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With local NGO’s help, residents of Kelhoura in Satna district revive wells and ponds to meet their daily water needs and to fend for their cattle

Satna, Madhya Pradesh: In March 2019, 30 people from Kelhoura in Satna district of Madhya Pradesh came together under the leadership of Rekha Mawasi (48) to repair their village well — the closest source of water. After pouring in efforts for about 10 consecutive days, they could increase the depth of the well to 60 feet to avail of water, enough to quench their cattle's thirst.

“Ever since the well has been cleaned and deepened, the water crisis has been alleviated. The villagers do not need to travel two to three km to fetch water anymore,” Rekha told 101Reporters.

Things were never the same in Majhgawan block, comprising 96 gram panchayats with one being Kelhoura. Water crisis used to set in as summer months began in February. By April and May, acute shortage used to be the order of the day. In the absence of an alternative water source, the locals had no option but to dig small pits in wells or ponds to find water. The demand was so high that people would often queue up overnight, awaiting their turn.

Thirsty days

Satna district is abundantly covered by mountains and forests, with tribals making up almost 14% of the population. Of them, Mawasi, Kol, Gond and Kharwar communities are in majority. Irrespective of which community they belong to, most locals suffer from malnutrition. According to the fifth report of the National Family Health Survey, 31% of children in the district are underweight and 49% stunted. Moreover, the region is deeply affected by climate change with heavy rainfall causing floods, alternating with drought-like situations.

\"We realised that it is meaningless to talk about food security without addressing the water woes here. All the community efforts would have been ineffective in four to six months due to water scarcity. To avoid this, we included water-related work in our project and discussed the problems in community meetings,” said Prateek Kumar, district coordinator of Vikas Samvad Samiti, a social organisation working here on a community-based management model of food and nutrition security.

Locals from Kelhoura in Satna, Madhya Pradesh join hands to revive the local well to suffice for their water needs.

\"It was through these village chaupals or meetings that the community agreed upon digging a pond under the watershed management plan to store rainwater,” said Maniram Mawasi (55), a beneficiary in Kelhoura.

In March 2019, 40 men and 30 women began to toil for six hours every day to dig a pond. After working for three days straight, they hit water. The next couple of days were spent building a pit that was soon brimming with water.

Krishna Kumar Mishra, who works as a technical assistant in the Public Health Engineering Department in Majhgawan, recalled, “Earlier, there was no water shortage here. Even 10 to 15 years ago, water was available at 100-150ft below the ground but then we had to dig more than 300ft to avail of water through tubewell boring.”

Rekha Mawasi led more than 30 people in Kelhoura, Satna to work collectively to solve their water woes

Like Kelhoura, situation was grim in Kishanpur of the same block. The three wells, one pond and two hand pumps in the village dominated by Mawasi tribals had all dried up and people were forced to travel two to three km to fetch water from the nearest well. The situation had been dire, so much so that many left their cattle to fend for themselves in the nearby forests.

“The well would accumulate water overnight and people waited in long queues. Children were lowered down it to fill the pots, which they handed over to their family members standing at the parapet above. Often fights broke out between villagers over whose turn it was,” recalled a resident, locally addressed as Bhaiya Adivasi, while explaining the challenges they faced till they came together for a solution in 2019.

Being primarily responsible for fetching water, women and children were the most affected. While lack of water made the dependent chores difficult, the situation directly impacted the children’s education as they lost valuable study hours.

In Kelhoura panchayat's Tagarpar village, only eight out of the 32 tribal families own about two acres of land each, with the rest being agricultural labourers. The two government hand pumps in the village used to dry up in summer. “The government had started digging a well about 20 years ago, but it is incomplete to date. Every monsoon, rainwater fills the well with garbage, rendering it even more useless,” said Rekha.

Self-help is the best help

While physical labour was poured in by the locals, Vikas Samvad Samiti supplied construction materials for deepening of wells.

The success of that endeavour encouraged other villages to pool together their efforts and solve the water crisis. According to Vikas Samvad, work has been undertaken to clean and deepen wells and to dig ponds in 25 villages in the area. In 2019 itself, four ponds were deepened in the villages of Kirhai Pokhari, Kanpur, Pado and Kishanpur. Additionally, four wells were rejuvenated in Tagarpar, Virgarha, Kishanpur and Kanpur.

Water levels in the wells have risen by 10 to 15ft now, and unlike three years ago, they do not go completely dry even in peak summer. The local inhabitants revived four wells in Kanpur, Patni, Dadin and Kishanpur, and dug a small canal in Putrichua village. In Chitahra and Kanpur, irrigation work has been carried out on more than 15 acres of agricultural lands.

The revived wells have seen a rise in water levels and don't go complete dry in summers

“We have come to realise that our village does not suffer from water crisis as before, and we have enough water to even raise our cattle and engage in farming,” says Bhai Mawasi of Kishanpur.

The water availability has improved the agricultural produce too. Almost 150 families were claimed to have registered 25% of surplus harvest. They all are growing leafy vegetables, which some families use to generate extra income via sales. Not just that, many villagers have also started to include them in their diet, improving their nutrition intake.

On the downside, wrong crop choices could take away all the progress made. For instance, Ramlal Mawasi of Banhari village contributed to the community efforts to repair the well near his farm and now has sufficient water to provide for the cattle as well as irrigation. However, Ramlal has now resorted to cultivating sugarcane — a water-guzzling crop — for lucrative selling prices, besides leafy greens around the year. The impact of crop choices is yet to be witnessed in the region, which has newly tasted the joy of surplus water availability.

Rehmat Mansoorie, a water-conservation subject expert based out of Madhya Pradesh, warns that “in areas where water is being conserved with huge efforts must stay wary of planting sugarcane.”

“The focus should not just be on utilising the water revived, but also on equitable distribution in nearby areas,” he adds.

The community initiatives have ensured clean water for about 2,000 villagers and 1,000 cattle. So far, they have come together to revive about 35 wells in 20 villages.

“Now that our ponds have become deeper, we do not struggle with lack of water anymore. It feels so good to see them filled with water all through the year,” says Mohan Mawasi of Kishanpur.

This article is a part of a 101Reporters' series on The Promise Of Commons. In this series, we will explore how judicious management of shared public resources can help the ecosystem as well as the communities inhabiting it.

Edited by Rashmi Guha Ray

All photos: Rakesh Malviya

The cover image is of locals from Kishanpur working collectively for reviving a local pond.

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The nondescript village of Rohna elected an all-women panchayat\nunopposed. Though ironically, the decision didn't involve any say from the women themselves.

Narmadapuram, Madhya Pradesh: Located 8km from Narmadapuram district in Madhya Pradesh is the small village of Rohna. Its 396 households, comprising 1,886 people, include 1,400\nvoters. Most families here belong to Backward Castes, with some 6% of the population listed under Scheduled Castes. Agriculture is the main means of livelihood in Rohna, where 14 families live below the poverty line — however, this nondescript village is a matter of pride to its residents.

Social worker Lakshman Singh Rajput proudly told 101Reporters, “Our village has no illicit liquor or gambling dens. We are also ahead in agricultural output, with many farmers here into organic farming. Roopsingh Rajput was awarded for his farming efforts. There are many who also breed cattle and produce 2,000l to 2,500l of milk every day.”

And now, Rohna is in the news for its decision to elect a 'pink', all-women panchayat, completely unopposed.

How a 'pink' panchayat emerged in Rohna

Panchayat elections had not been held in Madhya Pradesh for a while, to finally being organised following court intervention. Women were granted 33% reservation, in keeping with the 73rd amendment, though Madhya Pradesh increased women's reservation to 50%, the first state to make this change.

Rajesh Samle, a social worker and local resident who's been working on agriculture and women’s empowerment in Rohna as part of the Gram Sewa Samiti, told 101Reporters, “When the reservation formalities for the three-tier panchayat elections were completed, our panchayat seats went to the lot of our women. That's when discussions began about electing an unopposed panchayat for the village, to demonstrate our unity.\"

\"As for the candidates, Sharmila Rajput emerged as the front-runner, since she had been active on all village-level issues and had always taken the lead in community matters. Once her name was proposed, there was complete consensus from all quarters.”

Sharmila Rajput, the new sarpanch, is 48 years old. She was born in Rohna and was married to Rajendra Singh Rajput from the same village after completing Class 10. Under Sharmila and her all-women panchayat, women’s empowerment, education and health have emerged as key developmental issues.

However, the new village chief said she had not imagined ever being part of the village panchayat, let alone leading it.

\"I wouldn't have contested if the chief minister had not announced the Rs 15 lakh reward for an unopposed election and the sarpanch's seat had not been reserved for women,\" Sharmila added.

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan had announced that a women-only gram panchayat would be given Rs 15 lakh for development. He had also announced an award of Rs 5 lakh to those panchayats that would elect their chief unopposed. Moreover, panchayats that elected their sarpanch for two consecutive years unopposed were to be awarded Rs 7 lakh, and gram panchayats that elected an all-women panchayat were to be granted Rs 12 lakh. For those who had elected an all-women panchayat (including a sarpanch) unopposed were to be given Rs 15 lakh.

Elaborating on how Rohna got a women-only 'pink' panchayat, Local resident Monu Chouhan added: “Once the sarpanch was elected unopposed, the idea of a panchayat completely run by women emerged. Although a few men had\nfiled their candidature, the idea of a women-only panchayat appealed to\nthem. They immediately withdrew their candidature in favour of the women from their own\nfamilies. Thus, all 18 wards elected women to the panchayat. This saw Sandhya\nMalviya, Pushpa, Dipali Yadav, Meena Viswakarma, Sunitabai, Jyoti Samle, Ritu Chauhan,\nDhanwati, Rajan, Vidya, Saroj, Kusum Patel, Premvati, Jyoti Surendra Singh, Shobabai, Phula, Kasturi and Vyjanti get elected unopposed.

Vidya was elected the panch for the second consecutive year. Her son Veer Singh Chauhan earlier held the position. This election, after the general category was reserved seats, the family decided to retain its hold on the position by nominating Vidya.

Chauhan said that in this small village, more than four people filed their candidature for the sarpanch's post, though that could have fuelled enmity within the community and raised their election expenses.

\"This is why we held a joint meeting and agreed to elect an unopposed panchayat,\" he added.

The irony, however, is that the decision to elect this 'pink' panchayat didn't involve any say from the women in the community.

The role of kabaddi

While the very prospect of electing consensus candidates to office may seem\nremarkable, the unified approach to community matters in Rohna can be attributed\nto the game of kabaddi. According to senior kabaddi player Rajkumar Ginyare, “Coach Harish Malviya introduced kabaddi in Rohna in 1998. The\ngame became so popular here that everyone wanted to play it. Eventually, Rohna\nproduced several national-level players. But the sport's most important\ncontribution was its unifying nature. Earlier, people were divided\namong different castes and groups; kabaddi put an end to all that and brought them together. This saw villagers unite to put an end to the tradition of\nmrityubhoj (a memorial service for the departed wherein a big feast is held for the community), kept youngsters away from intoxicants and instead made them\nhealth conscious.”

In 2017, Rohna hosted the National Professional Kabaddi Championships. The\nevent saw the participation of Air India, Oil and Natural Gas Commission and Indian Railways. National-level players like Ajay Thakur, Rahul Chaudhury and Pradip Narwal Sandeep Narwal visited Rohna and put the small village on India’s kabaddi\nmap. The final event attracted some 50,000 people, even forcing road traffic in this sparsely populated region to\nbe diverted!

However, the village that's currently celebrating the election of an all-women panchayat hardly sees any women's participation in the sport, their involvement restricted to the bleachers.

Prize money and its uses

At present, the Rohna panchayat awaits the Rs\n15 lakh it is rightfully due, although it's not yet sure how the money will\nbe used for developmental purposes. Panchayats that won the sum following\nthe last local elections saw rules being framed to spend the money on\nprojects.

“The gram sabha ought to have the right\nto utilise the money it's won for electing its candidates unopposed,” said Lakshman Singh Rajput, a social activist , while\nPanchayat Secretary Vijay Chaurey added, “Since there have been no guidelines\nissued so far in this regard, we must get to decide how to utilise these\nfunds.”

Meanwhile, Sharmila is overjoyed at being elected\nunopposed.

“We need to fulfil the expectations of our electorate. Our primary\nconcern is the education and health of girls. I was unable to study\nbeyond Class 10; I do not want this to happen to others. I'd like\nevery girl in the village to go for higher education and earn a living. I wish for all adolescent girls to enjoy good health and to put an end to the prevalent\ndiscrimination between boys and girls.\"

\"In addition to these, one also has to fulfil\nthe basic developmental responsibilities of the panchayat. We will work for the\nbetterment of the youth, so that the village ultimately benefits in the long\nrun.”

Panchayat member Jyoti Samle echoes her sarpanch's views: “It's a matter of joy to be\npart of an entire panchayat represented solely by women. We shall work hard to justify\nthe faith bestowed on us.”

Acknowledging the role an elected panchayat can play in ushering in\nprogress, local resident Vinod Yadav listed the issues that need immediate\nattention: “ Our panchayat wants to prioritise education. The local school offers education up to the higher secondary level, but the building needs urgent repair. We also need\nto develop the ground for children.”

Regardless of their motivation, the residents of Rohna have set a precedent by electing a 'pink' panchayat.

\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Edited by Rina Mukerji

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Damyanti Pani, a farmer from Chhatarpur district, has spent more than Rs1.5 lakh on straw for the cowshed (Photo- Rakesh Malviya)

Changes in agricultural techniques, coupled with an exponential growth of the dairy industry, has left the state in a fix as far as feeding livestock is concerned.

Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh: The end of the wheat harvest in the month of Chaitra (March) usually brings with it a sense of relief. But this year, livestock farmers of Madhya Pradesh are far from feeling content. Damyanti Pani, a farmer from Chhatarpur district, is concerned about procuring fodder for the 55 animals in her cowshed. Pani, who's also the secretary of Gandhi Ashram, spent Rs 1.5 lakh this season on procuring straw for the charitable institution — this, while the price of straw across the state has been rising steadily in the last few years, doubling from Rs 4 to Rs 5 per kg to Rs 9 to Rs 10 per kg.

Lovelesh Kumar Rawat of Pathrota village, Narmadapuram (Hoshangabad) district, has been running a dairy for 15 years with 70 cows. The rising cost of cattle feed has had a direct impact on his rapidly declining profits. Where he earlier made a profit of up to Rs 10 per litre of milk, it's now dropped to Rs 6 per litre.

“Cattle feed needs to be compensated with green fodder and other animal food, which works out to be very expensive,\" Rawat told 101Reporters. \"Besides, you can’t feed cows only green fodder or only straw. The rise in prices means we’re spending an average of Rs 150 per day on food for each cow.”

To put the plight of these cattle rearers in perspective, the Indian Grassland and Fodder Research Institute estimates that by 2030, there could be a slump of 65.45% in green fodder and 25% in dry fodder, if stringent measures are not taken right away.

Gaushala count on the rise amid declining fodder supply

Madhya Pradesh has been a major contributor to India’s livestock, with over 7% of the total livestock in the country coming from the state (Livestock Census 2012). In 2007, Madhya Pradesh had a livestock population of over 4 crore, but between 2007 and 2012, there was a 10.5% drop in the population of cattle, 10.3% in the buffalo count and around 20.8% in goats.

Moreover, according to the 19th animal census conducted in 2012, a total of 3.63 crore livestock was accounted for in Madhya Pradesh, which increased to 4.6 crore in the 20th animal census from 2019. While the rise in animal count was welcome, a large portion of these numbers belongs to gaushalas and other businesses.

According to government data, there are 1,621 subsidized cow shelters with around 2,76,765 cows in the state. Apart from these that receive grants from the government, there are cooperatives and private milk dairies that aim to produce more milk than cattle. So, while the total number of animals has spiked, the cows haven’t returned to the villages and farms. This increase can be attributed to cow shelters.

However, milk production has been rising steadily in the state. According to the Economic Survey of Madhya Pradesh, milk production rose from 13,445 thousand metric tons in 2016-17 to 17,999 thousand metric tons in 2019-20. As a result, the livestock crisis in the state deepened, too.

For representational purpose only (Canva)

“Fodder crisis the result of changes in farming methods”

Such is the extent of the fodder crisis that the poor animals are dying of starvation. In January-February 2022, several districts of Madhya Pradesh reported deaths of cows in gaushalas. While these were blamed on corruption in the shelters and misuse of government funds, the lack of accessible cattle feed cannot be ignored as a major cause.

Retired Professor Kashmir Singh Uppal, who's been writing on agriculture and economic affairs for the past 30 years, shared his insights: “When electric-powered machine threshers were introduced in villages, straw was obtained along with the harvest, and there was no need for a separate, tedious process. Farmers had more straw than they needed at the time, so many of them branched out into animal husbandry. Even the ones who didn’t own any fields.”

Combine harvesters or threshers take care of the entire process, from harvesting to cutting and separating. With these equipment, farmers can be done with their tasks on the fields within a few hours and have the wheat grains loaded in the trolley. While the system is quick and easy, the harvesters don’t process the chaff into straw, and the increased use of machinery led to the fodder shortage over time.

A Padma Shri awardee for traditional farming and conservation of seeds, Babulal Dahiya told 101Reporters that \"encroachment on the transit (pasture) land was the main reason for this crisis.\"

“Earlier, villages had separate pasture land (Charagah-Gothan) with grass for grazing animals, but with the introduction of machines, such land is either scarce or encroached upon,\" said the farmer from Pithorabad village in Satna district. \"Farmers also prefer not to keep their land vacant because the emphasis is on higher production. This fodder crisis is the result of changes in farming methods, neglect of cows in farming, fencing of fields and the use of harvesters.”

Cash crops not conducive to straw making

Furthermore, the loss of crop diversity has also led to the state of affairs in Madhya Pradesh. Since the Green Revolution, the promotion of cash crops in the state paved the way for the diversification of soybean crops in the kharif season and wheat in rabi, whereas earlier, crop variety meant different ripening and harvesting cycles. This used to keep a steady supply of yield throughout the year.

However, growing similar crops—wheat, soybean and paddy—has brought an end to the abundance, the latest victim being the summer crop of moong.

Manish Gaur, a farmer from Seoni Malwa, explained: “The time between the harvesting of wheat and the sowing of moong is so short that there isn’t enough time to make straw properly. This year, the price of straw has spiked so much that it's unheard of.”

Black market threats and the road ahead

On March 27, 2022, the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying in Madhya Pradesh wrote to the district collectors, asking them to ban the export and transport of straw and related materials. This was followed by the collectors putting the ban in motion until June 30, citing the Madhya Pradesh Fodder Control Order 1992, the Essential Commodities Act 1955 and the Madhya Pradesh Fodder Export Control Order 2000.

Moreover, the Madhya Pradesh government has also announced a pilot project in Narmadapuram district to make coal from straw.

Then there's the flourishing black market that rears its head in light of the shortage of commodities. Many traders have already begun to buy straw from farmers and stockpile.

As Gaur put it, “People with money are looking for an opportunity during a disaster and have started stocking straw. In such a situation, this crisis will only worsen.”

Dahiya, on the other hand, believes that the crisis can be curtailed from reaching disastrous proportions by adopting better agricultural practices.

“We have enough straw in our farm at Pothorabad Satna because we do not use harvesters. Workers cut the crops and then use the threshers. We don’t use chemical pesticides, so the wheat grass becomes green fodder that can be fed to the cows. We also have grass growing in the fields, which workers pluck to feed the cattle,” he informed 101Reporters.

Dahiya also pointed out that families dependent on agriculture prioritise caring for the animals.

“Cows are fed grains along with straw because they are considered part of the family. The ones that give milk are not looked at as profit-churners. Their welfare is actually woven into the family’s routine,” he remarked.

Edited by Gia Claudette Fernandes

This is the first story in our series based on the ongoing fodder crisis in the country.

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