Traditional water management: Local solution to global problem
In Odisha technically approved water management structures, constructed on the basis of individual benefit, not community benefit, have proved to be failures. The revival of traditional water management can boost agrarian economy in the state.
IN 2005, Delhi based NGO – ‘Centre for Science and Environment (CSE)’ was given the prestigious ‘World Water Award’ for its new thinking on how traditional systems of water management, which use rainwater endowment, once rejuvenated could become the starting point for the removal of rural poverty in many parts of the world. While receiving the award, Sunita Narain, Director, CSE had sad “it is clear that the management of water, and not scarcity of water, is the problem in many parts of the world. The solution practiced diversely in different regions, lies in capturing rain in millions of storage systems – in tanks, ponds, step wells and even rooftops – and to use it to recharge groundwater reserves for irrigation and drinking water needs. The supply is in the sky.” Probably the so called intellectuals have started understanding the importance of traditional water management practices and that is why CSE got the award. When we talk about traditional water management, we feel its close association with the geography, culture and tradition of Odisha. Since ages, there are sayings like ‘Chhakodi Bandhaku Nakodi Tota’ and ‘Chauda Ganda Raani ku Athara Ganda Bandha’ and water management has been considered as the parameter of social development. All those traditional water management structures were constructed keeping the natural calamities and water requirement of that region in mind, using local know-how and behind the success of those structures was age old experience. It has been well proven that those traditional water management structures were able to fight against natural calamities like flood and drought. In the changed context, when local calamities like flood and drought have been congregated with the global challenge of ‘Climate Change’, the local solution to these problems has been undermined. When a global challenge is a congregation of local problems, how can the solution be prescribed only at the global level?
The Water Resources Department of the Government of Odisha, which has taken the responsibility of water management in Odisha, has neither recorded anything regarding the traditional water management nor has recognized this as a water management practice. But at the same time, the department has taken a loan from the World Bank for ensuring irrigation through rejuvenation of existing tanks. Here the question arises, is the tank not a component of traditional water management? Even the department associated with watershed management is working on these traditional structures in many cases. There are differences among the departments of Government of Odisha in terms of traditional water management. But when the matter of employment generation comes through various schemes like ‘National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS)’, ‘Watershed Project’, ‘Orissa Community Tank Management Project (OCTMP)’, ‘Western Orissa Rural Livelihood Programme (WORLP)’, ‘Orissa Tribal Empowerment and Livelihood Programme (OTELP)’, those departments think of the importance of traditional structures like tank, pond, Kata, Muda etc. Despite the said thing, this can not be treated as government’s acceptance of traditional water management. Rather this can be treated as government’s investment for employment generation through earth work. Because, traditional water management is not all about creation or rejuvenation of the traditional structures, which the government is doing in these days. Rather traditional water management is a whole system, which includes construction of structures, its management, institutional aspects of the structures, application of local knowledge base rich with experience and above all the socio-cultural and religious linkage of the structures.
In the changed context, contemporary and technically approved water management structures, which are constructed on the basis of individual benefit, not community benefit, have proved to be failures. In such a case traditional water management can be a pillar of agrarian economy for Odisha in the coming days. The revival of traditional water management requires construction and rejuvenation of traditional management instead of only traditional structures. This can very well fight against calamities like flood and drought.
In the changed context, contemporary and technically approved water management structures, which are constructed on the basis of individual benefit, not community benefit, have proved to be failures. In such a case traditional water management can be a pillar of agrarian economy for Odisha in the coming days. The revival of traditional water management requires construction and rejuvenation of traditional management instead of only traditional structures. This can very well fight against calamities like flood and drought.
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