Popat Rao Pawar, sarpanch, or assemblyman, of Hiware Bazaar village in India, examines corn. His village has successfully used rainwater harvesting to secure water supplies. Photo retrieved from: www.nationalgeographic.com
“How will vast regions of India, where highly unreliable rainfall makes the difference between famine and sustenance, cope with climate change? Over 85 percent of the cultivated area in this country is either directly dependent on rain or depends on rain to recharge its groundwater. Seasonal rain provides water for irrigation, drinking, and household needs. It provides water to livestock and is necessary to grow fodder for animals. The question of how these areas will adapt as rainfall becomes even more variable with climate change is especially important now, as groundwater is being pumped from deeper and deeper wells to grow water-guzzling crops like sugarcane, rice, wheat and even flowers.
I ask these questions once again, because for once I have some answers. I traveled to Hiware Bazaar village in Ahmednagar district to find an amazing example of environmental regeneration. This village of a thousand-odd families in the rain shadow, drought-prone region of Maharashtra was reportedly destitute and lawless some 15 years ago. Today, it is an incredible example of how rainwater harvesting can create prosperity.
In 1972, when water scarcity had hit the state, a dam to encourage water to sink into the ground was built under a new employment guarantee scheme. But like most dams this structure leaked. Water scarcity increased. The next water harvesting structure led to a murder in the village, as people fought over the water it provided. Villagers took to making, drinking, and selling country liquor (country liquor is made from a potent mix of chemicals and plants in different regions), instead of water. The surrounding forests were hacked down. Villagers recall how a forest guard was beaten and tied up as he tried to stop people from felling trees. By the early 1990s, migration was the only alternative to poverty in this village.”
Read more: National Geographic
It is not surprising that a shortage of water leads to violence.
Water is the most essential element for the survival of life on Earth, far more important in the short term than food as without it, humans can only live for 3 to 4 days.
If your family had no water, you don’t have time for lengthy, non-violent negotiations.
Water from pumped groundwater has its own issues in rural communities, that of sewage effluent contamination.
Rainwater harvesting prevents this danger.