In villages of the desert district of Banaskantha in Gujarat, India, many local women have taken control of the key resource they need for their livelihoods and their families’ survival: water. They have demonstrated how water resources can be governed efficiently for economic and ecological gains. In these areas, agricultural productivity has increased, outmigration in times of drought has substantially declined, and animals and birds have returned to rejuvenated habitats. In a society that is patriarchal and dominated by the state, this has not been an easy task. Yet, guided by their all-women trade union, the Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA), they have established innovative grassroots governance structures and effectively linked them to mainstream government agencies. They have acquired new management and technical skills, and learned to influence state authorities, resulting in greater self-respect, and a more influential voice not only within the community but also inside their own homes.

The underlying strategy behind this success has been the linking of environmental protection with livelihoods. For rural women, economic benefit often depends on the health of the natural resources they use. Mainstream governance institutions, however, treat these two issues separately and, too often, as mutually exclusive. SEWA’s work has shown that rural communities are motivated to rebuild their environmental bases only if they see some tangible economic benefit in doing so.

The harsh environment of Banaskantha

Climatic conditions in arid Banaskantha District are hostile, with saline land and water, flash floods, sand storms, and frequent droughts. Rainfall is less than 7 inches per year. The region is also prone to cyclones and earthquakes. The Banaskantha River runs through the district but remains dry for most of the year. During the rainy season, it floods the villages bordering its banks. Droughts are common and the groundwater table has been receding by 6.5 feet a year as withdrawals exceed natural replenishment. Over 75 percent of the district’s villages have been declared “no source” villages by the State Water Board, because they do not have reliable sources of fresh water. Salinity is widespread and many villages rely on mobile water tankers sent infrequently by the state’s water supply agency, the Gujarat Water Supply and Sewerage Board (GWSSB).

Water, for drinking and irrigation, is a perennial problem for rural communities that subsist on rain-fed agriculture and livestock rearing. Water scarcity has led to low agricultural productivity, reduced fodder production, and low milk yields. Nearly 90 percent of the district’s people live in villages, but during the long summer and the recurrent droughts water shortages force large-scale migration to towns throughout the state.

Ironically, Gujarat is home to the Sardar Sarovar dam, one of 30 major, 135 medium, and about 3,000 minor dams planned to be built on the river Narmada. Currently under construction, it will be one of the world’s largest water projects with an extensive canal and irrigation system. It is expected to supply water and electricity to Gujarat and the neighboring states of Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. The priority intended water use is domestic consumption, but an independent review commissioned by the World Bank found that plans for the delivery of water to villagers in the drought-prone regions of Gujarat were only in the early stages of development. The review observes that a sound and reliable hydrological analysis is lacking and cites “compelling evidence that the Sardar Sarovar Projects will not operate as planned.” In other words, the waters of Narmada are not likely to reach rural villagers in Banaskantha or other poor, arid districts.

Women and water

Fetching and carrying water is women’s work in rural India. Women in Banaskantha spend up to six hours a day bringing water from distant sources to their homes. They carry up to 15 liters on their heads on each trip, walking barefoot through treacherous terrain. This affects their health: women often complain of chronic backache, painful feet, general weakness, and fatigue. Ill health, in turn, lowers their productivity. In addition to domestic consumption, women need water for their enterprises and professions such as horticulture, dairy farming, food processing, handicrafts, and midwifery.

Despite the vital role of village women in the country’s water supply, it was not until the eighth five-year plan (1992–1997) that the federal government formally recognized the need to involve rural communities in managing water resources, and only in 1999 did it establish guidelines for involving women. Guidelines included reserving 30 percent of places in government technical water training schemes and village-level water committees for women. However, women in Gujarat began taking their first steps toward self-governance in water issues in the mid-1980s, thanks to SEWA.

Enter SEWA

In 1986, the State Water Board of Gujarat invited SEWA to use its grassroots base to strengthen village-level water committees (called pani panchayats) so that rural people could take over the operation and management of failing water supply systems. After 3 consecutive years of drought, the Water Board believed that proactive local communities might succeed where more centralized management had failed. SEWA agreed to take on the task, because the organization realized that water supply was a critical issue affecting the productivity and quality of life of its membership: Two thirds of SEWA’s members live in rural Gujarat.

Initial work began in two sub-districts or talukas of Banaskantha district, Santhalpur and Radhanpur. An existing water supply scheme funded by the Dutch government provided water to 107 villages via pipelines from 6 tube wells more than 60 miles away. These villages had formed water committees, but a preliminary survey by SEWA revealed that water committee members were far from active. Indeed, many people had not been consulted and did not even know they were on the committees. Women tended to be members in name only, because male members excluded them from all activities. SEWA found that village-level government officials, water engineers, and water committee members themselves were generally ignorant about the powers and role of the water committees. The majority did not even know how water reached their own villages. Not surprisingly, much of the water supply system in the two sub-districts was nonfunctional. SEWA found that there was almost no easy access to safe drinking water in the whole of Santhalpur and in about half of Radhanpur.

As a first step, SEWA arranged several meetings between water engineers and villagers so that villagers could understand the water supply scheme. A group of men and women from different villages was taken to the Santhalpur headwaters to see the source of their water supply. Two of the most successful, and fully attended trips were to two milk cooperatives, Amul and the National Dairy Development Board. The visits were planned so that the villagers could appreciate the democratic functioning of these two thriving collective enterprises. Another visit to Indian Petro-Chemical Limited (IPCL), a government company manufacturing plastics, demonstrated how a village water supply pond could be lined with a special plastic film, to prevent the ingress of salinity. Water in an unlined pond is gradually contaminated by salts leached from the desert soils, becoming undrinkable after a few months. In later years, lining ponds with agri-film became a cornerstone of many village water maintenance projects.

SEWA’s efforts to rally women and men were, however, impeded by massive seasonal distress migration due to lack of water and jobs. At times, whole villages were deserted. In others, only the elderly, the disabled, and some young children were left behind. The question that confronted SEWA was how to stop people from leaving their homes, so they could develop their village resources. The village-level water meetings thus led to the articulation of two urgent needs of the villagers: The need to find non-water based economic work, and the need to conserve water, revive traditional sources like surface wells and ponds, and create alternative water sources like roof rainwater harvesting structures.

Women and water governance

SEWA’s leadership understood that it would be easier to recruit its members to water development activities if they were clearly linked to economic improvement. Accordingly, from 1986 on, SEWA mobilized village women into about 50 groups organized around 8 economic activities, ranging from embroidery and gum collection from the forest to rainwater harvesting for anti-desertification measures. These groups were formed under the Development of Women and Children in Rural Areas (DWCRA) Program, a joint effort of the Indian government and UNICEF. By 2000, nearly 200 such groups existed with their own district federation, helping women with economic and business development. At first, however, women were reluctant to come forward because water infrastructure was regarded as male territory. Most men were also uncooperative. They were critical of women entering the public domain on this issue, and several went so far as to say they would not drink water from a source created by women. Many threatened not to work on water harvesting structures that would be managed by women. Some men openly said women would make financial blunders and force them to mortgage their lands (almost all land titles are in men’s names) to repay their debts.

SEWA persisted, however, and facilitated the formation of women-dominated water users committees called pani samities. Instead of the stipulated 30 percent quota for women, these were either all-women committees or had at least an equal number of men and women members. Women slowly gained confidence as they began to lead water activities, raise their productivity, and see their incomes increase. A year after the water activities were initiated, the promising results prompted more women to join in. Poonamben of Bharvad village, Radhanpur, recounts how no one wanted to join the pani samities initially. “Now we’ve learned so much about measurements, maps, and surveying methods that everyone wants to become a member and know about these things.” SEWA’s argument is that because women are primarily responsible for fetching and using water—for domestic purposes, cattle, and kitchen gardens—it is necessary to give them prominent roles in water governance. This fact also made it easier for SEWA to take on water-related activities because, as a trade union, it can only undertake activities that are mandated by its members. Many different kinds of activities were undertaken in the first phase of SEWA’s work. The initial 42 pani samities took over maintenance of the piped water system in the Santhalpur and Radhanpur sub-districts, including collecting user fees. Simultaneously, the village women applied themselves to revive and maintain their traditional community sources of water. Pani samities began constructing check dams, deepening existing ponds, and lining ponds with plastic film to prevent salt penetration.

The results of this early partnership between SEWA and the State Water Board were mixed, but successful enough to encourage SEWA to take up other water-related activities throughout Banaskantha and other districts of Gujarat. These first years laid the foundation for SEWA’s Millennium Water Campaign, which began in 1995.

Navigating the government labyrinth

In Gujarat, rural drinking water supply is controlled primarily by the State Water Board. Decentralization began in 1957, when a government-instituted committee recommended devolvement of political and administrative power to the village level through the establishment of local self-governing bodies called panchayats. The new institutions evoked an extraordinary response from the people and the panchayats were given formal recognition in 1993 by means of amendments to the Indian constitution.

Panchayat representatives are members of village-level natural resource management committees and can exercise real influence over the installation, operation, and maintenance of drinking water supplies. However, panchayats still have limited administrative and financial control. In addition to the State Water Board and village-level panchayats, district committees and sub-district development offices are also responsible for overseeing some irrigation systems and watershed development projects. (See: Who Controls and Manages Water in Gujarat?)