Neha Lalchandani, TNN
Yamuna Pollution is not the only problem plaguing the Yamuna. Upstream of Wazirabad, on the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border — where till now the river had somehow managed to retain its free-flowing character before literally turning into a drain in the city — the sand mining mafia is clandestinely working to change the course of the river.
The river is silently being robbed off its sand right under the nose of the administration and police. In the Palla area, just before the river is channelled into the Wazirabad canal, a temporary bank has been created in the middle of the Yamuna to trap sand, effectively shifting its flow more towards the Delhi border and creating a small sand island. A couple of days after the police arrested four people for illegal sand mining in the area, TOI visited the spot only to find that there had been no change in the situation.
Two large cranes lifted sand from the river and loaded it in trucks that later drove off towards UP, all in the presence of cops. Police personnel pleaded helplessness saying that the men were operating from the UP side of the river.
‘‘We have been complaining to the flood control department about this for a while because we are not authorised to take action if the offence is carried out in the other state. The miners bring in huge machinery and carry away several truckloads of sand each day. At any point when they see the police approaching, they turn their cranes towards the UP side. Technically, the river comes under Delhi but again the police is not authorised to take action unless the agency concerned files a complaint with us,’’ said sources.
Each day, hundreds of truckloads of sand is being carried out by the miners, who police say are residents of nearby villages. Each truckload is sold for about Rs 800 on the outskirts of Delhi, basically for construction purposes.
Experts say that removing small amounts of sand from the river bed manually is not a problem since the flowing water keeps replenishing the sand. However, for a river like the Yamuna, which hardly has a water flow throughout the year, this can cause serious problems. ‘‘Usage of machinery is causing a change in the natural topography. Deep digging and drilling leads to formation of ponds and when the river floods at any point of time, there is a danger of it changing its course. This can prove to be catastrophic for the city infrastructure as well,’’ said Manoj Misra of the Yamuna Jiye Abhiyan.
Villagers farming in the area are equally affected by the mining since the heavy machinery that is used for digging ruins their fields. Some claim that their land has also been appropriated for use during mining. ‘‘Many of these men come in from the Delhi side,’’ they said, contrary to the police version. ‘‘We have caught some of them but then they damaged our fields and crops and we had to let them off,’’ said Pratap Chand, a farmer.
SDM of the area, Ashish Mohan, told TOI that his department would be taking strict action against the miners, even if that meant taking a boat across to the Delhi border and apprehending them there. ‘‘I have also written to the area DCP on Tuesday, asking him to appoint the Alipur SHO as the nodal officer for taking action in other such cases in future,’’ he said.
neha.lalchandani@timesgroup.com
Sunday, December 20, 2009
REPORT ON REVIEW OF PROGRESS AND PLANNING MEETING
(RIVER HEALTH INDEX (RHI) Project)
Date: 12.12.2009
Venue: Indian Social Institute, Lodi Road, New Delhi
Participants:
Ashwini Kumar Misra (AKM) – Guru Vasisht Manav Sarvangin Vikas Sewa Samithi (FLO at Agra)
Guddy Misra (GM) - Guru Vasisht Manav Sarvangin Vikas Sewa Samithi (FLO at Agra)
Ravi Singh (RS) – Farmer, Agra
Nishant Alag (NA) – Environics Trust (FLO at Dehradun)
Ravi Mittal (RM) – Environics Trust (FLO at Dehradun)
Manoj Srivastava (MS) – Easy Global Organisation (FLO at Allahabad)
Sushil Kumar Singh (SKS) – Easy Global Organisation (FLO at Allahabad)
Sunil Dutt Singh (SDS) - Easy Global Organisation (FLO at Allahabad)
Bhim Singh Rawat (BSR) – Project Executive, Delhi Grid, PEACE Institute
Manoj Misra (MM) – Team Leader, PEACE Institute
Pushp Jain (PJ) – Project Coordinator, PEACE Institute
Sitaram Taigor (ST) – Project Executive, PEACE Institute, FLO at Etawah
Sudha Mohan (SM) – Program Manager, PEACE Institute
Purpose:
The meet was held to:
a) Review progress achieved by different FLOs (Field Level partner Organisations)
b) Feedback on difficulties if any, being faced by the FLOs
c) Planning for future so that planned activities are completed in a timely manner
Method:
Team leaders / members of various FLOs presented on their progress and findings in form of a presentation. Each presentation was followed by discussions.
An open house at the end deliberated on the next steps.
Report:
During the day, five presentations were made by the field investigators representing different FLOs. The river has been classified into five segments as under for the convenience of project implementation:
Upper segment (upstream of Hathnikund Barrage) – (Environics Trust)
Plains segment (Downstream of Hathnikund till Greater NOIDA – (PEACE Institute)
Agra segment (Brij Bhumi and downstream of Agra) – (Guru Vasisht Manav Sarvangin Vikas Sewa Samithi)
Chambal-Betwa segment (Confluence of Chambal with Yamuna till Hamirpur) – (PEACE Institute)
Final segment (Kishanpur till Allahabad) – (Easy Global Organisation)
Representatives of various FLOs presented their progress and their findings. (copies attached).
Highlights of the presentations and the discussions following them are given below.
Upper Segment – Ravi Mittal and Nishant Alag (Environics Trust)
Selection of Grid
Two grids (villages along the river over a stretch of about 10 km) namely Hathyari (Grid 2) and Gojar (Grid 3) have been identified and field visits to them have been made.
Identification and field work in the Third Grid (downstream of Yamunotri) (Grid 1) is to be started.
Good profile of villages and river/water situation in the grid has been developed. Four visits have been made.
Five Eminent persons of the area including doctor, ex-army personnel, teacher etc have been identified for membership to the Yamuna Mitra Mandali (YMM).
Observations
The river forms an inter-state border between Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh along the area of Grid 2 and 3.
There has been drastic reduction in the flow in the river Yamuna as a result of construction of dams on tributaries and barrages on river Yamuna (at Dakpatthar) and on river Asan. Even the local raus (local nalla) and sot (springs and streams) have dried out.
Villages are small as the human population in villages is low.
Dependence of local people on the river for either drinking water purposes or for irrigation has gone down. People now depend more on tube wells and minor irrigation channels created under various government schemes.
Instances of petty crime (across the state borders) in the region have increased as the river no longer provides an insurmountable barrier to people.
Limitations
People have lost touch with the river and hence motivating them for the river is often time consuming.
Limestone mining and sand and boulder mining is of concern.
Next Steps
It was agreed that the FLO executants shall invest more time, attention and energies in ensuring a timely completion of all the activities under the project. The project field coordinator, Sri Pushp Jain shall also be closely associated with the future activities in this segment of the river.
Plain segment – Bhim Rawat (PEACE)
Grid 1 : Kanalsi (Yamuna Nagar)
Grid is well defined. Villages have been identified and their profile developed. Three visits to villages in the GRID have taken place.
Yamuna Mitra Mandli has been identified and the survey work under the project initiated to elicit people’s perception, closeness, dependence and understanding about their river.
Grid 2 : Tamsabad (Panipat)
Grid is well defined. Villages have been identified and their profile developed. Four visits to the villages have been made.
Yamuna Mitra Mandali has been partially identified and the survey work under the project initiated to elicit people’s perception, closeness, dependence and understanding about their river.
Grid 3 : Tilwara (Greater NOIDA/Faridabad)
Grid is well defined. Villages have been identified and their profile developed. A number of visits to the villages in the GRID have been made.
Membership to the Yamuna Mitra Mandali is underway and the survey work under the project initiated to elicit people’s perception, closeness, dependence and understanding about their river.
Observations
There is a high level of awareness and interest for the river amongst the local villagers since the condition of the river has deteriorated over the years.
The river forms an inter-state border between Haryana and UP in this stretch.
Agricultural practices in the area have been drastically altered due to high inputs and mechanization. Ground water is the key source of irrigation and all traditional water sources like wells, village ponds etc have lost their relevance, it seems.
Sand mining, encroachment over the river bed and the adverse impact of rapid urbanization on the river and the local people is discernible.
Next steps
Yamuna Mitra Mandalis to be firmed up.
Work on preparation of the Local area Action Plan (LAP) for the river in different GRIDS to be expedited in a focused and time bound manner.
Outreach and tangible gainful activities (for the villagers, their water bodies and the river) which can be facilitated right away to be promoted.
Agra Segment – Pandit Ashwini Mishra (Guru Vasisht Manav Sarvangin Vikas Sewa Samithi)
Grids Identification and outreach: Ovah (Grid 1) and Farah (Grid 2) (Braj Bhumi)
A number of field visits have helped in useful outreach with a number of villages lying all along the river belt.
Formation of Yamuna Mitra Mandali is in progress.
Observations
The river is in a very bad shape in terms of amount of water and high level of pollution in it.
It is only the religious sentiments of the people that keep them still related with the river.
People blame the cities like Delhi, Mathura and Agra for the ills facing the river.
The failure of the state led Yamuna Action Plan (YAP) has made the local people suspect any effort to revive the river. This includes any action by the NGOs too.
People do not see any advantage from the polluted river. On the contrary their agriculture and their livestock have suffered from intake of the polluted water.
Access to safe drinking water for people and livestock has taken on a major crisis form.
The much acclaimed Gokul Barrage downstream of Mathura over river Yamuna has resulted in more problems than any gains on account of the polluted nature of the river water which now has little ability to flow.
Next Steps
Formalising of the Yamuna Mitra Mandalis specific to the GRIDS. Completion of the survey works and the Local area Action Plan (LAP).
Sri Pushp Jain to guide and assist the FLO in timely completion of the works under the project.
Outreach and tangible gainful activities (for the villagers, their water bodies and the river) which can be facilitated right away to be promoted.
Chambal-Betwa Segment – Sita Ram Taigor (PEACE)
Grid 1 : Panchananda
Panchananda is named after the five rivers, Pahuj, Kunwari, Sind, Chambal and Yamuna.
Information on the Grid and the villages (There are six villages with population of 2535) in it along with a google map provides a good insight into the ground situation.
Number of meetings and Focussed Group Discussions (FGDs) at Kaleshwar Ki Gadi, Guthia Khad, Bhajanpura and Kanjousa held.
Congregation on the river bank on the occasion of Kartik Mela (village fair) at Kaleshwar Temple and Kanjousa Temple was successfully utilized as an outreach opportunity.
Yamuna Mitra Mandalis established and the field survey work completed
Grid 2 : Hamirpur
The Grid has six villages with a population of about 8000.
A number of meetings at Merapur, Bola ka Dera, Diggi ka dera, and Bilawa villages have resulted in formation of the Yamuna Mitra Mandalis and completion of the survey work.
Observations
The river Yamuna in this stretch has revived considerably after the confluence of river Chambal, Sindh and Betwa with it at different places.
Local people in general are aware of the polluted state of river Yamuna upstream of its confluence with river Chambal.
The flow in the river has considerably decreased over the years.
People depend on the river for various activities, like bathing, irrigation, fishing etc. The river is used as a medium of transportation.
Achievements during the period
Good networking with local administration and journalists. The Temple priests were sensitized against the disposal of left over of puja and other religious ceremonies in to the river. They are now advising people against such practices. One priest has declared that ‘No polythene should go the river’.
Media has shown interest in the activities of the Yamuna Mitra Mandali.
A girl has written a poem on Yamuna. Several people have made written suggestions on how to reduce pollution in the river.
A local official (SDM) has allotted land and the village Panchayat Sarpanch has agreed to fund the construction of a Crematorium worth Rs 50,000.
Next steps
The preparation of Local Area Action Plan (LAP) for the concerned GRIDS. Continued outreach with the Yamuna Mitra Mandali and promoting actions for the river.
Allahabad segment – Sri Manoj Srivastava (Easy Global Organisation)
Grid 1: Bikar (Jasri Block, 20 km form Allahabad)
Grid well defined and profile prepared. Awareness generation activities for the river amongst the villagers in the grid are in place. Local teachers have been involved for outreach as members of Yamuna Mitra Mandali.
A number of visits have been made to the villages.
Grid 2: Mau (Chitrakoot)
Grid well defined and the village/s profile prepared.
Awareness campaign is ongoing.
Grid 3 : Kishapur
Grid well defined and the village/s profile prepared.
Awareness campaign is ongoing.
Point 4 :Saraswati Ghat (Allahabad city)
On the Triveni Sangam. It is a popular spot lying on the river bank. Awareness campaign is in place.
Outreach and networking with Chief priest and the Military officials.
Observations
The river is in a fairly good shape, although the flow in the river has come down over the years.
Aquatic fauna notably a number of fishes and Gangetic Dolphin can be sighted in the river although crocodilians namely the magar and ghariyal are no longer found.
Sand mining is rampant and in many places is a major source of employment to the local people all along and over the river bed.
Local villagers have a ‘taken for granted’ attitude vis a vis the river. But the initiative for the river has been welcomed as a timely measure.
There were good participation and response to an essay competition organized for the river by the FLO.
A magazine (Global Green) brought out in Hindi by the FLO (Easy Global Organisation) is a popular means of dissemination of the information about the river to public at large.
Good networking with district and local administration has been achieved.
Efforts are on to get local solutions for problems people face.
Limitations
Outreach efforts were initially not very productive as local people were more concerned with seeking livelihood options than worrying about something which at the moment seemed of little concern.
Direct economic benefit is seen as key to any successful outreach for any program.
Next Steps
Establishment of functional Yamuna Mitra Mandalis in the GRIDS.
Completion of survey works and preparation of the (Local Area Action Plan) LAP for activities leading to the safety of the river.
The month of January 2010 with a major religious congregation to be used as an outreach opportunity.
Promotion of Dolphin Conservation in the area as a symbol of secure and living river.
Final discussions and consensus
1. All grids to be finalised. Outreach, awareness, sensitization activities and firming up of the Yamuna Mitra Mandali (YMM).
2. Survey questionnaire (circulated in the past) is only illustrative. It is meant to make the FLO and YMM aware of the informational requirements.
3. Survey analysis should be shared within larger gathering in the grid to fine tune and finalize the results.
4. It was agreed that the Draft LAP shall be in place by the first week of Feb 2010 and its final version by end Feb 2010.
5. It was informed that the next installment of the funds shall be sent to the FLOs account soonest the second installment was received from the funding source (UNDP SGP).
6. There was a suggestion for a monthly online ‘newsletter of the Yamuna Mitra Mandli’. Dr S. R. Taigor has kindly agreed to take up this responsibility.
7. The method of holding an essay competition (as successfully tried by the Easy Global Organisation) for raising awareness and involving youngsters was much appreciated. The FLO chief Sri Manoj Srivastava was requested to share his experience in the matter with all the other concerned.
8. On a suggestion, PJ agreed to prepare an executive summary of his new publication “Sick Yamuna, Sick Delhi” in Hindi for a wider circulation by the FLOs.
9. There was also a suggestion for exchange visits amongst the FLOs.
10. It was also agreed that efforts shall be made to prepare a ‘Yamuna New Year Calendar’ which could be used for outreach and awareness generation purposes.
The meet closed with MM thanking all for their time and interest for a successful meeting.
Friday, October 23, 2009
Waterbullying to sink 20 villages (Ravleen Kaur, Global Green October 2009)
Delhi eyes water from Himachal dam but without checking distribution losses in the city
Fifty-year-old Jagir Singh Tomar is among the 700 families in Sirmaur district in Himachal Pradesh who would be affected by the proposed Delhi eyes water from Himachal dam but without checking distribution losses in the city Fifty-year-old Jagir Singh Tomar is among the 700 families in Sirmaur district in Himachal Pradesh who would be affected by the proposed Renuka dam on Giri, a tributary of the Yamuna river. The project, via Haryana, is designed to meet Delhi’s water demand. If it comes through Tomar will have no place to live. There is no plan to resettle the families, except for a compensation. People have started protesting against the project and the manner of land acquisition. There is confusion among states about allowing water to DelhiÀ Haryana has said unless it gets benefits, it will not let Delhi have water. Non-profits working on the Yamuna claim the dam is not required and that Delhi would fare better if it checked the existing loopholesÀ inequal distribution, leakages and water thefts, for example.
“The government’s offer is a meagre Rs 2.5 lakh per bigha (0.08 hectares) for irrigated land and Rs 50,000 for wasteland,” said Tomar who grows tomato, ginger and garlic on his five bighas and earns up to Rs 3 lakh per year. “How will I sustain my family of 10?” asked Puran Chand of Mohtu village. “The compensation will last me a year. There is no provision for a job or land elsewhere.”
The villagers have formed a Renuka Bandh Sangharsh Samiti to fight the project. Chand, its secretary, added they had earlier demanded higher compensation but now their stand was clearÀ they do not want a dam.
“Even if we agreed to give land, the compensation is peanuts compared to market rates,” said Harish Chander from Deed Bagad village, half of which would be submerged. The project also poses a threat to 49 ha of the Renuka Wildlife Sanctuary.
“The market rate of land is not less than Rs 20 lakh per bigha. If they give me land at Delhi’s rates, I will part with it”— DEEP RAM,Farmer, Mohtu village
“Grazing communities who come here with their cattle will also be affected. The government says the project will benefit Sirmaur but we don’t see how. Only the contractors the Himachal Pradesh Power Corporation Ltd (hppcl) hires for the project will benefit,” said Mahesh Kumar, sarpanch of Dadahu gram panchayat.
The director of hppcl dismissed the villagers’ objections. “The rehabilitation package given to Renuka villagers is the best in the country. In such projects, opposition is always there. We cannot help it,” said C M Walia, director of the state power corporation.
But, what about land acquisition?Section 17 (4)À The term 17 (4) dominates conversations among Mohtu villagers who congregate under a tree late afternoon
everyday. Children too in 20 of the 37 villages that Reunka will submerge know it is the urgency clause. Section 17 (4), under the Land Acquisition Act 1894, allows project officials to bypass a step that allows landowners to file objections against land acquisition.
Villagers said the state has imposed the section in the 20 villages but Walia denied the move. O N Verma, general manager of class, was more candid “It is a government project and if it has decided to acquire land, catering to objections, if any, is just formality.”
In 2004, a Supreme Court judgment had spelt out that the urgency clause was unconstitutional and should not be allowed except in special circumstances such as flood or earthquake. “A citizen’s property can be acquired in accordance with law but in the absence of real and genuine urgency, it may not be appropriate to deprive an aggrieved party of a fair and just opportunity of putting forth its objections for due consideration of the acquiring authority,” said the 2004 judgment in the case of Union of India v Krishan Lal Arneja.
How can they invoke the urgency clause when the project hasn’t yet got various forest and environment clearances and techno-economic clearance from the Central Water Commission and the Central Electricity Authority? asked Manshi Asher of Environment Research and Action Collective, a non-profit in Himachal Pradesh.
Worried about having no choice but to leave his ancestral land, Tomar said agriculture was all he knew and he cared little about Delhi’s water shortage.
Haryana wants share too The Renuka dam project was conceptualized in the 1960s and the final agreement came through in 1994 between Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh. The agreement envisaged sharing Yamuna’s waters between these states and construction of the dam. But in February this year, the ministry of law said the 1994 agreement was not valid because Rajasthan never signed the deal.
“Haryana too is not happy with the deal,” said Manoj Misra of Delhi-based ngo Yamuna Jiye Abhiyan, “as it stated that in case of water deficit, the share of other states might reduce but that will not be the case for Delhi.” Haryana now wants a share both in the water released from Renuka and power generated as the river passes through the state.”
The Delhi Jal Board (djb), responsible for supplying drinking water to Delhi, said the 1994 agreement made it clear that Renuka’s water would be sent to Delhi. “The Central government will decide,” a board official said. Walia of hppcl addedÀ “Himachal Pradesh’s responsibility is to construct the dam and supply water. How it is distributed downstream is none of our concern.”
Delhi’s water requirement :- Delhi needs 3,637 million litres of water everyday (mld); the present supply is about 2,955 mld. Critics say distribution of this water is skewed. For instance, Lutyen’s Delhi that houses vips receives more than 300 mld and places like Mehrauli get less than 40 mld. The source of the river is Yamunotri from where it flows to the Hathnikund barrage at the Haryana-Uttar Pradesh border. There it is diverted to the Eastern Yamuna Canal in Uttar Pradesh and Western Yamuna Canal in Haryana.
The Delhi government plans to take 1,240 mld from the Renuka dam through the Western Yamuna Canal and divert it to another canal from Munak in Haryana to Haiderpur in Delhi (see map). The canal is yet to be commissioned. “Does Delhi need so much water?” asked Misra. A performance audit of the djb by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India in 2008 revealed distribution losses due to leakage of water was 40 per cent of the total supply; 15 per cent loss is acceptable as per the ministry of urban development. “In 2007, delayed repair of leaks in transmission and distribution lines led to an estimated loss of 382 million litres water,” the report said.
According to a study by the Centre for Science and Environment, a non-profit in Delhi, the city loses about 1,200 mld in leaks. This is equivalent to water supply expected from the Renuka dam. If the city can cut down its distribution losses, there will be additional water available. By 2021, the water availability will be at least 4,165 mld, including Renuka’s water supply.
If losses are 40 per cent from the existing sources and 15 per cent from Renuka, Delhi would lose 1,400 mld. This is higher than Renuka’s potential and would be 30 per cent of Delhi’s projected water needs in 2021. So, the dam, according to the study, is not required.
The djb does not agree. “It is not so much leakage as the theft of water.
Garlic from Himachal is sold in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Delhi and Tamil Nadu. All this will stop — JYOTI BAHADUR,Farmer, Dadahu village
We cannot do anything about the unauthorized colonies that draw a lot of water,” a board official said. “We commissioned a Rs 80-lakh study to find out leakage problems in the
trunk pipeline but terminated it because there were problems with the consultant.”
Misra reiterated that damming the river was not the solution. “How can a river be revived if its key tributaries are dammed?” Besides, he added, flow in the river counters the pollution problem. If the river is dammed upstream, flow will be restricted further leading to more pollution in the river.
Power : - The dam is supposed to generate 40 mw electricity, besides supplying water
to Delhi. “The existing Giri Bata project, downstream of the proposed Renuka dam, was set up with an installed capacity of 60 mw class Except during monsoon, the project generates eight to nine mw power for about nine months a year because of lower than expected water supply,” said an executive engineer posted at the Giri Bata dam site.
How can Renuka produce 40 mw ? “Given the fact that they have to release a minimum of 1,240 mld for nine months a year to Delhi, there will never be enough water to run the turbines. And in monsoon, when the priority would be to fill up the reservoir rather than let the water go downstream, Giri Bata’s production would be affected during monsoon as well,” said a memorandum, which a group of non-profits recently submitted to the government. hppcl countered the argument and maintained the efficiency of the Giri Bata project would go up because of regulated water supply throughout the year from the Renuka reservoir.
“There would be other benefits,” said Walia. “Once we have a 24-km-long reservoir, we can always open it for tourism and water sports and earn a lot of revenue from it.”
But Tomar is not excited. “Should I give up land, agriculture and living so that people can enjoy water sports?”
Fifty-year-old Jagir Singh Tomar is among the 700 families in Sirmaur district in Himachal Pradesh who would be affected by the proposed Delhi eyes water from Himachal dam but without checking distribution losses in the city Fifty-year-old Jagir Singh Tomar is among the 700 families in Sirmaur district in Himachal Pradesh who would be affected by the proposed Renuka dam on Giri, a tributary of the Yamuna river. The project, via Haryana, is designed to meet Delhi’s water demand. If it comes through Tomar will have no place to live. There is no plan to resettle the families, except for a compensation. People have started protesting against the project and the manner of land acquisition. There is confusion among states about allowing water to DelhiÀ Haryana has said unless it gets benefits, it will not let Delhi have water. Non-profits working on the Yamuna claim the dam is not required and that Delhi would fare better if it checked the existing loopholesÀ inequal distribution, leakages and water thefts, for example.
“The government’s offer is a meagre Rs 2.5 lakh per bigha (0.08 hectares) for irrigated land and Rs 50,000 for wasteland,” said Tomar who grows tomato, ginger and garlic on his five bighas and earns up to Rs 3 lakh per year. “How will I sustain my family of 10?” asked Puran Chand of Mohtu village. “The compensation will last me a year. There is no provision for a job or land elsewhere.”
The villagers have formed a Renuka Bandh Sangharsh Samiti to fight the project. Chand, its secretary, added they had earlier demanded higher compensation but now their stand was clearÀ they do not want a dam.
“Even if we agreed to give land, the compensation is peanuts compared to market rates,” said Harish Chander from Deed Bagad village, half of which would be submerged. The project also poses a threat to 49 ha of the Renuka Wildlife Sanctuary.
“The market rate of land is not less than Rs 20 lakh per bigha. If they give me land at Delhi’s rates, I will part with it”— DEEP RAM,Farmer, Mohtu village
“Grazing communities who come here with their cattle will also be affected. The government says the project will benefit Sirmaur but we don’t see how. Only the contractors the Himachal Pradesh Power Corporation Ltd (hppcl) hires for the project will benefit,” said Mahesh Kumar, sarpanch of Dadahu gram panchayat.
The director of hppcl dismissed the villagers’ objections. “The rehabilitation package given to Renuka villagers is the best in the country. In such projects, opposition is always there. We cannot help it,” said C M Walia, director of the state power corporation.
But, what about land acquisition?Section 17 (4)À The term 17 (4) dominates conversations among Mohtu villagers who congregate under a tree late afternoon
everyday. Children too in 20 of the 37 villages that Reunka will submerge know it is the urgency clause. Section 17 (4), under the Land Acquisition Act 1894, allows project officials to bypass a step that allows landowners to file objections against land acquisition.
Villagers said the state has imposed the section in the 20 villages but Walia denied the move. O N Verma, general manager of class, was more candid “It is a government project and if it has decided to acquire land, catering to objections, if any, is just formality.”
In 2004, a Supreme Court judgment had spelt out that the urgency clause was unconstitutional and should not be allowed except in special circumstances such as flood or earthquake. “A citizen’s property can be acquired in accordance with law but in the absence of real and genuine urgency, it may not be appropriate to deprive an aggrieved party of a fair and just opportunity of putting forth its objections for due consideration of the acquiring authority,” said the 2004 judgment in the case of Union of India v Krishan Lal Arneja.
How can they invoke the urgency clause when the project hasn’t yet got various forest and environment clearances and techno-economic clearance from the Central Water Commission and the Central Electricity Authority? asked Manshi Asher of Environment Research and Action Collective, a non-profit in Himachal Pradesh.
Worried about having no choice but to leave his ancestral land, Tomar said agriculture was all he knew and he cared little about Delhi’s water shortage.
Haryana wants share too The Renuka dam project was conceptualized in the 1960s and the final agreement came through in 1994 between Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh. The agreement envisaged sharing Yamuna’s waters between these states and construction of the dam. But in February this year, the ministry of law said the 1994 agreement was not valid because Rajasthan never signed the deal.
“Haryana too is not happy with the deal,” said Manoj Misra of Delhi-based ngo Yamuna Jiye Abhiyan, “as it stated that in case of water deficit, the share of other states might reduce but that will not be the case for Delhi.” Haryana now wants a share both in the water released from Renuka and power generated as the river passes through the state.”
The Delhi Jal Board (djb), responsible for supplying drinking water to Delhi, said the 1994 agreement made it clear that Renuka’s water would be sent to Delhi. “The Central government will decide,” a board official said. Walia of hppcl addedÀ “Himachal Pradesh’s responsibility is to construct the dam and supply water. How it is distributed downstream is none of our concern.”
Delhi’s water requirement :- Delhi needs 3,637 million litres of water everyday (mld); the present supply is about 2,955 mld. Critics say distribution of this water is skewed. For instance, Lutyen’s Delhi that houses vips receives more than 300 mld and places like Mehrauli get less than 40 mld. The source of the river is Yamunotri from where it flows to the Hathnikund barrage at the Haryana-Uttar Pradesh border. There it is diverted to the Eastern Yamuna Canal in Uttar Pradesh and Western Yamuna Canal in Haryana.
The Delhi government plans to take 1,240 mld from the Renuka dam through the Western Yamuna Canal and divert it to another canal from Munak in Haryana to Haiderpur in Delhi (see map). The canal is yet to be commissioned. “Does Delhi need so much water?” asked Misra. A performance audit of the djb by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India in 2008 revealed distribution losses due to leakage of water was 40 per cent of the total supply; 15 per cent loss is acceptable as per the ministry of urban development. “In 2007, delayed repair of leaks in transmission and distribution lines led to an estimated loss of 382 million litres water,” the report said.
According to a study by the Centre for Science and Environment, a non-profit in Delhi, the city loses about 1,200 mld in leaks. This is equivalent to water supply expected from the Renuka dam. If the city can cut down its distribution losses, there will be additional water available. By 2021, the water availability will be at least 4,165 mld, including Renuka’s water supply.
If losses are 40 per cent from the existing sources and 15 per cent from Renuka, Delhi would lose 1,400 mld. This is higher than Renuka’s potential and would be 30 per cent of Delhi’s projected water needs in 2021. So, the dam, according to the study, is not required.
The djb does not agree. “It is not so much leakage as the theft of water.
Garlic from Himachal is sold in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Delhi and Tamil Nadu. All this will stop — JYOTI BAHADUR,Farmer, Dadahu village
We cannot do anything about the unauthorized colonies that draw a lot of water,” a board official said. “We commissioned a Rs 80-lakh study to find out leakage problems in the
trunk pipeline but terminated it because there were problems with the consultant.”
Misra reiterated that damming the river was not the solution. “How can a river be revived if its key tributaries are dammed?” Besides, he added, flow in the river counters the pollution problem. If the river is dammed upstream, flow will be restricted further leading to more pollution in the river.
Power : - The dam is supposed to generate 40 mw electricity, besides supplying water
to Delhi. “The existing Giri Bata project, downstream of the proposed Renuka dam, was set up with an installed capacity of 60 mw class Except during monsoon, the project generates eight to nine mw power for about nine months a year because of lower than expected water supply,” said an executive engineer posted at the Giri Bata dam site.
How can Renuka produce 40 mw ? “Given the fact that they have to release a minimum of 1,240 mld for nine months a year to Delhi, there will never be enough water to run the turbines. And in monsoon, when the priority would be to fill up the reservoir rather than let the water go downstream, Giri Bata’s production would be affected during monsoon as well,” said a memorandum, which a group of non-profits recently submitted to the government. hppcl countered the argument and maintained the efficiency of the Giri Bata project would go up because of regulated water supply throughout the year from the Renuka reservoir.
“There would be other benefits,” said Walia. “Once we have a 24-km-long reservoir, we can always open it for tourism and water sports and earn a lot of revenue from it.”
But Tomar is not excited. “Should I give up land, agriculture and living so that people can enjoy water sports?”
Monday, October 12, 2009
HNZ Bridge Vigil for the River – A Report(Yamuna Jiye Abhiyan- 01 Sep 2009 to 30 Sep. 2009)
HNZ Bridge Vigil for the River – A Report
BACKGROUND:
It is well known that the urban stretches of river Yamuna in places like Delhi, Mathura and Agra are in worst shape in terms of the pollution of its waters as well as the threatened state of the river’s flood plain.
Of the many causes of rampant pollution in the river, like number of drains bringing sewage and other pollutants into the river from the cities, one which has an important role, but not much appreciated is the dumping of household waste (principally, left overs from religious ceremonies) into the river from the number of bridges that straddle the river in these cities. It may be recalled that to prevent such a practice the government has under the Yamuna Action Plan (YAP) raised metal wire mesh fence on either side of a number of these bridges. Unfortunately these fences have little prevention value left since miscreants have cut windows at strategic places in them and some people would still prefer vaulting polythene bags full of household refuse over the fence into the hapless river. (see pics).
We at the Yamuna Jiye Abhiyaan, have endeavoured to observe and document these practices on the HNZ Bridge cum Road (NH 24) since January 2009 to try and understand the practice (see pics) as narrated above with an objective to work towards a workable strategy that could prevent such pollution of the river.
Then on 14th of August 2009 (The Janmashtami day) we tried to test run a preventive methodology (see pics) with an aim to practice it over a prolonged duration as an experiment cum educational campaign. Enthused by the people’s response on that day we decided to launch a month long vigil for the river at the HNZ Bridge during the month of September 2009 as a citizen’s initiative that goes beyond merely lamenting and blaming the state agencies for the sad state of the river.
The reason why we chose this month was the fact that most religious ceremonies / functions beginning with Ganesh Chaturthi, Shraddh, Dussehra and Durga Puja fell in this month.
Later on 27th of August 2009, we held a half day brainstorming session (see pic) with local pujaris in east Delhi to get their inputs into our plans.
THE PURPOSE
a) Use the experience of a days’ test run to persuade people from not throwing things into the river and hand over the things to our volunteers for safe disposal
BACKGROUND:
It is well known that the urban stretches of river Yamuna in places like Delhi, Mathura and Agra are in worst shape in terms of the pollution of its waters as well as the threatened state of the river’s flood plain.
Of the many causes of rampant pollution in the river, like number of drains bringing sewage and other pollutants into the river from the cities, one which has an important role, but not much appreciated is the dumping of household waste (principally, left overs from religious ceremonies) into the river from the number of bridges that straddle the river in these cities. It may be recalled that to prevent such a practice the government has under the Yamuna Action Plan (YAP) raised metal wire mesh fence on either side of a number of these bridges. Unfortunately these fences have little prevention value left since miscreants have cut windows at strategic places in them and some people would still prefer vaulting polythene bags full of household refuse over the fence into the hapless river. (see pics).
We at the Yamuna Jiye Abhiyaan, have endeavoured to observe and document these practices on the HNZ Bridge cum Road (NH 24) since January 2009 to try and understand the practice (see pics) as narrated above with an objective to work towards a workable strategy that could prevent such pollution of the river.
Then on 14th of August 2009 (The Janmashtami day) we tried to test run a preventive methodology (see pics) with an aim to practice it over a prolonged duration as an experiment cum educational campaign. Enthused by the people’s response on that day we decided to launch a month long vigil for the river at the HNZ Bridge during the month of September 2009 as a citizen’s initiative that goes beyond merely lamenting and blaming the state agencies for the sad state of the river.
The reason why we chose this month was the fact that most religious ceremonies / functions beginning with Ganesh Chaturthi, Shraddh, Dussehra and Durga Puja fell in this month.
Later on 27th of August 2009, we held a half day brainstorming session (see pic) with local pujaris in east Delhi to get their inputs into our plans.
THE PURPOSE
a) Use the experience of a days’ test run to persuade people from not throwing things into the river and hand over the things to our volunteers for safe disposal
b) Observe and document the state of the river in an ongoing manner
c) Utilize the immense visibility of a bridge to reach out to people with river conservation messages.
d) Reach out and network with relevant government agencies.
e) Involve other NGOs, schools and interested individuals in the vigil.
METHODOLOGY:
The vigil was held daily (except on Sundays and such rainy days when it became impossible to keep the vigil) from 9 am – 12 noon and again from 2 pm – 5 pm beginning September 1, 2009 up till September 30, 2009.
Volunteers put up each day the banners (see pic) at a suitable height on the Bridge’s fence and stood at predefined strategic locations on the bridge with bamboo baskets (to collect the material) on the ground and placards (see pics) hanging around their necks.
Each evening, after the vigil was over, the collected material was segregated (into organic and non-organic) and the organic matter (garlands, hawan samagri, food stuff etc) was interned into pits for composting and non organic (polythene bags, idols, paper matter, earthen pots, framed pictures, glass material, metallic pieces etc) material was further segregated and stored safely for planned recycle purposes.
The school children, when they participated, stood vigil for over an hour or so, and then they were requested to draw or write about the ‘Yamuna of their dreams’!
The vigil was regularly documented and the photographs were taken from time to time.
KEY OBSERVATIONS:
1. Misuse of bridges (at least the HNZ Bridge on NH 24) for dumping things (mainly household waste) into the river is rampant.
2. Based on a sample estimate of number of vehicles stopping at the traffic junction for over a minute, we estimated that anything between 75,000 – 100,000 people use the bridge on a normal day.
3. People were seen to come in cars, buses, auto-rickshaws, taxis, bicycle and on foot for the needful. Even government vehicles and vehicles with press stickers were seen to be used for the same.
4. Majority of people (almost 95%) needed little to nil convincing before they handed over their packets (polythene bags, cloth bags, paper bags etc) to the volunteers. Towards the end of the vigil it was heartening for us to note that it was just a small minority of people (1 in 4) who did not deposit the packets on their own into the baskets (without a volunteer manning the site) placed at various places on the pedestrian passage on the bridge.
5. There is some organized gang of miscreants who have a vested interest in opening the windows in the fence to facilitate people to throw things into the river.
6. There is a significant population of labour class people working either in the nearby fields or nurseries, or with construction companies who use the area under the bridge or close to it to live in shanties and eke out a living. Their children often loiter and frequent the bridge and act as conduit (for few coins) for throwing the things into the river.
7. People were by and large appreciative of the effort with some stopping and complimenting the volunteers. There were phone calls from few with suggestions and some even visiting us at the Hanuman temple for personal interaction with us. The pujaris at the Hanuman temple were a source of great encouragement and help throughout the vigil.
8. It was encouraging to find relevant government agencies (PWD and MCD) supportive and appreciative of the effort.
9. It was purely coincidental that over a period of just a month we witnessed the river change from being a stinking sewer drain into its natural vibrant self (thanks to the floods) and back to its sewer status.
10. It was heartening to see school children from a number of schools in the city (some from even as far away as Dwarka) actively participating in the activity.
LEARNINGS AND FINDINGS:
Majority of people at the Nizamudin Bridge come from various parts of East Delhi to dump their offerings into the river.
If festive season is not counted, then majority of people who visit and dump things into the river are doing so on the advice of a pujari or some such person (including elders in the house).
It was a very small minority (4-5%) for whom immersion was a dire necessity. Such people would just not rest till their offering/s was well into the river. The state of river mattered little to them.
Interestingly it was only plastic which many people considered as a source of pollution and hence (about 40%) would take care to not throw it along with the puja material.
Interestingly people from all walks and placements (lawyers, police personnel, staff from DJB, MCD and DDA, Press staff , Priests, Businessmen, public and private service class etc) were seen to visit the bridge for the needful.
On a non festive day an average of 50 to 80 people came to the HNZ Bridge to deposit their things into the river. As against on a festive day the number exceeded 300 going up to more than 500 on the Ashtami and Dashami day.
Interestingly and unfortunately it was not just religious offerings but all sort of domestic waste that people were found to dump into the river. These included things like movie tickets, flour and tea packaging, newspaper bundles, shampoo and gutkha pouches, cough syrup bottles, body care products, tablet wrappers, broken bulbs, switches, shoe polish lotion, ball pens, artificial teeth set, marriage invitations cards, books etc, etc.
Children who habitually loiter on the bridge, create nuisance and assist people in throwing things into the river. In their presence convincing people becomes bit tough. This practice needs to be discouraged as in the ultimate analysis while this may be seen as being an opportunistic income for the family, it turns the children into kind of beggars and discourages them from attending nearby schools where at least some of them are enrolled.
There are well-equipped gangs who occasionally damage the fence.
Expert divers living under and around the bridge despite obvious ill effects from the polluted waters on their health are least bothered and primarily interested in the collection of valuable metal pieces and coins thrown into the river.
It was disheartening to note even the MCD staff pushing the swept material from the bridge down into the river through the cracks in the pavements on the bridge.
Following is the estimate of the over-all collection from the vigil. It may be noted that this is just from a month long vigil and from a single bridge over the river. This can be safely multiplied by a factor of 4 to factor in the impact on the river from at least 4 other high use bridges (Wazirabad, Gita Colony, ITO, DND) in the city.
Estimate of collected waste over the month
Items No. of Sacks Amount
Polybags 22 180 kg
Paper 18 220 kg
Cloth 7 80 kg
Glass 1 30 kg
Paintings 5 300 pieces
Idols 10 250 pieces
Earthen Pots 500 kg
Organic waste 50 1000 kg
For people used to observing such activities as nothing more than a one off event, it came as quite a surprise to see the volunteers of Yamuna Jiye Abhiyaan at it day after day.
Educational placards worn by volunteers on their person were found to be far more effective as an outreach mode than mere placards hung on the fence.
Quite a number of people advised us to work on ‘fixing’ the drains falling into the river and polluting it.
As an experiment, it was quite a successful effort and can be easily replicated by any other interested agency including an NGO in Delhi or in any other place where such misuse of bridges is noticed.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
a) It is suggested that MCD may like to take up such an activity (regular vigil using volunteers) over all the bridges in the city for at least a period of couple of months at a stretch so that people get used to depositing their puja left overs at designated sites at the beginning of the bridge or at any other suitable location close to the bridge.
b) It is well known that MCD has resources under the outreach component of Yamuna Action Plan (YAP) as well as a number of NGOs associated with it for the replication of this effort, if found useful.
c) In any case, MCD is duty bound under a Delhi High Court order from 2006, to create suitable locations close to the river where the puja left overs could be safely deposited without further polluting the river.
d) There needs to be a law to discourage people from dumping non religious material into the river.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT:
There have been a large number of supporters, both active and passive to our month long vigil at the HNZ Bridge.
It was a kind of dream of Sri Prabhjot Sodhi of CEE that we were trying to live out. We acknowledge his personal and his team’s support to the whole effort. The polythene collected from the vigil has been safely utilized by the solid waste management unit of CEE.
We cannot thank enough the Principal, staff and students of Ahlcon International School, Mayur Vihar; Pragati Wheel, Mayur Vihar; St Mary’s School, Safdarjung Enclave; St. Marks School, Meera Bagh; Ramjas School, Anand Parbat; DPS, NOIDA; Indraprashta International, Dwarka for actively participating in the vigil.
Sri Rohit Prakash and his friends at i-dream; Sri Pushp Jain of Nature and People; Sri Raman Khanna ji; Sri BMS Rathore of Winrock India; Sri Prabhakar of Kalpvriksha; Smt Usha Srinivasan of Development Alternatives; Sri Kuldip of Hamari Yamuna Trust; Sri Murari Baba; Ms Jolly and Ms Jossey; Sri Singh, SDO PWD; Baba/s at the Hanuman Mandir, are specially thanked for finding time and volunteering or interacting and advising us for the needful.
It was extremely encouraging for us to note when the news about the Yamuna Vigil was picked up by friends at the Blue Yamuna Trust and IDCA in the US and shared widely. Sri Ravi Singh at Agra and Sri Manoj Srivastava, at Allahabad have been quite a pillar of support to us throughout the entire campaign.
This is to also acknowledge the support received from most of our partners at the Yamuna Jiye Abhiyaan, who wrote in encouragingly about the vigil from time to time.
Our efforts were aided financially by a grant from the Ford Foundation and a generous personal financial commitment made by Smt Madhu Bhaduri ji.
To Sudha, Bhim,Vijay, Manorama and a number of Bhim’s friends, who stood vigil day in and day out over the month we can only say THANK YOU.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
.JPG)
Delhi grid - Momnathan Trip Report (3.8.09)
Trip Report
Visited : Momnathan village in Tilwara GRID
Date: 3 August 2009
Project: River Health Index
Members:
Manoj Misra
Pushp Jain
Bhim
Sudha Mohan
Minutes
The village was visited in the afternoon as per the advice of the contact person, as the villagers were busy with agricultural activities in their fields during the forenoon.
As soon as we reached a number of villagers gathered as our visit had been informed in advance. We broke in two groups with one visiting the nearby river Hindon and the other initiating the dialogue with the villagers. The quality of the hand pump water as also the water from river Hindon (major tributary of river Yamuna) was also tested with the kit provided by the CPCB.
Observations:
- It is one of the oldest villages in the area. It was reported that Mughal time utensils were unearthed during a nearby recent excavations.
- Hindon meanders close to it.
- The village lies within the right bank embankment created recently by the authorities
- A temple boundary lies close to the river across the river from the village
- A nalla joins the river and widens the river channel close to the river
- There are about 80 – 85 households in the village
- There are on an average 10 members per HHs (very high population?)
- Jatav, Valmiki and Jats constitute the three main caste composition in the village
- The entire village subsists on agriculture
- Adult literacy is low
- It was reported that in recent past the river Hindon has changed its course thrice, once when it flowed even left of the village, as compared to its present flow which is to its (village right)
- It was reported that the water in river Hindon was of bathing quality if not exactly potable till the early 1990s
- Tractors are to be seen in almost every HHs
- The young generation does not even know how to plough using a bullock or a buffaloe
- There are no functional dug wells remaining in the village
- It was reported that the water quality of low depth hand pumps is extremely poor
- Bore wells could be seen pumping out water at almost every agricultural field
- The village is electrified, has a cement road running through it and now a black topped road over the RME originating from the Greater NOIDA expressway
- Many houses in the village are made of cement and brick, though thatch roof huts are also present
- It was reported that there is little love lost with the river Hindon. As its water quality is very poor, and it often floods (During floods in 2008 it flooded right upto the village from back flow in river Yamuna). Little prodding resulted in the villagers agreeing that their bore wells have abundant water just because of the river.
- A poorly laid and incomplete side drain (along the cement road) was cited as one of the greatest curse to visit the village as it has resulted in stagnant waste water, resulting in it becoming as a breeding ground for the mosquitoes. (last year one person in the village suffered from Dangue too). There was no response when they were asked, as to why they donot get the drain repaired on their own?
- The women folk in the village appeared a suppressed lot (observing pudah), but willing to come out and lead.
- The villagers agreed to form a Sangathan of some sorts.
- It was reported that although the quantity of food grains has increased as a result of mechanisation and massive doses of chemical inputs, but the quality has gone down drastically. (One estimate put it at less than 25% of its earlier quality)
- Despite visible signs of prosperity in the village, it was reported that for lack of educational opportunities in the village (There is only one primary school in the village) there was hardly any adult from the village earning a salary and agricultural earning is not enough since the average size of the HH is so large !!
- Villagers liked the CD that we carried and provided to them with songs composed and sung by Sri Kishori and others.
- One social and economic need of the village is a bridge (or even a causeway) across the river Hindon so that they can easily connect with the facilities like hospital, markets etc.
List of villagers present during the discussion:
S.No.
Name
Male/Female
Contact No.
1.
Ramdass
Male
2.
Dharamvir
Male
3.
Neem Singh
Male
4.
Hukam Singh
Male
5.
Mukesh
Male
6.
Ravi
Male
9.
Bijender
Male
10.
Jitendra
Male
11.
Saroj Bala
Female
09310479190
12.
Rakhi
Female
13.
Shantha
Female
14.
Mukesh
Female
15.
Uman
Female
16.
Simla
Female
17.
Rakesh
Female
18.
Krupali
Female
The Result from water test is given below in table.
Test
Hand Pump (Village)
Hindon
Permissible Standard*
Color
Transparent
Straw Yellow
Taste
Slightly Salty
NT
Odour
Normal
Unpleasant
Suspended Solids
Nil
High residue
pH
Between 7-8
NT
7
Residual Chlorine
Nil
NT
NK
Total Iron
0.5 mg/l
1.5 mg/l
0.3 to 1.0 mg/l
Fluoride
0.5 mg/l
1.0 mg/l
1.0 mg/l
Amonia
NT
More than 3.0 mg/l
Toxic for marine life
Phosphate
NT
0.6 mg/l
NK
NT : - Not Tested * CPCB
NK: - Not Known
Visited : Momnathan village in Tilwara GRID
Date: 3 August 2009
Project: River Health Index
Members:
Manoj Misra
Pushp Jain
Bhim
Sudha Mohan
Minutes
The village was visited in the afternoon as per the advice of the contact person, as the villagers were busy with agricultural activities in their fields during the forenoon.
As soon as we reached a number of villagers gathered as our visit had been informed in advance. We broke in two groups with one visiting the nearby river Hindon and the other initiating the dialogue with the villagers. The quality of the hand pump water as also the water from river Hindon (major tributary of river Yamuna) was also tested with the kit provided by the CPCB.
Observations:
- It is one of the oldest villages in the area. It was reported that Mughal time utensils were unearthed during a nearby recent excavations.
- Hindon meanders close to it.
- The village lies within the right bank embankment created recently by the authorities
- A temple boundary lies close to the river across the river from the village
- A nalla joins the river and widens the river channel close to the river
- There are about 80 – 85 households in the village
- There are on an average 10 members per HHs (very high population?)
- Jatav, Valmiki and Jats constitute the three main caste composition in the village
- The entire village subsists on agriculture
- Adult literacy is low
- It was reported that in recent past the river Hindon has changed its course thrice, once when it flowed even left of the village, as compared to its present flow which is to its (village right)
- It was reported that the water in river Hindon was of bathing quality if not exactly potable till the early 1990s
- Tractors are to be seen in almost every HHs
- The young generation does not even know how to plough using a bullock or a buffaloe
- There are no functional dug wells remaining in the village
- It was reported that the water quality of low depth hand pumps is extremely poor
- Bore wells could be seen pumping out water at almost every agricultural field
- The village is electrified, has a cement road running through it and now a black topped road over the RME originating from the Greater NOIDA expressway
- Many houses in the village are made of cement and brick, though thatch roof huts are also present
- It was reported that there is little love lost with the river Hindon. As its water quality is very poor, and it often floods (During floods in 2008 it flooded right upto the village from back flow in river Yamuna). Little prodding resulted in the villagers agreeing that their bore wells have abundant water just because of the river.
- A poorly laid and incomplete side drain (along the cement road) was cited as one of the greatest curse to visit the village as it has resulted in stagnant waste water, resulting in it becoming as a breeding ground for the mosquitoes. (last year one person in the village suffered from Dangue too). There was no response when they were asked, as to why they donot get the drain repaired on their own?
- The women folk in the village appeared a suppressed lot (observing pudah), but willing to come out and lead.
- The villagers agreed to form a Sangathan of some sorts.
- It was reported that although the quantity of food grains has increased as a result of mechanisation and massive doses of chemical inputs, but the quality has gone down drastically. (One estimate put it at less than 25% of its earlier quality)
- Despite visible signs of prosperity in the village, it was reported that for lack of educational opportunities in the village (There is only one primary school in the village) there was hardly any adult from the village earning a salary and agricultural earning is not enough since the average size of the HH is so large !!
- Villagers liked the CD that we carried and provided to them with songs composed and sung by Sri Kishori and others.
- One social and economic need of the village is a bridge (or even a causeway) across the river Hindon so that they can easily connect with the facilities like hospital, markets etc.
List of villagers present during the discussion:
S.No.
Name
Male/Female
Contact No.
1.
Ramdass
Male
2.
Dharamvir
Male
3.
Neem Singh
Male
4.
Hukam Singh
Male
5.
Mukesh
Male
6.
Ravi
Male
9.
Bijender
Male
10.
Jitendra
Male
11.
Saroj Bala
Female
09310479190
12.
Rakhi
Female
13.
Shantha
Female
14.
Mukesh
Female
15.
Uman
Female
16.
Simla
Female
17.
Rakesh
Female
18.
Krupali
Female
The Result from water test is given below in table.
Test
Hand Pump (Village)
Hindon
Permissible Standard*
Color
Transparent
Straw Yellow
Taste
Slightly Salty
NT
Odour
Normal
Unpleasant
Suspended Solids
Nil
High residue
pH
Between 7-8
NT
7
Residual Chlorine
Nil
NT
NK
Total Iron
0.5 mg/l
1.5 mg/l
0.3 to 1.0 mg/l
Fluoride
0.5 mg/l
1.0 mg/l
1.0 mg/l
Amonia
NT
More than 3.0 mg/l
Toxic for marine life
Phosphate
NT
0.6 mg/l
NK
NT : - Not Tested * CPCB
NK: - Not Known
Minutes of meeting held on 7 and 8 March 09 at New Delhi and Agra
Draft Minutes of the Meeting/s held on 7 and 8 March 2009
(River Health Index)
Place: PEACE Institute Charitable Trust,
178-F, Pocket -4, Mayur Vihar – I
Delhi – 110 091.
Date and Time: 7 March 2009 (11.00 a.m – 1.00 p.m)
Core planning team members:
Giridhar A. Kinhal
Manoj Misra
Bhim S Rawat
Sudha Mohan
BMS Rathore and Pushp Jain, the other two Core Planning Team members regretted their absence.
Objectives:
Review progress.
Develop the methodology further.
REPORT:
MM welcomed the members present.
On the progress front it was reported that literature review on the question of river health is underway. In addition requests have gone out through a formal communication to several relevant government and non government agencies for help and collaboration in the proposed study. Positive response has already been received from the People’s Science Institute at Dehradun; ICFRE, Dehradun; Office of PCCF, Himachal Pradesh and the Central Pollution Control Board, Delhi.
On the question of an appropriate methodology, a good discussion amongst the participants resulted in following consensus:
a) Four field level partner organizations are under identification at Dehradun, Agra, Etawah and Allahabad and are to be contracted for leading the field work. The basis of the identification of the said partner organizations is as under:
CRITERIA FOR SELECTION OF FLO
- The agency should preferably be a registered NGO / body (Society / Trust)
- The agency should have proven record of activities relating to protection, cleaning, revival of rivers (preferably of river Yamuna) or related to any of the natural resources
- The agency should have proven record of good social networking skills
- The agency should be in a position to spare the services of a point person who should work in a dedicated fashion for the identification and promotion of the activities of site level Task Teams
b) One location after an average of around 100 km down the river shall be selected for focused field assessment in a participatory manner to facilitate local action. Suggested tentative sites are as under:
· Yamunotri – Hathnikund Section :
Yamunotri
Barkot
Hathnikund
· Hathnikund – Delhi Section:
Kalanaur
Chaprauli
DELHI
· Delhi – Ettawah Section:
Chaensa
Shergarh
Farah
Batesar
· Ettawah – Allahbad Section
Jagmmanpur
Kalpi
Marka
Allahabad
At each of these sites the FLO would facilitate the development of Task Teams (consisting of knowledgeable and interested local persons) that shall be investigating the status of the river within a presumed concentric circular grid with centripetal depiction of the impacting elements and centrifugal array of effects on the ecosystem elements including humans as under:
- Activities, agencies, industries etc that impact the river positively or negatively in form of either being a source of water or of pollution or encroachment etc
- The zone of influence in which the river in its compromised state is affecting adversely the health and wellness of the dependent people and other ecosystem elements.
Impact on the river
Positive
Negative
Better Catchment management
Better Tributaries management
Maintenance of river flow
Maintenance of Flood Plains
Functioning STPs
Any other
Poor drainage systems
Ill planned Drains
Encroachment / ‘Development’ / Agriculture (pesticides, inorganic manure)
Industries / Effluent
Degradation of local water bodies
Pollution (solid waste)
Ground water extraction
Barrage / Dam / Bridge
Any other
1
2
1111 Impacting elements Fig 1 2. Affected areas
Fig 1 Pictorial depiction of Impacts and Effects of River use
Effects of the compromised river on
Health (Humans and animals)
Religion
Culture
Traditions
Biota
Economic
Water bodies
Ground water
River structure
Having decided on the structural design of the study site a detailed discussion was held on the social grounding of the study methodology with clear mandate of sharpening and equipping the local communities with potential to take up regular assessment of river health and impact on human health, monitoring of changes and evolving processes/methods to combat or regulate the detrimental causative factors.
HOW ?
The identified Task Team facilitated by the FLO would be expected to reach out to local stakeholders like Farmer; Fishermen; Boatmen; Household; Priest / Temple; Teachers;
Businessmen; Others (Tourists, doctors, sarpanch) etc to develop a close association and understanding about the task at hand and to elicit local understanding about / causes of the manner in which the health of the river and in turn the health of the dependent people (ecosystem) as well as of the flora and fauna in the river has been affected adversely over time.
All these interactions shall be aimed at developing a popular consensus on local actions that the people in the targeted grid can / shall initiate for the revival of the river.
In each grid a MICRO ACTION PLAN shall be developed to facilitate a systematic scientifically oriented community based action.
It was also felt that to develop and implement the field methodology, facilitative props / tools will be needed. Some such props are
PROPS
· Informative posters regarding the project shall be developed for use during outreach as well as training of the members of FLO and the Task Team Members.
· A guidelines document for the preparation of the MICRO ACTION PLAN shall be developed.
· A handy and easy to use water testing kit shall be used for ready assessment of water quality at various places within the grid and the river. (This shall be used both as data gathering as well as an outreach tool)
Field Visit:
It was decided that on the next day 8 March 2009, GAK and MM shall visit Agra to interact with a potential Field Level Organisation (FLO) members who on the lines of the ongoing movement for the revival of river Yamuna in Delhi have been spearheading a Yamuna Campaign in Agra for more than 200 days.
Accordingly a one day visit was made and interactions were held with the following persons who are members of “Guru Vashishth Manav Sarvangin Vikas Sewa Samiti” (a regd community service organisation), that has been spearheading the Yamuna Campaign in Agra:
Sri Ashwini Kumar; Sri Mohan; Sri Ravi; Sri Raman; Sri Kamal Jit Singh and Sri Rajeev Saxena.
It was encouraging to find not only an obvious interest for the activity as proposed among the Samiti members but also good knowledge with them about the river and of the people in and around Agra. While Sri Ashwini Kumar is the key moving force behind the group, Sri Mohan has a number of innovative ideas regarding improved sanitation measures in human dwellings both in urban and in the rural settings, Sri Saxena is a storehouse of immense knowledge on the river and the drainage systems of past and present in the region.
Interaction in Agra with members of Guru Vashishth Manav Sarvangin Vikas Sewa Samiti
NEXT STEPS
a) Hiring of Field level Organisations as partner agencies
b) Preparation of posters and other training tools
c) Preparation of a guidelines document for MICRO ACTION PLANNING
d) Establishment of firm working relationship with other like minded government and non government agencies.
(River Health Index)
Place: PEACE Institute Charitable Trust,
178-F, Pocket -4, Mayur Vihar – I
Delhi – 110 091.
Date and Time: 7 March 2009 (11.00 a.m – 1.00 p.m)
Core planning team members:
Giridhar A. Kinhal
Manoj Misra
Bhim S Rawat
Sudha Mohan
BMS Rathore and Pushp Jain, the other two Core Planning Team members regretted their absence.
Objectives:
Review progress.
Develop the methodology further.
REPORT:
MM welcomed the members present.
On the progress front it was reported that literature review on the question of river health is underway. In addition requests have gone out through a formal communication to several relevant government and non government agencies for help and collaboration in the proposed study. Positive response has already been received from the People’s Science Institute at Dehradun; ICFRE, Dehradun; Office of PCCF, Himachal Pradesh and the Central Pollution Control Board, Delhi.
On the question of an appropriate methodology, a good discussion amongst the participants resulted in following consensus:
a) Four field level partner organizations are under identification at Dehradun, Agra, Etawah and Allahabad and are to be contracted for leading the field work. The basis of the identification of the said partner organizations is as under:
CRITERIA FOR SELECTION OF FLO
- The agency should preferably be a registered NGO / body (Society / Trust)
- The agency should have proven record of activities relating to protection, cleaning, revival of rivers (preferably of river Yamuna) or related to any of the natural resources
- The agency should have proven record of good social networking skills
- The agency should be in a position to spare the services of a point person who should work in a dedicated fashion for the identification and promotion of the activities of site level Task Teams
b) One location after an average of around 100 km down the river shall be selected for focused field assessment in a participatory manner to facilitate local action. Suggested tentative sites are as under:
· Yamunotri – Hathnikund Section :
Yamunotri
Barkot
Hathnikund
· Hathnikund – Delhi Section:
Kalanaur
Chaprauli
DELHI
· Delhi – Ettawah Section:
Chaensa
Shergarh
Farah
Batesar
· Ettawah – Allahbad Section
Jagmmanpur
Kalpi
Marka
Allahabad
At each of these sites the FLO would facilitate the development of Task Teams (consisting of knowledgeable and interested local persons) that shall be investigating the status of the river within a presumed concentric circular grid with centripetal depiction of the impacting elements and centrifugal array of effects on the ecosystem elements including humans as under:
- Activities, agencies, industries etc that impact the river positively or negatively in form of either being a source of water or of pollution or encroachment etc
- The zone of influence in which the river in its compromised state is affecting adversely the health and wellness of the dependent people and other ecosystem elements.
Impact on the river
Positive
Negative
Better Catchment management
Better Tributaries management
Maintenance of river flow
Maintenance of Flood Plains
Functioning STPs
Any other
Poor drainage systems
Ill planned Drains
Encroachment / ‘Development’ / Agriculture (pesticides, inorganic manure)
Industries / Effluent
Degradation of local water bodies
Pollution (solid waste)
Ground water extraction
Barrage / Dam / Bridge
Any other
1
2
1111 Impacting elements Fig 1 2. Affected areas
Fig 1 Pictorial depiction of Impacts and Effects of River use
Effects of the compromised river on
Health (Humans and animals)
Religion
Culture
Traditions
Biota
Economic
Water bodies
Ground water
River structure
Having decided on the structural design of the study site a detailed discussion was held on the social grounding of the study methodology with clear mandate of sharpening and equipping the local communities with potential to take up regular assessment of river health and impact on human health, monitoring of changes and evolving processes/methods to combat or regulate the detrimental causative factors.
HOW ?
The identified Task Team facilitated by the FLO would be expected to reach out to local stakeholders like Farmer; Fishermen; Boatmen; Household; Priest / Temple; Teachers;
Businessmen; Others (Tourists, doctors, sarpanch) etc to develop a close association and understanding about the task at hand and to elicit local understanding about / causes of the manner in which the health of the river and in turn the health of the dependent people (ecosystem) as well as of the flora and fauna in the river has been affected adversely over time.
All these interactions shall be aimed at developing a popular consensus on local actions that the people in the targeted grid can / shall initiate for the revival of the river.
In each grid a MICRO ACTION PLAN shall be developed to facilitate a systematic scientifically oriented community based action.
It was also felt that to develop and implement the field methodology, facilitative props / tools will be needed. Some such props are
PROPS
· Informative posters regarding the project shall be developed for use during outreach as well as training of the members of FLO and the Task Team Members.
· A guidelines document for the preparation of the MICRO ACTION PLAN shall be developed.
· A handy and easy to use water testing kit shall be used for ready assessment of water quality at various places within the grid and the river. (This shall be used both as data gathering as well as an outreach tool)
Field Visit:
It was decided that on the next day 8 March 2009, GAK and MM shall visit Agra to interact with a potential Field Level Organisation (FLO) members who on the lines of the ongoing movement for the revival of river Yamuna in Delhi have been spearheading a Yamuna Campaign in Agra for more than 200 days.
Accordingly a one day visit was made and interactions were held with the following persons who are members of “Guru Vashishth Manav Sarvangin Vikas Sewa Samiti” (a regd community service organisation), that has been spearheading the Yamuna Campaign in Agra:
Sri Ashwini Kumar; Sri Mohan; Sri Ravi; Sri Raman; Sri Kamal Jit Singh and Sri Rajeev Saxena.
It was encouraging to find not only an obvious interest for the activity as proposed among the Samiti members but also good knowledge with them about the river and of the people in and around Agra. While Sri Ashwini Kumar is the key moving force behind the group, Sri Mohan has a number of innovative ideas regarding improved sanitation measures in human dwellings both in urban and in the rural settings, Sri Saxena is a storehouse of immense knowledge on the river and the drainage systems of past and present in the region.
Interaction in Agra with members of Guru Vashishth Manav Sarvangin Vikas Sewa Samiti
NEXT STEPS
a) Hiring of Field level Organisations as partner agencies
b) Preparation of posters and other training tools
c) Preparation of a guidelines document for MICRO ACTION PLANNING
d) Establishment of firm working relationship with other like minded government and non government agencies.
MINUTES OF THE WORKSHOP ON RIVER HEALTH INDEX (RHI)
Date: 16 July 2009
Time: 10:00 AM to 05:00 PM
Venue: Indian Social Institute, Lodi Road, New Delhi
Purpose of the Workshop:
The key purpose of the workshop was to facilitate a discussion amongst the participants, so that:
a) The project, its objectives and its methodology is understood by all those present
b) There is greater familiarization with one another amongst the members of the Core Planning Team (at Delhi) and the members of the Field Level partner Organisations (FLO) based at Dehradun, Delhi, Agra, Gwalior and at Allahabad
c) The Operational Guidelines (in English and in Hindi) prepared by the project executant agency viz., PEACE Institute to help / guide the FLOs in their field work is understood by all, so that there is a consistency of approach and action in the field all along the length of the river
Report:
At the outset after formal introductions, MM on behalf of the organizing agency (PEACE) of the workshop, thanked all those present, for finding time and making it convenient to attend the one day workshop.
The workshop as per the program for the day (circulated in advance) began with few introductory presentations as under:
What are the elements of a Healthy River, by Manoj Misra (presentation is enclosed)
Introductory remarks by Sri Pushp Jain, member Core Planning Team
Presentation by Bhim on his outreach efforts to safeguard the Nizamuddin Bridge over the river. (Presentation enclosed).
Introductory remarks by Sri BMS Rathore explaining the technique of eliciting the people’s definition of the health of their river, giving an example from his own experience of similar defining by the people of the health of their forests.
In the afternoon, MM introduced the RHI project to all including what is a GRID; What is Task Team (Yamuna Mitra Mandali); Why it is important that we facilitate local people’s understanding to over ride our own knowledge and solutions to the problems facing the river etc] and responded to the participant’s queries regarding the project.
Later, participants from FLOs were requested to share their field experience till date. Sri Mittal from Environics Trust (Dehradun), Sri Bhim and Sri Jain from PEACE, Pandit Misra ji and Sri Ravi Singh ji from Agra, Sri Sitaram Taigor (PEACE) from Gwalior, and Sri Manoj Srivastava from Allahabd shared their experiences from the field.
Sri Prabhjot Sodhi, National Coordinator, UNDP-GEF project, shared his experiences of working in the field for over last two decades and the fact that the local people indeed know the best and that to document that leading to tangible actions should be our key objective in the project.
Finally MM, read out the salient features of the Operational Guidelines document and responded to queries from the participants. The document was found to be clear and useful by all the participants.
Following next steps were agreed:
a) The FLOs to identify and enumerate circular GRIDS of 2 Km radius at the identified sites in their area. A rectangular GRID to be enumerated in the Hill regions of Uttaranchal.
b) All villages falling within the GRID to be located on a map and visited by the FLO executives. In case no village falls within the 2 km radius, then the nearest village can be included.
c) FLO executives to develop good working relation with local people in villages falling within the GRID and as a first step the local people’s understanding and definition (key elements) of a Healthy river to be enumerated. Through FGD (Focussed Group Discussion) technique the villagers to be encouraged to grade the various health elements (as identified by them) of the river as existing now in their area onto a scale of 0 -10 (as per their prioritization) and then reasons for such grading by them to be listed. Later the key players responsible for such state or those who can play a key role in improving the the state of the river to be enumerated. IT MAY BE REMEMBERED THAT THIS PROCESS SHOULD BE ALLOWED TO SPREAD OVER NUMBER OF VISITS SO THAT ALL ELEMENTS THAT CONSTITUTE THE RIVER HEALTH ARE COVERED AND LISTED WITH GOOD CONSENSUS AMONGST THE PEOPLE. It was agreed that the FLO executives would try and get the local village level (within GRID) water supplies (government or private) tested for quality status (as a useful sample data as also being part of confidence building and educational measure for the local people) using the services of either some local laboratory or the facilities of local colleges or government (CWC) or NEERI regional centre facilities. (NB: Sri Pushp Jain may be contacted for advice in the matter by the FLOs).
d) During the process of interactions in the villages, a select group of interested and enthusiastic representative local shall be located to be encouraged to group themselves into the local Task Team (Yamuna Mitra Mandali). While ideally there may be one Mandali per GRID, but in case it is found that it is more convenient to have one mandali on either side of the bank of the river then two Mandali per GRID could be encouraged to be formed.
e) It shall then be the role of the YMM (Yamuna Mitra Mandali) to collect village information on the parameters as given in the Operational Guidelines Document (Annex ).
f) Once we have completed the tasks as listed in c) and e) above, then the FLO executives shall prepare the Local level Action Plan (LAP) on the lines of the format provided in the Operational Guidelines Document.
g) It is estimated that this process shall be completed within 6 months time.
CAVEAT: It was agreed in the workshop that the FLO executive while interacting with the villagers in the GRID shall refrain from either suggesting or imposing his / her ideas or solutions in the matter. The success of this exercise is only possible when the local people’s own views are given primacy and they are encouraged to express themselves in full free and frank manner.
List of participants
S.No.
Name
Short Name
Organization
Grid
1 Manoj Mirsa MM Peace Institute Charitable Trust, Delhi - Coordinator of the Project
2 Dr. Brij Mohan Singh Rathore BMS, Winrock India, Delhi - Advisor of the Project
3 Sri. Pushp Jain PJ Nature and People, Delhi
4 Sudha Mohan, SM Peace Institute Charitable Trust, Delhi
5 Bhim B Peace Institute Charitable Trust, Delhi
6 Sri Ravi Mittal RM Environics Trust, , Himalayan Stretch
7 Himanshu Upadhyay, HU Environics Trust, Delhi, Himalayan Stretch
8 Ashwini Kumar Mirsha MVS Guru Vasisht Manav Sarvangin Vikas Sewa Samithi, Agra
9 Sanjay Kumar Mishra SK Guru Vasisht Manav Sarvangin Vikas Sewa Samithi, Agra
10 Ravi Singh RS Agra
11 Bahadur Singh BS President, Panchayat, Agra
12 Sitaram Taigore ST Peace Institute Charitable Trust, Ettawah
13 Manoj Shrivastava MS Easy Global Organisation, Allahabad
14 Sanjay Shrivastava Easy Global Organisation, Allahabad
15 Prabjot Sodhi PS UNDP-GEF National Coordinator
Date: 16 July 2009
Time: 10:00 AM to 05:00 PM
Venue: Indian Social Institute, Lodi Road, New Delhi
Purpose of the Workshop:
The key purpose of the workshop was to facilitate a discussion amongst the participants, so that:
a) The project, its objectives and its methodology is understood by all those present
b) There is greater familiarization with one another amongst the members of the Core Planning Team (at Delhi) and the members of the Field Level partner Organisations (FLO) based at Dehradun, Delhi, Agra, Gwalior and at Allahabad
c) The Operational Guidelines (in English and in Hindi) prepared by the project executant agency viz., PEACE Institute to help / guide the FLOs in their field work is understood by all, so that there is a consistency of approach and action in the field all along the length of the river
Report:
At the outset after formal introductions, MM on behalf of the organizing agency (PEACE) of the workshop, thanked all those present, for finding time and making it convenient to attend the one day workshop.
The workshop as per the program for the day (circulated in advance) began with few introductory presentations as under:
What are the elements of a Healthy River, by Manoj Misra (presentation is enclosed)
Introductory remarks by Sri Pushp Jain, member Core Planning Team
Presentation by Bhim on his outreach efforts to safeguard the Nizamuddin Bridge over the river. (Presentation enclosed).
Introductory remarks by Sri BMS Rathore explaining the technique of eliciting the people’s definition of the health of their river, giving an example from his own experience of similar defining by the people of the health of their forests.
In the afternoon, MM introduced the RHI project to all including what is a GRID; What is Task Team (Yamuna Mitra Mandali); Why it is important that we facilitate local people’s understanding to over ride our own knowledge and solutions to the problems facing the river etc] and responded to the participant’s queries regarding the project.
Later, participants from FLOs were requested to share their field experience till date. Sri Mittal from Environics Trust (Dehradun), Sri Bhim and Sri Jain from PEACE, Pandit Misra ji and Sri Ravi Singh ji from Agra, Sri Sitaram Taigor (PEACE) from Gwalior, and Sri Manoj Srivastava from Allahabd shared their experiences from the field.
Sri Prabhjot Sodhi, National Coordinator, UNDP-GEF project, shared his experiences of working in the field for over last two decades and the fact that the local people indeed know the best and that to document that leading to tangible actions should be our key objective in the project.
Finally MM, read out the salient features of the Operational Guidelines document and responded to queries from the participants. The document was found to be clear and useful by all the participants.
Following next steps were agreed:
a) The FLOs to identify and enumerate circular GRIDS of 2 Km radius at the identified sites in their area. A rectangular GRID to be enumerated in the Hill regions of Uttaranchal.
b) All villages falling within the GRID to be located on a map and visited by the FLO executives. In case no village falls within the 2 km radius, then the nearest village can be included.
c) FLO executives to develop good working relation with local people in villages falling within the GRID and as a first step the local people’s understanding and definition (key elements) of a Healthy river to be enumerated. Through FGD (Focussed Group Discussion) technique the villagers to be encouraged to grade the various health elements (as identified by them) of the river as existing now in their area onto a scale of 0 -10 (as per their prioritization) and then reasons for such grading by them to be listed. Later the key players responsible for such state or those who can play a key role in improving the the state of the river to be enumerated. IT MAY BE REMEMBERED THAT THIS PROCESS SHOULD BE ALLOWED TO SPREAD OVER NUMBER OF VISITS SO THAT ALL ELEMENTS THAT CONSTITUTE THE RIVER HEALTH ARE COVERED AND LISTED WITH GOOD CONSENSUS AMONGST THE PEOPLE. It was agreed that the FLO executives would try and get the local village level (within GRID) water supplies (government or private) tested for quality status (as a useful sample data as also being part of confidence building and educational measure for the local people) using the services of either some local laboratory or the facilities of local colleges or government (CWC) or NEERI regional centre facilities. (NB: Sri Pushp Jain may be contacted for advice in the matter by the FLOs).
d) During the process of interactions in the villages, a select group of interested and enthusiastic representative local shall be located to be encouraged to group themselves into the local Task Team (Yamuna Mitra Mandali). While ideally there may be one Mandali per GRID, but in case it is found that it is more convenient to have one mandali on either side of the bank of the river then two Mandali per GRID could be encouraged to be formed.
e) It shall then be the role of the YMM (Yamuna Mitra Mandali) to collect village information on the parameters as given in the Operational Guidelines Document (Annex ).
f) Once we have completed the tasks as listed in c) and e) above, then the FLO executives shall prepare the Local level Action Plan (LAP) on the lines of the format provided in the Operational Guidelines Document.
g) It is estimated that this process shall be completed within 6 months time.
CAVEAT: It was agreed in the workshop that the FLO executive while interacting with the villagers in the GRID shall refrain from either suggesting or imposing his / her ideas or solutions in the matter. The success of this exercise is only possible when the local people’s own views are given primacy and they are encouraged to express themselves in full free and frank manner.
List of participants
S.No.
Name
Short Name
Organization
Grid
1 Manoj Mirsa MM Peace Institute Charitable Trust, Delhi - Coordinator of the Project
2 Dr. Brij Mohan Singh Rathore BMS, Winrock India, Delhi - Advisor of the Project
3 Sri. Pushp Jain PJ Nature and People, Delhi
4 Sudha Mohan, SM Peace Institute Charitable Trust, Delhi
5 Bhim B Peace Institute Charitable Trust, Delhi
6 Sri Ravi Mittal RM Environics Trust, , Himalayan Stretch
7 Himanshu Upadhyay, HU Environics Trust, Delhi, Himalayan Stretch
8 Ashwini Kumar Mirsha MVS Guru Vasisht Manav Sarvangin Vikas Sewa Samithi, Agra
9 Sanjay Kumar Mishra SK Guru Vasisht Manav Sarvangin Vikas Sewa Samithi, Agra
10 Ravi Singh RS Agra
11 Bahadur Singh BS President, Panchayat, Agra
12 Sitaram Taigore ST Peace Institute Charitable Trust, Ettawah
13 Manoj Shrivastava MS Easy Global Organisation, Allahabad
14 Sanjay Shrivastava Easy Global Organisation, Allahabad
15 Prabjot Sodhi PS UNDP-GEF National Coordinator
RHI First Meet - Minutes of the meeting held on 10.12.09 at New Delhi
RIVER HEALTH INDEX
Minutes of the Meeting held on 10 December 2008
at INTACH, New Delhi
Present:
Sri Samar Singh (SS) – Chair
Sri Ramaswamy Iyer (RI)
Sri Rajendra Singh (RS)
Prof. Brij Gopal (BG)
Sri Giridhar A. Kinhal (GAK)
Sri Himanshu Thakkar (HT)
Sri Sharad Gaur (SG)
Ms Manisha Choudhary (MC)
Dr Suresh Kumar Rohilla (SKR)
Sri Sachidanand Mukherjee (SDM)
Sri Pushp Kumar Jain (PKJ)
Sri Pankaj Kumar (PK)
Sri Ritwick Dutta (RD)
Sri Vyom Raghuvanshi (VR)
Sri Nishant Alag (NA)
Sri Himanshu Upadhyay (HU)
Ms Ramya (R)
Ms Maya Parena (MP)
Ms Swati Kittur (SK)
Ms Adain (A)
Sri Manoj Misra (MM)
Ms Sudha Mohan (SM)
The meeting began with a warm welcome by SS and self introductions by all those present.
MM made a brief power point presentation (copy enclosed) highlighting the salient points regarding the project as well as the challenges that the project proponents presume in the light of the innovative nature of the assignment with emphasis on community participation. Specifically, MM highlighted the following as the key challenges of the assignment:
To underscore a river as a “community heritage”, requiring community ownership of and participation in the RHI (River Health Index) process in conjunction with pure academic scientific assessment processes requiring high degree of scholarship and laboratory expertise.
AND
How to identify and integrate physical, chemical and biological characteristics of a river system into ‘popular’ and ‘doable’ measures constituting the RHI as a community devised, owned and utilized tool for river health assessment, advocacy and popular actions
Following the above, GAK made a power point presentation (copy enclosed) regarding some notable relevant initiatives and efforts underway in other parts of the world, including Nepal, South Africa,
Commenting on these presentations, SKR and SDM on behalf of WWF India, informed about their ongoing project on river Ganga (Living Ganga Project).
Responding to a query, MM informed that the focus of the project is proposed to be selected sites in identifiable sections of the river, namely hilly stretch (Dehradun), plains (Delhi and Agra), the revived stretch (Etawah) and confluence with Ganga (Allahabad).
RI wondered that:
1. An RHI might be useful when a river appears to be in a good state but might in fact not be so, or when the deterioration is incremental and slow. However, when a river is in a very bad state (dying or dead) as with the Yamuna or the Ganga, we do not need an RHI to tell us this.
2. The purpose of an RHI is to prompt appropriate action. Everyone in Delhi - the Central Government, the Chief Minister, the LG - knows that the Yamuna has ceased to be a river, but what action has followed? Should we not focus on action rather than on measurement?
3. Concepts such as 'Minimum Flow' or 'Environmental Flow' may be well-meant, but could in fact be not so benign. 'Minimum Flow' could mean 'maximum abstraction'. The thinking in the Water Establishment continues to be that 'use' means abstraction from the river, and that so long as one has (reluctantly) left a small flow in the river one can abstract or divert the rest. This has to be reversed. Flow must be treated as the norm and abstraction or diversion as the exception. What we need is not minimum flow but minimum interference with the natural flow.
GAK clarified using the example of forest density classification that it has often been seen that logically arrived numerical values often make easy sense to many people who matter like the politicians and the decision makers. RI cautioned that any such attempt should not be allowed to become a tool for facilitation of ‘developmental’ projects on rivers in place of the visualized protection, revival and conservation of the rivers.
BG opined that the use of the term ‘health’ has anthropocentric connotations and hence when applied in terms of an ecosystemic entity like a river calls for a very careful use. He also cautioned that a single index for a complex system like a river may not work. In response MM clarified that the term ‘health’ in the project title been used on purpose since it makes easy sense to people at large, but concurred that it required careful definition in relation to an entity like a river. He also informed that the term ‘health’ of river has been often alluded to by various researchers in relation to the ‘state of a river’ against a reference standard.
RS expressed his deep sense of concern on the sad state of rivers in India.
SS shared his views on the matter using the dictionary definition of a river as one, which:
- should carry a large volume of water
- should have a natural catchment
- should have flowing water in it
- should ultimately meet the sea/ocean
RS concurred that if any one of the above mentioned characteristic is missing then the river is as good as a ‘dead’ river. He also emphasized the importance to look at a river in its entirety and that the safety of flood plains is as critical as the unhindered flow in the river.
BG agreed and added that it is important to understand the uniqueness of Indian rivers whereby their flow dynamics is much different from those in western rivers and hence experiences if any from the western rivers must not be considered for application under Indian conditions without careful and stringent assessments.
HT sought to bring focus onto the governance issues and how these needed to be integrated into the RHI initiative. This is important since ultimately it is the government that is responsible and been invested with public trust to manage well ecological entities like the rivers.
Discussion then turned led by SKR to the role of sub surface water flows in Indian rivers during the non monsoon months. BG commented that now when the ground water table has already gone down alarmingly at various places the role of sub surface water flow in the rivers has become a question mark. A notable instance is at Okhla Barrage where there are reports of back flow from the river channel into the surrounding aquifers and polluting them from the dirty water present in the main river channel / reservoir.
SS suggested that in order to emphasise the community centric approach of the assignment, whether the project could be renamed as the River Health Community Index? RI also opined that an alternative term for ‘health’ and ‘index’ say like ‘Living’ river ‘assessment’ might provide better meaning and usefulness to the assignment.
SKR cautioned regarding the sensitivities involved with community participation and the dangers of the process getting hijacked by vested interests. MM remarked that the project proponents were fully aware of such pit falls, but their reassurance about the community’s willingness and a ‘felt need’ participation, emerged from their personal experience of community interaction of over two years of Yamuna Jiye Abhiyaan as well as recent Yamuna Yatra along the river from Delhi to Agra and back.
Finally, MM requested the house to kindly provide names and references like contact details etc of such individuals and institutions, whose advice / involvement might be of use for the success of the project.
RI suggested the name of Dr Latha from Kerala. Thanking RI for the same, MM requested all to kindly suggest the details of such people and institutions through email.
The meeting ended with a vote of thanks to the chair and to all those present.
Manoj Misra
Minutes of the Meeting held on 10 December 2008
at INTACH, New Delhi
Present:
Sri Samar Singh (SS) – Chair
Sri Ramaswamy Iyer (RI)
Sri Rajendra Singh (RS)
Prof. Brij Gopal (BG)
Sri Giridhar A. Kinhal (GAK)
Sri Himanshu Thakkar (HT)
Sri Sharad Gaur (SG)
Ms Manisha Choudhary (MC)
Dr Suresh Kumar Rohilla (SKR)
Sri Sachidanand Mukherjee (SDM)
Sri Pushp Kumar Jain (PKJ)
Sri Pankaj Kumar (PK)
Sri Ritwick Dutta (RD)
Sri Vyom Raghuvanshi (VR)
Sri Nishant Alag (NA)
Sri Himanshu Upadhyay (HU)
Ms Ramya (R)
Ms Maya Parena (MP)
Ms Swati Kittur (SK)
Ms Adain (A)
Sri Manoj Misra (MM)
Ms Sudha Mohan (SM)
The meeting began with a warm welcome by SS and self introductions by all those present.
MM made a brief power point presentation (copy enclosed) highlighting the salient points regarding the project as well as the challenges that the project proponents presume in the light of the innovative nature of the assignment with emphasis on community participation. Specifically, MM highlighted the following as the key challenges of the assignment:
To underscore a river as a “community heritage”, requiring community ownership of and participation in the RHI (River Health Index) process in conjunction with pure academic scientific assessment processes requiring high degree of scholarship and laboratory expertise.
AND
How to identify and integrate physical, chemical and biological characteristics of a river system into ‘popular’ and ‘doable’ measures constituting the RHI as a community devised, owned and utilized tool for river health assessment, advocacy and popular actions
Following the above, GAK made a power point presentation (copy enclosed) regarding some notable relevant initiatives and efforts underway in other parts of the world, including Nepal, South Africa,
Commenting on these presentations, SKR and SDM on behalf of WWF India, informed about their ongoing project on river Ganga (Living Ganga Project).
Responding to a query, MM informed that the focus of the project is proposed to be selected sites in identifiable sections of the river, namely hilly stretch (Dehradun), plains (Delhi and Agra), the revived stretch (Etawah) and confluence with Ganga (Allahabad).
RI wondered that:
1. An RHI might be useful when a river appears to be in a good state but might in fact not be so, or when the deterioration is incremental and slow. However, when a river is in a very bad state (dying or dead) as with the Yamuna or the Ganga, we do not need an RHI to tell us this.
2. The purpose of an RHI is to prompt appropriate action. Everyone in Delhi - the Central Government, the Chief Minister, the LG - knows that the Yamuna has ceased to be a river, but what action has followed? Should we not focus on action rather than on measurement?
3. Concepts such as 'Minimum Flow' or 'Environmental Flow' may be well-meant, but could in fact be not so benign. 'Minimum Flow' could mean 'maximum abstraction'. The thinking in the Water Establishment continues to be that 'use' means abstraction from the river, and that so long as one has (reluctantly) left a small flow in the river one can abstract or divert the rest. This has to be reversed. Flow must be treated as the norm and abstraction or diversion as the exception. What we need is not minimum flow but minimum interference with the natural flow.
GAK clarified using the example of forest density classification that it has often been seen that logically arrived numerical values often make easy sense to many people who matter like the politicians and the decision makers. RI cautioned that any such attempt should not be allowed to become a tool for facilitation of ‘developmental’ projects on rivers in place of the visualized protection, revival and conservation of the rivers.
BG opined that the use of the term ‘health’ has anthropocentric connotations and hence when applied in terms of an ecosystemic entity like a river calls for a very careful use. He also cautioned that a single index for a complex system like a river may not work. In response MM clarified that the term ‘health’ in the project title been used on purpose since it makes easy sense to people at large, but concurred that it required careful definition in relation to an entity like a river. He also informed that the term ‘health’ of river has been often alluded to by various researchers in relation to the ‘state of a river’ against a reference standard.
RS expressed his deep sense of concern on the sad state of rivers in India.
SS shared his views on the matter using the dictionary definition of a river as one, which:
- should carry a large volume of water
- should have a natural catchment
- should have flowing water in it
- should ultimately meet the sea/ocean
RS concurred that if any one of the above mentioned characteristic is missing then the river is as good as a ‘dead’ river. He also emphasized the importance to look at a river in its entirety and that the safety of flood plains is as critical as the unhindered flow in the river.
BG agreed and added that it is important to understand the uniqueness of Indian rivers whereby their flow dynamics is much different from those in western rivers and hence experiences if any from the western rivers must not be considered for application under Indian conditions without careful and stringent assessments.
HT sought to bring focus onto the governance issues and how these needed to be integrated into the RHI initiative. This is important since ultimately it is the government that is responsible and been invested with public trust to manage well ecological entities like the rivers.
Discussion then turned led by SKR to the role of sub surface water flows in Indian rivers during the non monsoon months. BG commented that now when the ground water table has already gone down alarmingly at various places the role of sub surface water flow in the rivers has become a question mark. A notable instance is at Okhla Barrage where there are reports of back flow from the river channel into the surrounding aquifers and polluting them from the dirty water present in the main river channel / reservoir.
SS suggested that in order to emphasise the community centric approach of the assignment, whether the project could be renamed as the River Health Community Index? RI also opined that an alternative term for ‘health’ and ‘index’ say like ‘Living’ river ‘assessment’ might provide better meaning and usefulness to the assignment.
SKR cautioned regarding the sensitivities involved with community participation and the dangers of the process getting hijacked by vested interests. MM remarked that the project proponents were fully aware of such pit falls, but their reassurance about the community’s willingness and a ‘felt need’ participation, emerged from their personal experience of community interaction of over two years of Yamuna Jiye Abhiyaan as well as recent Yamuna Yatra along the river from Delhi to Agra and back.
Finally, MM requested the house to kindly provide names and references like contact details etc of such individuals and institutions, whose advice / involvement might be of use for the success of the project.
RI suggested the name of Dr Latha from Kerala. Thanking RI for the same, MM requested all to kindly suggest the details of such people and institutions through email.
The meeting ended with a vote of thanks to the chair and to all those present.
Manoj Misra
Agra Grid - Farah Trip Report (8,9 May 09)
Field visit Minutes
(River Health Index Project)
A Visit to FARAH a village on the banks of River Yamuna in Mathura (UP)
Date: 8 and 9 May 2009
Venue: Village Farah, Mathura (UP) about 25 km upstream of Agra (on Delhi –
Agra (NH – 2) highway which is but 2 km from the river
Purpose:
Gain first hand knowledge (including visual image) about one of the identified 14 grid sites (for intensive field work) along the river; initiate a dialogue with local people about their river; build lasting relationship with Baba Man Singh ji (a local saint) for the river and hold on site discussions with the executive members of the field level partner NGO.
Investigators:
Bhim S Rawat
Sudha Mohan
Manoj Misra
Brij Mohan Singh Rathore (Advisor)
Partner NGO
Mohan
Arun
Rajeev Saxena
Mahant Ashwini Kumar Misra
Minutes:-
Reached the ashram of BABA Man Singh ji located 2 km downstream of the Farah village late in the evening of 8 May 2009. After introductions and exchange of pleasantries with Baba ji and those present, a brief discussion about the project objectives and the key role that the Babaji could play in the entire exercise was held. Baba ji readily agreed to provide all possible support in the endeavour. (See pics). Incidently it was the Buddh Purnima and Janmotsav of Yamuna ji the next day, when a large number of local villagers would visit the Ashram and congregate on the banks of the river Yamuna.
Meeting with villagers as they celebrated the Yamuna Janamotsav
Villagers from several nearby villages gathered to celebrate the birthday of River Yamuna on 9 May 2009.
An informal dialogue was initiated with a group of local villagers. They were from a village called Naya Bans located across the river on its left bank.
An impromptu mapping exercise on the sand bank with the villagers informed that the proposed grid would include villages like Ruso garhi and Bhim Nagar on the right bank and Naya Bans and Baldev on the left bank. The river meanders frequently here (see the google image) and hence the flood plain is quite extensive on either bank. Presently the river is shifting west wards. There is an extensive patch of government forest on the right bank and the Govardhan drain meets the river nearby in the downstream region.
The water quality of the river was poor but still people especially kids could be seen taking bath and frolicking in it. Notably there was a sustained flow in the river, which could be a reason for the bathing quality of the river water. The proposed 10 sq km circular grid covers Baldev, Mahaban, Gokul, Mathura on the left bank and Naya Bans, Rousu Garhi, Bhim Nagar on the right side of river Yamuna.
Other changes over time that the villagers seem to recall as regards the river were:
a) The extensive seasonal growing of watermelon in the khaddar has given way to permanent agriculture
b) There is far less water flowing in the river now as compared to conditions about 20-25 years back. The water is also not worth drinking anymore. Although the cattle still drinks the river water. Sometimes the water turns blue from discharge of effluents from industries upstream in Mathura.
c) Since the practice of digging tubewells became commonplace the local johads, ponds etc (there used to be one johad per village) have almost disappeared as have the local wells most of which have either dried or are in a state of disuse (see pic).
d) The ground water near villages has plummeted to extremely deep levels of more than 300 – 400 ft.
e) The ground water over large patches is saline and hence unfit either for personal consumption or for farming purposes. Resultantly people are largely rainfall dependent for their agricultural activities.
f) The rainfall over the years has decreased and hence there is less water in the river now.
g) River sand mining is rampant in the area and annual lease is granted by the concerned authorities for sand mining. Contractors reportedly carry out their mining activities even mid stream in search for better quality sand.
h) Villagers appreciate the fact that sooner or later there would be water crises in the villages. Hence they seem eager for the revival of their traditional sources of water. (Johads, Wells)
i) The area is still relatively untouched by the ill influences of urban settlements.
List of persons contacted in Farah
SN
Name
Village
Contact No.
1
Dharm Veer
Nagla Bhalla
2
Ranjeet singh
Naya Vaas
97611 75702
3
Tika Ram
Nagla Bhalla
4
Shiv Singh
Naya Vaas
5
Dharm Veer
Naya Vaas
6
Vijendar
Naya Vaas
7
Banke Lal
Naya Vaas
8
Amar Singh
Kamoura
9
RN Tripathi
Local teacher
93589 98358
Later a discussion session held with the members of the partner NGO helped firm up the next course of activities under the project. Following was discussed and agreed:
1) The role of partner NGO, its facilitating role in identification of local level Task Team/s (one for each bank representing the cluster of villages lying within the grid on the either bank) and supervising their actions for compilation of requisite baseline information from the villages (in accordance with a ‘guidelines document’ prepared and shared with them for the purpose) with emphasis on river’s state of health and the local people’s understanding and prescriptions for actions (dealing with proximate and non proximate causes for the worsened state of the river) was brought home to them
2) It was agreed that the partner NGO would cover at least two grid sites (one upstream of Agra at Farah and the other downstream of Agra at Bateswar)
3) A formal agreement and an MOU shall be formalized soonest between the PEACE Institute and the partner NGO based in Agra.
(River Health Index Project)
A Visit to FARAH a village on the banks of River Yamuna in Mathura (UP)
Date: 8 and 9 May 2009
Venue: Village Farah, Mathura (UP) about 25 km upstream of Agra (on Delhi –
Agra (NH – 2) highway which is but 2 km from the river
Purpose:
Gain first hand knowledge (including visual image) about one of the identified 14 grid sites (for intensive field work) along the river; initiate a dialogue with local people about their river; build lasting relationship with Baba Man Singh ji (a local saint) for the river and hold on site discussions with the executive members of the field level partner NGO.
Investigators:
Bhim S Rawat
Sudha Mohan
Manoj Misra
Brij Mohan Singh Rathore (Advisor)
Partner NGO
Mohan
Arun
Rajeev Saxena
Mahant Ashwini Kumar Misra
Minutes:-
Reached the ashram of BABA Man Singh ji located 2 km downstream of the Farah village late in the evening of 8 May 2009. After introductions and exchange of pleasantries with Baba ji and those present, a brief discussion about the project objectives and the key role that the Babaji could play in the entire exercise was held. Baba ji readily agreed to provide all possible support in the endeavour. (See pics). Incidently it was the Buddh Purnima and Janmotsav of Yamuna ji the next day, when a large number of local villagers would visit the Ashram and congregate on the banks of the river Yamuna.
Meeting with villagers as they celebrated the Yamuna Janamotsav
Villagers from several nearby villages gathered to celebrate the birthday of River Yamuna on 9 May 2009.
An informal dialogue was initiated with a group of local villagers. They were from a village called Naya Bans located across the river on its left bank.
An impromptu mapping exercise on the sand bank with the villagers informed that the proposed grid would include villages like Ruso garhi and Bhim Nagar on the right bank and Naya Bans and Baldev on the left bank. The river meanders frequently here (see the google image) and hence the flood plain is quite extensive on either bank. Presently the river is shifting west wards. There is an extensive patch of government forest on the right bank and the Govardhan drain meets the river nearby in the downstream region.
The water quality of the river was poor but still people especially kids could be seen taking bath and frolicking in it. Notably there was a sustained flow in the river, which could be a reason for the bathing quality of the river water. The proposed 10 sq km circular grid covers Baldev, Mahaban, Gokul, Mathura on the left bank and Naya Bans, Rousu Garhi, Bhim Nagar on the right side of river Yamuna.
Other changes over time that the villagers seem to recall as regards the river were:
a) The extensive seasonal growing of watermelon in the khaddar has given way to permanent agriculture
b) There is far less water flowing in the river now as compared to conditions about 20-25 years back. The water is also not worth drinking anymore. Although the cattle still drinks the river water. Sometimes the water turns blue from discharge of effluents from industries upstream in Mathura.
c) Since the practice of digging tubewells became commonplace the local johads, ponds etc (there used to be one johad per village) have almost disappeared as have the local wells most of which have either dried or are in a state of disuse (see pic).
d) The ground water near villages has plummeted to extremely deep levels of more than 300 – 400 ft.
e) The ground water over large patches is saline and hence unfit either for personal consumption or for farming purposes. Resultantly people are largely rainfall dependent for their agricultural activities.
f) The rainfall over the years has decreased and hence there is less water in the river now.
g) River sand mining is rampant in the area and annual lease is granted by the concerned authorities for sand mining. Contractors reportedly carry out their mining activities even mid stream in search for better quality sand.
h) Villagers appreciate the fact that sooner or later there would be water crises in the villages. Hence they seem eager for the revival of their traditional sources of water. (Johads, Wells)
i) The area is still relatively untouched by the ill influences of urban settlements.
List of persons contacted in Farah
SN
Name
Village
Contact No.
1
Dharm Veer
Nagla Bhalla
2
Ranjeet singh
Naya Vaas
97611 75702
3
Tika Ram
Nagla Bhalla
4
Shiv Singh
Naya Vaas
5
Dharm Veer
Naya Vaas
6
Vijendar
Naya Vaas
7
Banke Lal
Naya Vaas
8
Amar Singh
Kamoura
9
RN Tripathi
Local teacher
93589 98358
Later a discussion session held with the members of the partner NGO helped firm up the next course of activities under the project. Following was discussed and agreed:
1) The role of partner NGO, its facilitating role in identification of local level Task Team/s (one for each bank representing the cluster of villages lying within the grid on the either bank) and supervising their actions for compilation of requisite baseline information from the villages (in accordance with a ‘guidelines document’ prepared and shared with them for the purpose) with emphasis on river’s state of health and the local people’s understanding and prescriptions for actions (dealing with proximate and non proximate causes for the worsened state of the river) was brought home to them
2) It was agreed that the partner NGO would cover at least two grid sites (one upstream of Agra at Farah and the other downstream of Agra at Bateswar)
3) A formal agreement and an MOU shall be formalized soonest between the PEACE Institute and the partner NGO based in Agra.
Delhi Grid - Amipur Trip Report (4.6.09)
Field visit Minutes
(River Health Index Project)
A Visit to Amipur (Haryana) a village in the floodplain (Khadar) River Yamuna
Date: 04 June 2009
Venue: Village Amipur (Haryana) about 30 km downstream of Delhi
Purpose: Making one self familiar with the local people and to initiate a dialogue on people’s perception and relationship with the river. This village falls within the Tilwara Grid, but on the Haryana side of the river.
Visitors: Pushp Jain
Sudha Mohan
Baljeet Singh Chouhan
Pritam Singh
Bhim
Minutes: - Setting out in the morning the village could be reached only towards noon time. It is a village with about 200 households and population of around a 1000 persons. Majority (more than 95%) of the people in the village practice agriculture and dairying for their livelihood.
First a visit in the company of a local youth (Sonu) was made to the river side. A forest patch could be seen on one side while the construction of residential properties was seen quite close to the river. (See pictures). There were properties in the name of old age homes and other residential purposes. The state of the river as expected was in a bad polluted stage.
Later the village was visited and a dialogue was established with a group of local people. (see list). Following information could be elicited from them:
a) Encroachment into the flood plain (Khadar) is an ongoing process.
b) As a result of the river meandering often, the villagers have their land also on the other side of the river, which otherwise falls in UP
c) The state of the river started to deteriorate about 15-20 years back. Now the villagers think twice before entering it. Even the cattle avoid it.
d) Delhi is responsible for all the pollution seen in the river.
e) Floods in the river are regular happening. Just the last year (2008) the village had seen floods in the river.
f) We loved the river. But not anymore. It has brought the menace of mosquitoes and disease to us. There were no mosquitoes when the river was clean and flowing.
g) We grow only paddy and wheat. Nilgai (Blue Bull) is a major problem and hence we cannot grow any vegetables in our fields.
h) There is a johad in the village. Though all our wells are gone. The ground water has receded far below the well depth. Hand pumps are functional at a depth of 60 m and provide us kaccha paani. For drinking purposes (pucca paani) the fresh ground water is available (through borewells and submersible pumps) only at a depth of 120 – 130 m.
i) There is a state of hopelessness widespread in the village regarding the river. While the government has made bunds to save the village from the floods, but little is being done to improve the condition of the river.
j) The village at Amipur was relocated from an earlier village called Motipur, which was located quite close to the river and hence went under water frequently during the floods. Amipur is now located at a distance of 1.5 km from the river channel.
k) For higher education the students go to nearby Tigaon town. There are 3 persons who are employed in a government job and few people work for private firms.
l) There is a dispensary in the village for cattle but none for humans.
List of contact persons
Name
Village
Contact NO.
Gajraj
Amipur
Satbeer
Amipur
97 18441426
Pribhu
Amipur
Ramveer
Amipur
Budhi
Amipur
Nathi
Amipur
Balvanta
Amipur
Manoj
Amipur
98 91111011
Shiv Singh
Amipur
98 11711011
PICTURES FROM THE VISIT
Local village Pond at Amipur
Discussion with villagers
Old age home next to River Yamuna at Amipur
Residential cottages next to River Yamuna at Amipur (Encroachment)
Residential cottages next to River Yamuna at Amipur (Encroachment)
Encroachment free flood plain on the left side of the river Yamuna
(River Health Index Project)
A Visit to Amipur (Haryana) a village in the floodplain (Khadar) River Yamuna
Date: 04 June 2009
Venue: Village Amipur (Haryana) about 30 km downstream of Delhi
Purpose: Making one self familiar with the local people and to initiate a dialogue on people’s perception and relationship with the river. This village falls within the Tilwara Grid, but on the Haryana side of the river.
Visitors: Pushp Jain
Sudha Mohan
Baljeet Singh Chouhan
Pritam Singh
Bhim
Minutes: - Setting out in the morning the village could be reached only towards noon time. It is a village with about 200 households and population of around a 1000 persons. Majority (more than 95%) of the people in the village practice agriculture and dairying for their livelihood.
First a visit in the company of a local youth (Sonu) was made to the river side. A forest patch could be seen on one side while the construction of residential properties was seen quite close to the river. (See pictures). There were properties in the name of old age homes and other residential purposes. The state of the river as expected was in a bad polluted stage.
Later the village was visited and a dialogue was established with a group of local people. (see list). Following information could be elicited from them:
a) Encroachment into the flood plain (Khadar) is an ongoing process.
b) As a result of the river meandering often, the villagers have their land also on the other side of the river, which otherwise falls in UP
c) The state of the river started to deteriorate about 15-20 years back. Now the villagers think twice before entering it. Even the cattle avoid it.
d) Delhi is responsible for all the pollution seen in the river.
e) Floods in the river are regular happening. Just the last year (2008) the village had seen floods in the river.
f) We loved the river. But not anymore. It has brought the menace of mosquitoes and disease to us. There were no mosquitoes when the river was clean and flowing.
g) We grow only paddy and wheat. Nilgai (Blue Bull) is a major problem and hence we cannot grow any vegetables in our fields.
h) There is a johad in the village. Though all our wells are gone. The ground water has receded far below the well depth. Hand pumps are functional at a depth of 60 m and provide us kaccha paani. For drinking purposes (pucca paani) the fresh ground water is available (through borewells and submersible pumps) only at a depth of 120 – 130 m.
i) There is a state of hopelessness widespread in the village regarding the river. While the government has made bunds to save the village from the floods, but little is being done to improve the condition of the river.
j) The village at Amipur was relocated from an earlier village called Motipur, which was located quite close to the river and hence went under water frequently during the floods. Amipur is now located at a distance of 1.5 km from the river channel.
k) For higher education the students go to nearby Tigaon town. There are 3 persons who are employed in a government job and few people work for private firms.
l) There is a dispensary in the village for cattle but none for humans.
List of contact persons
Name
Village
Contact NO.
Gajraj
Amipur
Satbeer
Amipur
97 18441426
Pribhu
Amipur
Ramveer
Amipur
Budhi
Amipur
Nathi
Amipur
Balvanta
Amipur
Manoj
Amipur
98 91111011
Shiv Singh
Amipur
98 11711011
PICTURES FROM THE VISIT
Local village Pond at Amipur
Discussion with villagers
Old age home next to River Yamuna at Amipur
Residential cottages next to River Yamuna at Amipur (Encroachment)
Residential cottages next to River Yamuna at Amipur (Encroachment)
Encroachment free flood plain on the left side of the river Yamuna
Delhi Grid - Minutes of the WS dated 7.1.09
Workshop with villagers / farmers from East Delhi
Date: 7 January 2009
Place: Yamuna Satyagrah Sthal
Participants:
Mahaveer Singh (Age 55, Shakarpur Village)
Pritam Singh, (Age 60, Samaspur Village)
Bhoop Singh (Age 75, Samaspur Village)
Prithvi Singh (Age 30, Patpar Village)
Shayam Veer (Age 60, Samaspur Village)
Tula Ram, (47, Patpar Village)
Rohtas Bhati (Age 43, Mandavali Village)
Hukam Singh (Age 45, Patpar Village)
Avtar Singh (Age 50, Patpar Village)
Raju (45, Shakarpur Village)
Sohan Lal (70, Patar Village)
Baljeet Singh (Age 65, Samarpur Village),
Jagwat Swarup (77, Patpar Village)
Resource Persons:
BMS Rathore
Pushp Jain
Bhim
Sudha Mohan
Manoj Misra
PURPOSE
A half day workshop was held for the following purpose:
a) Devise a feasible line of enquiry for eliciting local villagers / farmers views on the health of the river
b) Assess the level of interest shown by local people in discussing / talking about the river in general as well as in personal terms
c) Look for knowledgeable individuals from amongst the group who could be trained / groomed to act as ice – breakers (due to their experience / knowledge and interest in the subject as well as easy familiarity with local dialect and traditions) along with the investigators, vis a vis the target villages, in due course of time.
d) Assess the minimum felt need of the level of expertise, tools and equipment of the investigating team
GOAL
1. Devise a standard methodology and do’s and don’ts for the investigating team as well as to assess training needs if any for the investigating teams, before they embark on the field visits.
2. Identify appropriate leads to formulate Principles and Criteria for incorporation as part of RHI which emerge, if any, out of the consultation
MINUTES
LINE OF ENQUIRY
- Who is / are the oldest amongst the group. Can you recall the river of your childhood?
a) Of the initial eleven farmers (Baljeet Singh and Jagwat Swarup joined later) Bhup Singh ji at 78 years was the oldest amongst the group.
b) As a child (this was before Country’s independence and I was around 13-14 yr old) we used to spend almost our entire day by the river side. Early in the morning we would bring our animals (Buffaloes) for grazing by the river side and then frolic the whole day in the forests there (the river bed was fairly forested then)
- When was the river fully alive, vibrant and welcoming (potable water)
a) Till about early 1970s the river was fully alive.
By alive it means that it had flowing water round the year (Flow used to vary with season); water was crystal clear most of the time except in monsoon months; we could drink the water and bathe in the river; there were turtles and fishes galore in the river; there was only one bridge to cross the river (?);
- When did the river start to deteriorate (no longer potable, but good enough for bathing of self and cattle)
a) By 1975 the river water could no longer be consumed by humans, although one could still bathe in it.
- When did the river start to become unfit for any sort of relationship with it
a) By 1980 the river had become bad enough for us to lose direct relationship with it, although it still provided irrigation water to our fields
During this enquiry while discussion began with the older persons in the group, few others joined in with their views and understanding. (when too many started to talk about their experiences at the same time, Bhup Singh ji, the oldest in the group, stood up and took charge of the sharing of views and experience about the river)
- What ails the river today
a) There is little flow in the river other than in the monsoon months
b) River’s water has been abstracted upstream of Delhi
c) Too many drains bring sewage into the river
d) The river bed’s natural topography has been changed beyond recognition
- How do we know that the river is sick
a) The water stinks
b) There is no life (no fish, no turtles, no crabs)
c) Original channels have disappeared
d) The ground water is going deeper and deeper
- What are the factors responsible for the current state of the river
a) Water abstraction from the river upstream of Delhi
b) More and more sewage entering the river
c) Decrease in intensity and volume of annual rainfalls and frequency of floods in the river
d) Encroachment of all kinds over the river bed
- When did the physical structures like the embankment and Barrages came up in / on the river
a) It all started after independence. But most came up after 1975.
- How do we know that the water is unfit for consumption
a) Its color is black
b) It stinks
c) There is no life in the river
d) Now no one takes their buffaloes into the river
- Which were the years of the most severe floods in the river
a) The highest flood in my memory (Sri Bhup Singh) was in 1947, when there was water all over between river Yamuna and river Hindon. It was because of the floods that the bodies of dead from the riot got carried away from Delhi and hence Delhi was spared the outbreak of diseases from dead bodies on the streets.
b) Next was in 1978.
- How did you cope up during the floods
a) We used to move over to higher areas like the elevated village of Patpar (which at that time had the remnants of an old fort in which the village was located).
b) Some of us used to stay on tree tops
- Were floods beneficial
a) Yes, floods used to bring fresh silt which gave us good crops the succeeding year, despite us losing the crop for the year to flood waters.
b) Floods also removed the muck from the river bed
- What morphological changes did the river experience during the floods
a) The most notable were two channels that used to come alive with the rise in water in the river. One was in the east, where the Yamuna Pushta today stands and the other was in the west along side where the railway track today is in Nizamuddin.
- Are there milestone years which saw the change in the river
a) Yes, the period from 1975 – 1980 can be considered to be the most critical when the river saw major changes in its water flow as well as change in the river bed’s topography.
b) It was also the period when large scale colonization of lands in Jamuna paar started by the DDA
- How have your farming practices in the river bed changed over the years
a) We have shifted from traditional bullock led tilling of lands to tractors; from river irrigation to ground water irrigation through tube wells; single crop to multi cropping; Cow Dung fertiliser to Urea (inorganic fertilizer); Dawai (insecticides) from none before
b) The river bed which had been forested and undulating has been converted into almost plain terrain and farm lands wherever it was feasible.
c) More and more farmers have become share croppers.
- How has it impacted the river, if at all
a) It must have impacted the river.
b) We are told that the pollution from our fields reaches the river too
- How has the availability of ground water changed over the years
a) This is one of the most visible changes in the river since olden times.
b) Earlier under ground water was available in the khadar almost ‘hands deep’. One only needed to dig a bit and there the water was available. Now even the tube wells are going deeper and deeper.
c) Thanks, to the floods in the river this year (2008) that the tube wells are readily guzzling out water now.
- What interventions in the river / river bed / flood plain made either by the state agencies or by individual / non government agencies that they think have had a bearing on the conversion of river from a healthy river into the current sickly one
a) The ground water in the river bed has dramatically gone down since 1980 due to the digging of Ranney Wells in the river bed by the government
b) All these roads and bridges over the river have also added to the pollution.
c) More and more buildings in east Delhi and in Khadar has also impacted the river
- How would you define a healthy river
a) There is flowing water in the river round the year although the volume and speed of the flow changes from season to season (good understanding. Can they figure out monthwise expectations?)
b) Water fit for drinking purposes
c) Clear water so that a coin can be seen lying on the bed
d) A river that floods frequently
e) Sub surface water is at a level that one can access it by digging with hands
f) Natural topography of the river bed / flood plain has not been altered
g) River flows in number of channels some of them dry gradually after monsoon and revives on the onset of monsoons
h) River channels that emerge with rise in river water during floods, remain intact
i) Fishes, turtles, crabs, birds of various kinds abound (Ranges could be built in)
j) River can be used for transportation purposes
k) It does not suffer the onslaught of polluting drains (Ranges?)
- What are the practices that you think can and should be changed / reverted back to, to enable the river to revive
a) While we can not go back to the days of bullock led tilling, but we can certainly go back to more and more use of organic farming practices
b) Careful extraction of ground water from the river bed
- Any other Notable feature/s
a) Bore well water away from the river in Samaspur and Mandawali village is far more polluted than the water extracted by a bore well next to the river ! (Observations by Bhati ji).
ADVANTAGES OF STARTING WITH THIS GROUP
The resource persons have had a long standing familiarity and good will with the group in question. Resultantly the group members have good degree of confidence and good working relationship with the resource persons.
LESSONS AND LEARNINGS
1. It will be good if we can have a team comprising 2-3 persons (like Bhup Singh ji) representing ITK (Indigenous Traditional Knowledge) and some experts who complement this with science ( like the one gentleman who was on Yamuna Yatra from Environic Trust, testing water quality). May be, a team of 4-5 persons would be quite handy.
2. Help the team as above develop a tool kit ( ITK + science) , which could be validated over the identified / selected stretches of the river Yamuna.
3. The team while visiting these stretches, would not just validate the tool kit in most participatory manner, but it will as well help the people in these location/s to connect with the issue that they identify with by applying the diagnostic tool kit. The people would not only be diagnosing (and in the process help validation) the river’s health, but the diagnosis would help them to put up an action plan to address the health issue arising out of the said diagnosis. This should lead us to engagement of civil society at large and thus pave way for a larger campaign for the river and initiation of local level actions for the river’s revival, right away. (BMS).
POSSIBLE PRINCIPLES AND CRITERIA (Too early to expect these to emerge)
General comments and Suggestions:
1. It is a very good and useful exercise
2. Looks like people participated very well (adv already highlighted
3. Although “whys” of the current situation have come up here and there, it is necessary to make people analyse further the current state of affairs and group them in to different causative factors such individuals (locals), industry, Govt action and so on.
4. Idea of having a steering team is fine but with scope for involving locals at different locations: we do not want general observers and powerful people to be in the team. Such groups must have primary stakeholders and not the so called secondary stakeholders.
5. Let us test this method at another place with good orientation on the participants.
Date: 7 January 2009
Place: Yamuna Satyagrah Sthal
Participants:
Mahaveer Singh (Age 55, Shakarpur Village)
Pritam Singh, (Age 60, Samaspur Village)
Bhoop Singh (Age 75, Samaspur Village)
Prithvi Singh (Age 30, Patpar Village)
Shayam Veer (Age 60, Samaspur Village)
Tula Ram, (47, Patpar Village)
Rohtas Bhati (Age 43, Mandavali Village)
Hukam Singh (Age 45, Patpar Village)
Avtar Singh (Age 50, Patpar Village)
Raju (45, Shakarpur Village)
Sohan Lal (70, Patar Village)
Baljeet Singh (Age 65, Samarpur Village),
Jagwat Swarup (77, Patpar Village)
Resource Persons:
BMS Rathore
Pushp Jain
Bhim
Sudha Mohan
Manoj Misra
PURPOSE
A half day workshop was held for the following purpose:
a) Devise a feasible line of enquiry for eliciting local villagers / farmers views on the health of the river
b) Assess the level of interest shown by local people in discussing / talking about the river in general as well as in personal terms
c) Look for knowledgeable individuals from amongst the group who could be trained / groomed to act as ice – breakers (due to their experience / knowledge and interest in the subject as well as easy familiarity with local dialect and traditions) along with the investigators, vis a vis the target villages, in due course of time.
d) Assess the minimum felt need of the level of expertise, tools and equipment of the investigating team
GOAL
1. Devise a standard methodology and do’s and don’ts for the investigating team as well as to assess training needs if any for the investigating teams, before they embark on the field visits.
2. Identify appropriate leads to formulate Principles and Criteria for incorporation as part of RHI which emerge, if any, out of the consultation
MINUTES
LINE OF ENQUIRY
- Who is / are the oldest amongst the group. Can you recall the river of your childhood?
a) Of the initial eleven farmers (Baljeet Singh and Jagwat Swarup joined later) Bhup Singh ji at 78 years was the oldest amongst the group.
b) As a child (this was before Country’s independence and I was around 13-14 yr old) we used to spend almost our entire day by the river side. Early in the morning we would bring our animals (Buffaloes) for grazing by the river side and then frolic the whole day in the forests there (the river bed was fairly forested then)
- When was the river fully alive, vibrant and welcoming (potable water)
a) Till about early 1970s the river was fully alive.
By alive it means that it had flowing water round the year (Flow used to vary with season); water was crystal clear most of the time except in monsoon months; we could drink the water and bathe in the river; there were turtles and fishes galore in the river; there was only one bridge to cross the river (?);
- When did the river start to deteriorate (no longer potable, but good enough for bathing of self and cattle)
a) By 1975 the river water could no longer be consumed by humans, although one could still bathe in it.
- When did the river start to become unfit for any sort of relationship with it
a) By 1980 the river had become bad enough for us to lose direct relationship with it, although it still provided irrigation water to our fields
During this enquiry while discussion began with the older persons in the group, few others joined in with their views and understanding. (when too many started to talk about their experiences at the same time, Bhup Singh ji, the oldest in the group, stood up and took charge of the sharing of views and experience about the river)
- What ails the river today
a) There is little flow in the river other than in the monsoon months
b) River’s water has been abstracted upstream of Delhi
c) Too many drains bring sewage into the river
d) The river bed’s natural topography has been changed beyond recognition
- How do we know that the river is sick
a) The water stinks
b) There is no life (no fish, no turtles, no crabs)
c) Original channels have disappeared
d) The ground water is going deeper and deeper
- What are the factors responsible for the current state of the river
a) Water abstraction from the river upstream of Delhi
b) More and more sewage entering the river
c) Decrease in intensity and volume of annual rainfalls and frequency of floods in the river
d) Encroachment of all kinds over the river bed
- When did the physical structures like the embankment and Barrages came up in / on the river
a) It all started after independence. But most came up after 1975.
- How do we know that the water is unfit for consumption
a) Its color is black
b) It stinks
c) There is no life in the river
d) Now no one takes their buffaloes into the river
- Which were the years of the most severe floods in the river
a) The highest flood in my memory (Sri Bhup Singh) was in 1947, when there was water all over between river Yamuna and river Hindon. It was because of the floods that the bodies of dead from the riot got carried away from Delhi and hence Delhi was spared the outbreak of diseases from dead bodies on the streets.
b) Next was in 1978.
- How did you cope up during the floods
a) We used to move over to higher areas like the elevated village of Patpar (which at that time had the remnants of an old fort in which the village was located).
b) Some of us used to stay on tree tops
- Were floods beneficial
a) Yes, floods used to bring fresh silt which gave us good crops the succeeding year, despite us losing the crop for the year to flood waters.
b) Floods also removed the muck from the river bed
- What morphological changes did the river experience during the floods
a) The most notable were two channels that used to come alive with the rise in water in the river. One was in the east, where the Yamuna Pushta today stands and the other was in the west along side where the railway track today is in Nizamuddin.
- Are there milestone years which saw the change in the river
a) Yes, the period from 1975 – 1980 can be considered to be the most critical when the river saw major changes in its water flow as well as change in the river bed’s topography.
b) It was also the period when large scale colonization of lands in Jamuna paar started by the DDA
- How have your farming practices in the river bed changed over the years
a) We have shifted from traditional bullock led tilling of lands to tractors; from river irrigation to ground water irrigation through tube wells; single crop to multi cropping; Cow Dung fertiliser to Urea (inorganic fertilizer); Dawai (insecticides) from none before
b) The river bed which had been forested and undulating has been converted into almost plain terrain and farm lands wherever it was feasible.
c) More and more farmers have become share croppers.
- How has it impacted the river, if at all
a) It must have impacted the river.
b) We are told that the pollution from our fields reaches the river too
- How has the availability of ground water changed over the years
a) This is one of the most visible changes in the river since olden times.
b) Earlier under ground water was available in the khadar almost ‘hands deep’. One only needed to dig a bit and there the water was available. Now even the tube wells are going deeper and deeper.
c) Thanks, to the floods in the river this year (2008) that the tube wells are readily guzzling out water now.
- What interventions in the river / river bed / flood plain made either by the state agencies or by individual / non government agencies that they think have had a bearing on the conversion of river from a healthy river into the current sickly one
a) The ground water in the river bed has dramatically gone down since 1980 due to the digging of Ranney Wells in the river bed by the government
b) All these roads and bridges over the river have also added to the pollution.
c) More and more buildings in east Delhi and in Khadar has also impacted the river
- How would you define a healthy river
a) There is flowing water in the river round the year although the volume and speed of the flow changes from season to season (good understanding. Can they figure out monthwise expectations?)
b) Water fit for drinking purposes
c) Clear water so that a coin can be seen lying on the bed
d) A river that floods frequently
e) Sub surface water is at a level that one can access it by digging with hands
f) Natural topography of the river bed / flood plain has not been altered
g) River flows in number of channels some of them dry gradually after monsoon and revives on the onset of monsoons
h) River channels that emerge with rise in river water during floods, remain intact
i) Fishes, turtles, crabs, birds of various kinds abound (Ranges could be built in)
j) River can be used for transportation purposes
k) It does not suffer the onslaught of polluting drains (Ranges?)
- What are the practices that you think can and should be changed / reverted back to, to enable the river to revive
a) While we can not go back to the days of bullock led tilling, but we can certainly go back to more and more use of organic farming practices
b) Careful extraction of ground water from the river bed
- Any other Notable feature/s
a) Bore well water away from the river in Samaspur and Mandawali village is far more polluted than the water extracted by a bore well next to the river ! (Observations by Bhati ji).
ADVANTAGES OF STARTING WITH THIS GROUP
The resource persons have had a long standing familiarity and good will with the group in question. Resultantly the group members have good degree of confidence and good working relationship with the resource persons.
LESSONS AND LEARNINGS
1. It will be good if we can have a team comprising 2-3 persons (like Bhup Singh ji) representing ITK (Indigenous Traditional Knowledge) and some experts who complement this with science ( like the one gentleman who was on Yamuna Yatra from Environic Trust, testing water quality). May be, a team of 4-5 persons would be quite handy.
2. Help the team as above develop a tool kit ( ITK + science) , which could be validated over the identified / selected stretches of the river Yamuna.
3. The team while visiting these stretches, would not just validate the tool kit in most participatory manner, but it will as well help the people in these location/s to connect with the issue that they identify with by applying the diagnostic tool kit. The people would not only be diagnosing (and in the process help validation) the river’s health, but the diagnosis would help them to put up an action plan to address the health issue arising out of the said diagnosis. This should lead us to engagement of civil society at large and thus pave way for a larger campaign for the river and initiation of local level actions for the river’s revival, right away. (BMS).
POSSIBLE PRINCIPLES AND CRITERIA (Too early to expect these to emerge)
General comments and Suggestions:
1. It is a very good and useful exercise
2. Looks like people participated very well (adv already highlighted
3. Although “whys” of the current situation have come up here and there, it is necessary to make people analyse further the current state of affairs and group them in to different causative factors such individuals (locals), industry, Govt action and so on.
4. Idea of having a steering team is fine but with scope for involving locals at different locations: we do not want general observers and powerful people to be in the team. Such groups must have primary stakeholders and not the so called secondary stakeholders.
5. Let us test this method at another place with good orientation on the participants.
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