ENVIRONMENTAL STATUS In India the availability of natural resources to a large section of the rural population, and especially to the

poor, has been eroded severely over the past two decades by two parallel, and interrelated, processes: first, their growing degradation both in quantity and quality, and second, their increasing statisation (appropriation by the State) and privatization (appropriation by a minority of individuals), with an associated decline in what was earlier communal. These two processes, both independently and interactively, underlie many of the differential class-gender effects (that is, gender effects mediated by class) of environmental degradation outlined further below, independently, the former process is reducing overall availability, and the latter is increasing inequalities in the distribution of what is available, interactively, an altered distribution in favour of the state and some individuals, and away from community control, can contribute to environmental degradation insofar as community resource management systems have often proven more effective in environmental protection and regeneration than systems managed solely by the state of by individuals. Coverage of area in the tenth plan : The working Group accepted Ministry of agricultures estimate of 107 million hectares of land in the country that are subject to degradation due to biotic and abiotic pressures. Out of this, only 27.5 million hectares was expected to be treated under different programmes by the end of the Ninth plan. In addition, uplands in low rainfall areas also require water and conservation measures. The Working Group indicated that close to 88.5 million hectares would have to be treated in the Tenth and subsequent plans. Watershed and Environment A watershed is defined as an area that drains to a common point, and watershed projects aim to manage water and supporting land resources for various objectives. In India, current watershed projects are located mainly in semi-arid areas, where rainfed agriculture is the predominant land use and watersheds are densely populated. Here the main focus is to harness water resources for maximum agricultural productivity. The semi-arid landscapes where most watershed projects are found are nearly devoid of perennial streams, so water harvesting takes place in very small catchments, covering 500-2000 hectares, typically within a single village or in some case spread over to other villages also. Economic Benefits of Watershed Development in India As described earlier in this chapter, watershed management has gradually evolved in India from primarily a technical focus on soil and water conservation and restoring degraded lands in more productive irrigated areas to a broader approach for rural development with local participation, spanning both irrigated and drylands, and encompassing lower and upper watershed reaches. In both government and donorfunded programmes however, land based treatments usually account for the majority of project budgets. As an example the Bank supported Karnataka watershed Development project (2001-2007) has high levels of investments in social mobilization, group formation monitoring and evaluation, yet approximately 82

percent of the total funding is for watershed treatments, including civil works for soil and water conservation forestry, and horticulture. Figure 3.5 illustrates the usual suite of physical treatments used for arable and degraded lands. Watershed projects aim to improve economic conditions by expanding irrigation, raising the productivity of rainfed agriculture, increasing the stock of biomass in uncultivated areas, and creating higher employment in larger farms that scale up irrigation. Treatments to improve rainfed agriculture include field bunds and interbund treatments such as contour plowing. Ralegan Siddhi village, in the Ahmedbnagar district, looks fresh and green in an otherwise hilly, dry and dusty region. Ahmednagar district, one of the largest in the area, is situated partly in the upper Godavari basin and partly in the Bhima basin. Mobilising the villagers was an important strategy of anna Hazare. He encouraged the active participation of people in the planning and decision making processes of various programmes so that the village is built through the creative productive and innovative hard work of people themselves. When Anna Hazare started his work in Ralegan, alcoholism was a serious problem among the villagers. There were a number of liquor brewing units in the village. Anna decided to take up the issue, along with the watershed management programme. In a meeting called by him in the village temple, it was resolved to close down the liquor dens and ban the drinking of alcohol in the village. Many brewing units closed down voluntarily after this resolve. It reduced alcoholism, but some villagers continued to drink. Then it was decided that anybody consuming liquor would be physically punished. Anna stated that there is a pole in front of the village temple. Many people found to be having liquor were tied up with it and flogged. In previous days, there were liquor brewing units in the village. They all are closed now. Five universal rules have evolved out of the developmental experiences in Ralegan. They are nasbandk (restriction of family size), nashabandi (ban on clcohol), charaibandi (ban on free grazing), kurhabandi (ban on tree felling) and shramdan (donation of voluntary labour for community welfare.