
21. Alternative drought action of the NGOs in India should seek
and consciously promote the coalition and effective cooperation with
committed intellectuals, scientists, technoogists and Government
officials.
22. In their alternative drought action the NGOs in India should
meaningfully relate to the media to mould the public opinion on
different micro and macro factors causing the drought situation in
India as well as on the necessary and appropriate action perspective.
49
VII. Alternative Drought Action should have the following other
orientations:
23. The NGOs should mobilize for alternative drought action as
much as possible available national resources as well as re- create
and build upon resources, abilities, skills and wisdom of the people
at the grass roots.
24. All alternative drought action should build upon a sound
analysis of the historic-political, economic - strucutral and ecological
processes, either on their own or from other knowledgable groups
and be accompanied by a concurrent action- research-reflection
process.
And finally,
25. Alternative drought action of the NGOs in India should rule out
all purely relief-oriented vertical interventions or ad-hoc drought
operations of just emergency character. Where immediate 'relief
actions are unavoidable, these should be designed in a manner to fit
into mid and long-term drought action within a community based
social action of the organisations of the poor, or have the definite
potential to be transformed to such social action programmes.
* These criteria were formulated based on a series of workshops
held on the subject of drought in 1987/88. The most important among
these workshops was held at Udaipur in Rajasthan in 1988, jointly
by ANITHRA TRUST, Madras and SEWA MANDIR, Udaipur.
50
GLOSSARY
Albido : Albido is the ratio of the amount of heat received by the
earth to the amount of heat reflected back into space.
Arable land : is land currently ploughed and cultivated. It is also
called cultivable land and includes both cultivated and temporary
fallow land.
Contour : is a line joining points of equal elevation in a particular
area.
Contour bund : is constructed to intercept the run-off by an
embankment whose ends may be closed or open, to conserve soil
moisture as well as reduce soil erosion. Construction of earthen
bunds at suitable intervals in accordance to the slope increases
retention period of run-off water and helps to conserve both soil and
water. These bunds are placed along the contours.
Contour trench : When we open a trench on a contour it is called
a contour trench.
Ecology: The study of the relation of animals and plants to their
surroundings,animate and inanimate.
El Nino : When there is extensive and abnormal heating of the
waters of the Pacific Ocean, due to differences of pressure it gives
rise to a phenomenon called "El Nino". Every incarnation of El Nino
is accompanied by the failure of monsoon in India in the following
year.
Furrow : Long cut in the soil made by a plough.
Fallow land : arable land left uncultivated for one season or more.
Groundwater table : the level of water in the ground for a particular
area.
Horticulture : The cultivation of flowers, fruits, vegetables and
ornamental plants.
53
Peripatetic irrigation : is when irrigation is provided to all parts of
the cultivated lands.
Percolation tanks : These are tanks constructed to collect and
store the run-off water which will help to recharge the ground water
in the area. These tanks would also help retain soil moisture.
Precipitation : The process by which the moisture from the clouds
gets condensed into water, fall through the atmosphere and reaches
the earth's surface as rain,sleet, snow or dew.
Ridge : In a watershed, the highest point of the catchment area.
Run-off: is that portion of precipitation that makes its way to stream
channels, lakes or ocean as surface or sub-surface flow. The term
run-off, however, usually means surface run-off.
Sheet erosion : Sheet erosion is the removal of soil material more
or less uniformly from the surface of the land by the forces of raindrop
impact and surface runoff or wind action.
Sinking effect of wind : The heating up of the higher strata of the
atmosphere results in the sinking of winds that are heavy and cold
because they are rain bearing winds. This results in loss of rainfall
and desertification.
Splash effect: is the effect of the raindrops falling on the ground
causing large scale soil erosion as,the falling raindrops break down
soil aggregates and detach soil particles from the soil mass. From
this, fine particles form a thin muddy film on the surface and this
affects infiltration and causes more run- off. Raindrop splash
gradually removes the fine materials from the soil and leaves the
less fertile sand and gravels behind.
Watershed : is an area from which run-off, resulting from precipita
tion, flows past a single point into a large stream, a lake, or an ocean.
54
BIBLIOGRAPHY
ARTICLES
Agarwal, Anil. 'Development Policies, Ecology and Gandhi's Last
Person'. Social Action, Jan - Mar 1987. Vol. 37. 45 - 60.
Anusandhan. ‘On Drought'. Maharastra Prabodhan Seva Mandal,
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Arun Kumar. 'Consequences of the 1987 monsoon failure : A
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Bandyopadhyay, J. ‘Political Ecology of Drought and Water Scar
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Chandy, K.T. 'Inequality and Injustice in Agricultual Development,
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Chatterji, Jaya. ‘Agricultural Policy, Land Use and the Poor’. Social
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Chopra, Kanchan. 'Forty Years of Resource Management: The
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Dietrich, Gabriel. 'Development, Ecology and Women's struggle'.
Social Action, Jan - Mar 1988. Vol. 38. No. 1. 1-14.
Fernandes, Walter. 'The National Water Policy 1987'. Social Ac
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Gadgil, Madhav. 'Forest Management, Deforestation and
People's Impoverishement'. Social Action, Oct - Dec 1989. Vol.
39. No.4. 357 -383.
55
Kinley, David. 'Can the Green Revolution Endure ? Science
Struggles to Keep Asian Rice Bowls Full'. World Development Vol.
3. No. 3. May 1990. 18 - 23.
Kothari, Smithu. 'Ecology vs. Development: the Struggle for
Survival'. Social Action, Oct - Dec 1985. Vol. 35. No.4.
Pias, H. & Singh, C.S.K. 'Rural Development Policies and
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Ramasamy, S.R. 'People's Response to Desertification in
Karnataka’. Lokayan Bulletin, Vol. 4. 3/4, 1986. 62 - 71.
Sen Gupta, Badal. 'Alternative Drought Action Forums- Towards
NGO
Response to the Phenomenon of Drought in India'. Un
published paper based on several workshops on Drought. Ban
galore. Aug.1988. 22 pages.
Swaminathan, M.S. 'Insuring Ecological Security: Survey of Indian
Agriculture’. 1989. THE HINDU. 17-21.
Visvanathan, Shiv. 'On Ancestors And Epigones’. SEMINAR,
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Bandyopadhyay, J. (ed). 'India's Environment : Crises and
Responses’. Natraj, Dehra Dun. 1985.
Brown, Welsh Janet. 'Poverty and Environmental Degradation :
Basic Concerns for U.S.Cooperation with Developing Countries'.
World Resource Institute, Washington. D.C. May 1988.
CARITAS INDIA Bulletin . ’ A Special Issue on Water - Shed ':
CBCI, New Delhi. June - Sept 1988. No. 3.
CENDIT & CAPART. 'Indian Social and Economic Development An
Index to the Literature : Ecology'. SAGE Publications, New
Delhi. 1989. 1 -31.
56
Centre for Science and Environment. 'The State of India's En
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New Delhi. 1985.
Centre for Science and Environment. 'The Wrath of Nature’: The
Impact of Environmental Destruction of Floods and Droughts. April
1987.
Shiva, Vandana. 'Staying Alive: Women, Ecology and Survival in
India’. Kali for Women / Zed Books, New Delhi.1988.
ISI Documentation Centre. 'Drought - A Compilation of Factual
Analysis of Drought Situations in India'. ISI, New Delhi. Nov. 1987.
LOKAYAN BULLETIN. ‘On Survival: Drought, Desertification and
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52-61.
McCracken, A. Jennifer, et al. 'Rapid Rural Appraisal for Agricul
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Environment and
Development, U. K. 1988.
Quraishi, M.A. 'Drought Strategy’. B.R. Publishing Corporation,
New Delhi. 1989.
Verma, P.S. & Agarwal, V.K. 'Principles of Ecology’. S. Chand &
Company, New Delhi. 1989.
RCPED. Occasionally brought out translated papers from English
to Tamil on Drought and Environment: 1. ’Fighting Drought by GO'
in EPW May 3,1986 ( English and Tamil), 2. 'Women and Develop
ment - An Ecological Perspective’. Gabriel Dietrich.
(English and
Tamil). 3. ’Employment Guarantee scheme - A Tamil Nadu State
Workshop Report’. Gnana Surabimani. 5,6 Dec. 1987 (Tamil). 4.
'Women’s Role in the Environment Movement’.
Chenbaghavalli
(Tamil). 5. 'A People’s Dam'. Phadke, Ananad
EPW. Vol. XXIV.
No. 16. April 22, 1989. p. 865. (Tamil). 6. Report on Anil Agarwal’s
Speech on Ecology & Development in
the 5th Vikram Sarabai
Memorial Lecture in English by Wielanga, Bas and in Tamil by
Gnana Subrabimani. 7. ’Plea for Surival'. Gabriel Dietrich - book
review on " Staying Alive,
Women, Ecology and Survival in
57
India' by Vandana Shiva. Kali for Women I Zed Books, New Delhi,
1988 - in EPW, Feb 1988. Vol. 24. No. 7. pp. 353-354 . Translated
into Tamil by Gnana Surabimani.
Social Forestry Information Project (SFIP), Madurai has brought
out many newspaper clippings on the issue of Ecology and Environ
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SEMINAR. ’ The Politics of Ecology' - A Symposium on the Dangers
of Unthinking Development. Feb. 1987. Vol. 330.
Sivanappan, R.K. 'Soil and Water Conservation and Water Har
vesting Manual'. Tamil Nadu Social Forestry Project, SIDA Forestry
Coordination Programme. Madras. June 1989.
Social Action. Special Issue on Drought. Oct-Dec 1987. Vol.
37.No. 4.
The Great Concern. 'Water- Shed Management'. Sept 1989. Vol.
3. A quarterly newsletter of IGSSS. New Delhi.
VIDEOS AND SLIDES
NCSTC Production (Slides)
a.
b.
c.
Understanding Forest (60 Slides)
Man and Environment (60 Slides)
Western Ghat (200 slides)
Alternative Communication Forum Productions (Videos).
a. Living in Fear (English, 33 mts).
b. A Valley Refuses to die (English)
TATA Energy Research Institute Productions (Video).
a. Global Warming Up: (English)
58
APPENDIX - I!
APPENDIX I
WORKSHOP ON DROUGHT
VENUE : Gandhigram Rural Institute
DATES : 29th & 30th May, 1990
PROGRAMME CONTENT
29th May ’90
10.00 A.M : Welcome by Mercy, SEARCH Tamil Nadu Faculty.
Inauguration of workshop by lighting the lamp - Dr. OZA, ViceChancellor, Gandhigram University.
10.20 A.M : Introduction to the workshop by Mr. F.Stephen, Direc
tor, SEARCH.
10.40 -11.25 A.M : Keynote address by Dr. Walter Fernandez, ISI,
Delhi on the social dimension of drought at the macro and micro
levels.
11.55 -1.20 P.M : Dr.Meher- Homji-"Rainfall and Desertification".
2.30 - 3.00 P.M : Question-Answer session on
1. National Water Policy 2. Adverse effects of dams.3.Adverse
effects of sugarcane cultivation. 4. Science and Technology and its
effects.
3.00 - 5.10 P.M : Water Shed Management Programmes explained
by Mr.K. V. Bhat (Project Officer - State Water Shed Development
Cell, Bangalore), emphasing the need to conserve soil and water to
combat drought.
5.15 - 5.45 P.M : Questions answered on Water Shed Management
and its social implications. Moderator - Mr. Malla Reddy.
61
5.45 - 6.05 P.M : Mr. Chenniappan (Joint Director, Irrigation
Management Training Institute, Trichy). Session on Irrigation and
Agricultural methods.
6.05 - 7.30 P.M : Street Theatre depicting the causes and effects
of drought by Black Theatre and Yatra groups.
8.30 -10.00 P.M: Video Programme on Ecology.
Wed 30th May ’ 90 :
9.30 - 10.00 A.M: Presentation by Mr. Ravi (Project Economist,
DRDA, Kamarajar District) on DRDA and Government’s programmes
for combating drought.
10.00-10.30 A.M: Response to Mr. Ravi’s presentation. Moderator
- Mr. Fatimson.
10.30 - 11.30 A.M: Presentation by Mr. Malla Reddy (Assistant
Director, Rural Development Trust, Anantapur) on the programmes
undertaken by RDT to combat drought.
11.30 -1.30 P.M : Panel Session chaired by Dr. Chellappan, Head
of the Department of Extension Eduction, Gandhigram Rural In
stitute.
Local NGO leaders and senior staff presented their experiences
related to drought and the actions taken by them.
Panel:
1. READ, Manamadurai : Mr. Rayar Laxmikanthan.
2. SIRD, Usilampatti : Mr. C. Periyasamy.
3. CENTREREDA, Kodai Road : Mr. Chinnan.
4. ISM, Madurai : Mrs. Manohari A. Doss.
5. REDS, KalyarKoil : Mr. B.S.J. Victor.
6. IRCDS, Sivaganga : Mr. Arulanandam.
7. SFIP, Madurai : Mr. Fatimson.
62
Expert Comments
Dr. Meher - Homji.
Dr. Walter Fernandez.
1.00 - 1.30 P.M : Dr. OZA on Gandhigram’s support to rural
development and how NGOs and Gandhigram could collaborate.
2.30
- 4.00 P.M : Group Discussion on Action Plan.
4.00 P.M : Report presentation by the two groups. Session
moderated by Mr. F. Stephen.
5.30
P.M
: Departure.
63
APPENDIX - II
22. Ms. P.Marikkannu,
Anthyodhoya Sangh,
Viduthalai Puram,
K.K.Nallur (post),
Lalgudi Taluk,Trichy.
30. Mr. Mr.V.Selladurai,
Project Coordinator,
REDS,
Kalayer Koil,P.T.T. Dist.
31. Mr. Rajadurai,
SPEECH,
2/96 North Cer Street,
Tiruchuli-626129.
23. Mr. S.Susai Manickam,
SMSSS,
3/574 Bagavathsingh
Road,
Paramakudi-623707.
32. Mr. V.A.Ashruf Ali,
CIRD,
Vedasandur-624710,
D.Q.M.Dist.
24. Mr. K.Manoharan,
STARRE,Viralipatti,
Vadipatti-624218.
33. Mr. T.Fatimson,
SFIP,
Plot 5E,Vinayaganagar,
Madurai-20.
25. Mr. M.Solomon,
CREATE,
Kariapatti.Kamarajar Dist.
34. Mr. P.S.Kruz,
Anthyodaya Sangh,
3-7A, Paramasivapuram,
Lalgudi,Trichi.
26. Mr. Rajamohan,
CREATE,
Kariapatti.Kamarajar Dist.
27. Ms. Usha-Mayya,
Action-Aid,
10/1, Bridge Street,
Langford Road,
Bangalore-560025.
35. Mr. K.Arulanandam,
IRCDS,
3,Perumal Koil Street,
Sivagangai,
P.T.T.Dist-623560.
28. Mr. V.Ramasamy,
Programme Officer,
IDARA For NYKS.GRI.
36. Mr. S.Aruldasan,
IRCDS,
3,Perumal Koil Street,
Sivagangai,
P.T.T.Dist-623560.
29. Mr. B.S.J.Victor,
Project Manager,
REDS,
Kalayarkoil.P.T.T.Dist.
69
37.
Dr. S.Ponnuraj,
Faculty of Rural Health
Sanitation.GRI.
38.
Mr. T.S. Govindarajan,
Registrar,GRI.
39.
Mr. John Devavaram,
SPEECH,
2/96/North Cer Street,
Tiruchuli-626129.
46.
Dr. D.K. Oza, I.A.S.,
Vice-Chancellor,GRL
47.
Mr. S.Ravindran,
Project Officer,
Population Edn Resource
Centre,GRI
48.
Mr. S. Subburam,
Project Officer,
Department of ACEE.GRL
49.
Prof.P.K.Kothandapani,
Director and HOD,
Department of ACEE.GRI.
40.
Mr. A.Easwaran,
Lecturer in Extn.GRI.
41.
Mr. Arunachalam,
Assistant Registar.GRI.
50.
Mr. A.C. Prabhakaran,
DARP,
23 E.B. Colony,
K.Pudur,Madurai - 625
007.
Mr. Mariaparkasam
Society for Rural Edn.,
Gopalpatti,
(via) Vembarpatti,
DQM Dist - 624 308.
51.
Mr. C. Rajendran,
Youth Social Service
Assn.,
No.36 M.V.Street,
Pallathur.P.T.T.District.
Mr. S.Baluchamy,
Lecturer - Dept, of ACEE,
GRI.
52.
Mr. L.Rayar,
READ,
Krishnarajapuram Colony,
Manamadurai - 623606.
Mr. R. Selvarajan,
Rural Workers Orgn.,
Tirupattur.P.T.T.Dist.
53.
Ms. Manohari,
Institute for self
Management,
40-A Meyappa 3rd Lane,
Madurai -16.
42.
43.
44.
45.
Mr.Edward,
ISM,
40 - A Meyappa 3rd Lane,
Madurai - 625 016
70
APPENDIX II
WORKSHOP ON DROUGHT
Organised by SEARCH, Bangalore
VENUE : Gandhigram Rural Institute
DATE : 29th & 30th May 1990.
ADDRESS OF PARTICIPANTS
AND RESOURCE PERSONS
1.
Mr. Malla Reddy,
Rural Development Trust,
Bangalore Highway,
Anantapur-515001,
Andhra.
5.
Mr. K.V. Bhat,
State Water Shed
Development Cell,
Viswesvariah Centre,
Bangalore.
2.
Dr. V.M. Meher-Homji,
French Institute & Salim
Ali School of Ecology,
Pondicherry.
6.
Mr. Chandrasekharappa,
Agriculture Officer,
Watershed Development
Programme,
Chithradurga,Karnataka.
3.
Dr. Walter Fernandes,
Indian Social Institute,
Lodi Road,
New Delhi-110003.
7.
Mr. K.Ravi,
Project Economist,
DRDA,
Virudhunagar,
Kamaraj Dist.Tamilnadu.
8.
Mr. M.Joseph,
PERD,
T-45,Eliis Nagar,ELLIS
Madurai-625016
Tamilnadu
4.
Mr. Chenniappan,
Joint Director,
Irrigation Management
Training Institute,
Duwakudi,
Trichy.
67
16.
Mr. K.Chellappan,
Dean,
Faculty of Rural
Development,
Gandhigram Rural
Institute,
Gandhigram.
17.
Ms. Rachel Rajathi,
REDS,
16,Gokhale Hall Street,
Sivagangai,
P.T.T.Dist-631551.
18.
Mr. T.Jayakumaran,
SEED Trust,
5-6/934,Anna Salai,
Singampunari.P.T.T.Dist.
19.
Mr. P.Ebenezer,
Village Reconstruction
Society,
Post Box No.54,
Sattur-626203.
Mr. P.Patchaimal,
CENDECT,
Kamatchipuram,
Madurai-626520.
20.
Mr. M.Sermaiah,
CENDECT,
Kamatchipuram,
Madurai-626520.
Mr. C.Periyasamy,
SIRD.Usilampatti,
Madurai Dist.
21.
Mr. Raja Kulothungan,
SEED Trust,
5-6/93A,Anna Salai,
Singampunarai,
P.T.T.Dist-624502.
9.
Mr. T.Rajan,
WASA,
33,Raja Chatram Street,
Shivagangai-623560.
10.
Mr. G.Pothiraj,
Village Reconstruction
Society,
Post Box No. 54,
Sattur-626203.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
Mr. V.Ramaraj,
ROMA,
M.Reddiapatti-626118,
Aruppukottai Taluk,
Kamarajar Dist.
Mr. S.Chinnan,
CENTREREDA,
Kodai Road,
DOM Dist-624206.
Ms. M.Packialakshmi,
ROMA,
Karuppusamy Koil Street,
M.Reddiapatti,
Kamarajar Dist-626118.
68
54.
Ms. B.Mariammal,
Institute for self
Management,
40-A Meyappa 3rd Lane,
Madurai - 16.
55.
Ms. L. Elisabath,
Society for Rural Edn.,
Gopalpatti.
56.
Dr. T.Karunakaran,
Director,
Rural Technology Centre,
GRI.
57.
Mr. Sundaresan,
Secretary to VC,GRI.
58.
Ms. Ajitha Susan George,
SEARCH,
219/26,6th Main,4th
Block,
Jayanagar,
Bangalore - 560 011.
59.
Mr. Sathish Samuel,
SEARCH.
60.
Mr. F.Stephen,
SEARCH.
61.
Mr. K.J.Thomas,
SEARCH.
62.
Mr. D.S. Rajkumar,
SEARCH.
71
63.
Ms. Mercy Padmaja Das,
SEARCH.
64.
Mr. Rajagopal,
SEARCH Extn.
Programme,
Mattlampatti Village,
Karimangalam Block,
Dharmapuri Dist.
65.
Mr. Devasagayam,
SEARCH Extn.
Programme,
Mattlampatti Village,
Karimangalam Block,
Dharmapuri Dist.
ABOUTSEARCH
SEARCH is a secular, non-profit voluntary organisation registered
under the Registrar of Societies Act, Karnataka.
- It is committed to the promotion of marginalised groups such as Dalits,
Tribals, Landless Agricultural Labourers, Women and Children.
- It is a support institution working primarily with voluntary agencies with
the two-fold objectives of Human Resource Development and mobilis
ing the people around Development issues.
- It collaborates with NGOs in initiating, promoting and strengthening
issue - based networks.
- It carries out policy reviews and plays advocacy roles.
- It is operational in a hundred villages in Dharmapuri district in
Tamilnadu through its Field Extension Programme.
- It works with a variety of partners, People's Organisations,Network
Associations,Donor Agencies and Government Departments, besides
Voluntary Agencies and Support Institutions.
- Its strength lies in the use of participatory methodologies, namely,
Participatory Research, Participatory Training, Participatory Evaluation.
- It concentrates primarily in the Southern states of India, while working
specifically on a few programmes at the National level too.
- It brings out a quarterly newsletter titled SEARCH NEWS, which
provides a periodical review of SEARCH'S activities
For more details, please write to
SEARCH
219/26,6th main,
4th Block, Jayanagar,
Bangalore - 560011
Phone :644226/642461
Position: 2657 (2 views)