How a river parliament came into being

An article by ‘Waterman of India’ Rajendra Singh

Rise in groundwater level and increase in area under cultivation and irrigation tempted people to listen to the TBS idea of formation of the river parliament. The awareness built by various discussion, group meetings, trainings, exposure trips etc., also contributed in mobilising and sensitising community to form a group to address inter and intra village land, water and vegetation-related issues and to resolve conflicts, if any
Why should people come together to form a parliament around natural resources is a big question? It would have been impossible to think of river parliament without the Tarun Bharat Sangh (TBS) intervention in formation of new institutions, such as, Village Water Council and Women Self -Help Groups (SHG), and construction of different kinds of water harnessing structures directly benefiting the population in Alwar district in Rajasthan.

Rise in groundwater level and increase in area under cultivation and irrigation tempted people to listen to the TBS idea of formation of the river parliament. The awareness built by various discussion, group meetings, trainings, exposure trips etc., also contributed in mobilising and sensitising community to form a group to address inter and intra village land, water and vegetation-related issues and to resolve conflicts, if any. Also events, such as conflict between state and community in reaping benefits of water stored and conflicting claims over ownership and control over surface water harnessed through various structures triggered the idea of coming together and protecting the interest of community.

Water harnessing structures called Jabbar Sagar dam in Hamirpur village was constructed by Tarun Bharat Sangh. The State government tried to claim ownership and control over water by floating tender for fishery activities in 1996. One morning a contractor came to collect fish from the dam. The village community was taken by surprise as they were under the impression that water belonged to them. The community fought with the State and finally won their claim over water and fish resources.

Arvari Parliament
The concept of river basin approach was applied to Arvari River Basin in Alwar district of Rajasthan using community centre water management approach. On December 28, 1998, a River Parliament of 70 villages with the membership of 205 was formed in the catchment area of Arvari River. The Parliament meets twice a year at the interval of six months. The Arvari Parliament met 14 times since its formation.

The Arvari River Basin has got 46 micro watersheds. There are broadly two major streams starting from the top of the basin and joining at the dam called Sainthal Sagar. Tarun Bharat Sangh (TBS) continuously is constructing water harvesting structures in the catchment area along with other watershed management activities. It resulted in rise in groundwater table in the basin and increase in the longevity of flow in the Arvari River. Holistic view in management of natural resources by undertaking land, water, and vegetation related activities was the objective of TBS.

As the existing formal state structure i.e., different departments of government, namely Forest, Irrigation, Groundwater and Revenue department have almost failed to check the deteriorating condition of natural resources. TBS tried to educate people on the natural resource management issues by forming a Village Water Council in each village.

The objective of this village institution was mainly to protect, conserve and manage natural resources in a sustainable way by community participation. After long years of hard work these councils made a dent in natural resource management by forming certain informal rules, acceptable to all the village members. However, water and vegetation are common pool resource and do not belong to only a single village as was contemplated while planning Arvari River Parliament. More than one village had access to and use of forest and water resources. It was decided to form a River Basin Parliament comprising several micro watersheds.

It was planned that each Village Water Councils (VWC) will be represented by nominating two or three members in the Parliament. A working group of 20 members including a few co-opted members from outside basin to guide the proceedings and activities of Arvari Parliament was also proposed. It was planned to have at least two meetings of full house and more than twice of the Management Committee or Working Group as and when needed.

The main goal of this Parliament was to create a larger vision or perspective i.e., thinking beyond a village, in management of common pool resources. The specific objectives were: Sustainable management of natural resources through Arvari Parliament; Control use of water by treating it a scarce resource; Managing the soil fertility and checking land erosion by construction of anicuts, mairbandi and Johads; Stopping illegal mining activity negatively affecting the land, water and vegetation; Generating self-employment and alternative livelihood options through better management of land, water and forest resources; Sensitising and building awareness among women groups on water related issues and seek their active participation; and Increase agricultural productivity by growing water saving crops with local seeds and manure.

In the first meeting of parliament, certain guidelines were drawn to regulate the behaviour of people, foresee future problems in management of natural resources, resolve conflicts if any related to access and use of resources, provide guidelines for conservation, protection and management of resources, and treat water and forest as a community resource rather than private property.

The specific informal rules formulated are as follows: Ban on sale of fish produced in water stored by anicuts or Johad to contractor; Ban on use of pumps to lift water from anicuts; Not to sell land for mining or quarrying or industrial activity; Encouraging people to grow water saving crops; Restrict use of chemical fertilizers; Limiting production of cotton and sugarcane crops only for self-consumption; Construction of anicut, johad, mairbandi to check free flow of rainwater; Construction of mairbandi to check degradation of farmlands; Issues related to land, water, and vegetation to be dealt by combined effort of village community by ensuring maximum participation of households in a village.

These informal rules are discussed in each parliament meeting to highlight practical problems in their implementation and suggest new guidelines if needed. Suggestions, if any, are also debated and discussed to see that the members agree to implement in their respective villages. At the parliament meeting, members report their efforts in implementing the objectives of the parliament and seek guidance for resolving conflicts if any. Most of the conflicts pertaining to access control and management of resources are resolved in the meetings of Village Water Council.

It was the part of the scheme to ensure equal participation of women on all its activities and see that they too are empowered in the process. In the organization structure it was planned to have both men and women representatives. Presently women are actively participating in all activities. Being a very young organization and first of its kind, it will take some time to understand and act. Different stakeholders are taking lot of time to understand the concept of river parliament and get in practice. People gradually understand the benefits of coming together and managing natural resources.

The social sanctions approved by the parliament are adhered to by most of the villagers. It has made a lot of dent on their behaviour pattern towards natural resource management. Arvari Parliament has provided people a platform to address their needs, prioritise them and design use patterns, which can maintain health of the resources. The discussion in meetings of Arvari Parliament is quite open to providing equal opportunity both for men and women to express their views. The major problem attaining the objectives of equity and access is the multiple and undefined nature of property regimes.

The ownership and control rights are loosely defined, rarely understood in a proper perspective and practiced. In case of water, surface and groundwater is governed by different laws related to private property, state property, and community property. Groundwater is completely privately controlled and managed. On the other hand surface water harnessed by construction of structures both by state and community are legally owned by state. Also the water laws are directly in favour of the State government and people are mostly unaware of these laws. In the case of forest resources, ownership rights are clear and therefore better managed by community.

The community efforts in water resources are mostly in the form of harnessing of rainwater by creation of different types of surface structures. Community participation is ensured while construction of the structures right from the beginning and therefore people show interest in Arvari Parliament. (The writer is a well-known water conservationist from Alwar district in Rajasthan. He won several awards like Stockholm Water Prize, which is known as "the Nobel Prize for Water," in 2015. Previously, he also won the Ramon Magsaysay Award for community leadership in 2001 for his pioneering work in community-based efforts in water harvesting and water management. He runs an NGO called 'Tarun Bharat Sangh.')