Rajasthan villages drink deep from traditional wells

As 35-year-old Dharma Devi lowers her bucket into the ancient, stone well to draw drinking water for her family, she grumbles about the quality of the water body. “This one is closest to our fields, so we have to use it. But look at the overgrowth of plants around it and the filth that can fall in. When we wash clothes all the soapy water flows in, and dead birds and animals are often found floating on the surface of the water.”

Dharma Devi is trying to get this 100-year-old well refurbished, as has been done with 26 other traditional wells in her area, which comes under the Samra Panchayat in Thanaghzi tehsil, Alwar district, Rajasthan.

The makeover of the ancient water bodies has included building a 4ft-high raised platform for the safety of children and wandering animals, a covered tank with an attached tap for the use of the villagers, and a large trough where animals can quench their thirst. The blue of the spanking new wells is visible from far away, beckoning the village population to partake of a clean, hygienic facility.

“We chose this area because its wells were in an abysmal state and on the brink of vanishing due to poor maintenance. Animal and humans lives have been lost owing to the absence of protective walls. Most wells are over 100 years old and their unhygienic conditions lead to many water-borne diseases. Some of the wells were in a state of disuse and farmers were choosing to build groundwater-depleting tube wells for agriculture,” explains Salahuddin Saiphy, programme leader of the water management unit of Sehgal Foundation, who has been overseeing the organisation’s well-rejuvenation project.

“Wells are the main source of drinking water for the local communities here, so it was most important to completely revive these water bodies and involve the community in the exercise,” says Saiphy, as he spells out why traditional wells score way higher than agricultural tube wells.

He says that the water level in traditional wells gives you an idea about the state of the region’s groundwater, and one can decide accordingly about the crops to be cultivated.

The tube well offers no such advantage, leaving you in the dark about groundwater levels, and could suddenly dry up without warning. Moreover, tube wells work on electricity, have a switch system, and the water flows out uncontrollably. Additionally, water from tube wells has a higher concentration of fluoride and arsenic

“Our effort was to make people aware of the benefits of traditional wells and help us restore them. When they are aware of their resources, they can plan for better water management. Most importantly, it allows women to reclaim their shrinking traditional spaces,” he says. After all, the well was where women in the village always met, established strong bonds and supported each other.

Agreeing with this, 55-year-old Kamli, who has a son, three daughters and a grandson, says, “We can once again come to the well with small children and spend time together, as it has a wall for protection.” The owner of around five bighas of land, she recalls how a village elder had died in 2011 after falling into the well while crossing the field at night.

“We found his bloated body the next morning, and have since stopped meeting here,” she says. “We have also lost our sheep to this well,” 25-year-old Santara pipes in, her infant cradled on her hip as she works in the cornfields close to the well. “We look forward to visiting the well nowadays,” she adds. Her family was among those that had contributed towards the makeover with stones and other construction material. “My husband pitched in with labour, as he is a good mason.”

This aspect, in fact, is key to the project — community participation in whatever way possible, including labour. Explaining how the project was executed, Saiphy says, “Samra panchayat consists essentially of the Meena tribals of Rajasthan. There are 2,000 households in the five villages — Samra, Hamirpur, Kaler, Jaitpur Gujran and Nitata. We discuss with the locals all the water issues, including anicuts and wells... we speak to them about community participation and their contribution in cash or kind. For this project, the Coca-Cola Foundation chipped in.”

And though there are many more wells crying for a makeover in Samra, the programme leader says priority is given to those that are traditionally a part of the commons — on panchayat land and used by a maximum number of households.

In fact, wells and the underground water supply of Rajasthan have been a part of folklore and even mentioned in ancient scriptures. Archaeologists have dated some rainwater catchments in the area as far back as 1500 BC. The popular structure in ancient times was the johad , a crescent-shaped dam of earth and rocks built to intercept rainwater runoff. Thanks to it, villagers and their livestock were assured of drinking water even in the dry season.

Today, farmers do not think twice before boring tube wells, leaving less groundwater for common use.

“Only traditional wells can help maintain the water table for the future; that’s why we are focusing on it,” sums up Saiphy.

The writer visited the area at the invitation of the Sehgal Foundation, New Delhi

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