Sustainable watering of the watershed: a qualitative analysis of the Choral River Revival Project in Narmada Basin, India

ABSTRACT

This article focuses on understanding watershed development practices in adherence to target 6.6 to protect water-related ecosystems and target 6.b for community participation in water management under Sustainable Development Goal (SDGs) 6. A watershed treatment-induced case of Choral River revival signifies localised socio-political scalability of water source protection and resource use measures in India’s Narmada River basin. The article uses a qualitative research methodology to analyse factors ensuring and affecting local community participation during and after the watershed programme implementation. It concludes by arguing that sustainability in watershed-based sustainable action requires intertwining participatory community engagement with adaptive water management policies and practices.

KEYWORDS:

• Watershed
• river revival
• participation
• SDG 6
• Narmada

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 An apt reference here can be made to the Narmada Water Dispute Tribunal Awards, 1979, which mentions that all its tributaries contribute to the main river’s total river flow. Therefore, the tributaries are to be regarded as a part of the inter-state river.

2 The case of Kumudavathi River revival in Karnataka, India (Accessed from https://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/water/the-almost-dead-river-in-karnataka-is-now-on-its-way-to-revival-57907 on 18 June 2018).

3 The case of Delaware River revival, Pennsylvania, USA (Kauffman 2010)

4 SDG 6 Data Portal, India’s Performance on Indicator 6.6.1 (Accessed from sdg6data.org on 12 July 2019).

5 SDG 6 Data Portal, India’s Performance on Indicator 6.b.1 (Accessed from sdg6data.org on 12 July 2019).

6 Post 2015–2016, the scheme merged with Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayi Scheme (PMLSY, Prime Minister Agriculture Irrigation Scheme) and watershed programs are operated as one of its component under the Department of Land Resources, Ministry of Rural Development. Source: Accessed from http://pmksy.gov.in/AboutPMKSY.aspx on 18 June 2020.

7 Omkareshwar Dam is part of a multipurpose hydropower project on the Narmada River (Accessed from https://nhdcindia.com/Site/frmProjectDetails.aspx?PID=2). It has become a significant obstructionist structure for the downstream river flow; hence, tributaries like the Choral become essential sources in a broader local water governance framework.

8 GoMP oversees the implementation activities under the Department of Panchayat and Rural Development (Accessed from http://www.prd.mp.gov.in/RGWM/Default.aspx on 13 June 2020)

9 A major thrust of the scheme is towards agricultural water use efficiency. For the study concerned, the terrain is hilly, and this use-based thrust on water management has limited expansion while endowing a space for water access inequality, agricultural pattern change, etc.

10 It is the official classification of the tribal community as a whole, denoting the material lagging of the population concerned, relative to other sections of the society, as stated on the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, GoI website (Accessed from https://tribal.nic.in/aboutTheMinistry.aspx on 14 July 2020.

11 Gram Sabha is a village-level decision-making committee of voters in the local panchayat. Though Gram Sabha meetings are mandated periodically for effective governance, this is mostly conducted during some official inspection scenarios. The regular community deliberation remains beyond Gram Sabha’s sphere, in this sense (fieldwork observation).

12 Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme is a central government-sponsored scheme which guarantees 100 days of wage employment in a financial year to a rural household, seeking unskilled labor (Accessed from https://nrega.nic.in/netnrega/home.aspx on 15 July 2019).

13 The PIA in charge highlighted the limitedness of available material resources in the region. Local construction material includes sand and stones while major expenditure was the cost of cement packets and iron bars (Fieldwork conversation as on 23 December 2018).

14 Indore District's watershed cell, Indore, has provided factual data, while local respondents, in general, verified the same during field interactions.

15 While the community terms these practices as their local right, these practices are forest encroachment and a punishable offense from the government’s perspective. However, the practice has lessened in recent years; still, people with financial means and officials’ collusion clear forest areas for permanent agricultural use (fieldwork interaction and observation).

16 Refer to Common Guidelines for Watershed Project 2008, issued by the Government of India (GoI 2011).

17 Announced for the first time by the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation in 2018 and the result was accessed from http://cgwb.gov.in/CGWA/LIST%20WINNERS%20NATIONAL%20WATER%20AWARDS-2018.pdf on 15 July 2020.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Vinod Kumar

Vinod Kumar is PhD Research scholar at the Department of Sociology, School of Humanities and Social Science in Indian Institute of Technology Indore, Indore. With a research background in Social Work and Parliamentary procedures, his current research focus is on the everyday politics of water management.

Neeraj Mishra

Neeraj Mishra is Assistant Professor at the Department of Sociology, School of Humanities and Social Science in Indian Institute of Technology Indore, Indore. His research interests include Political and Environmental Sociology, Development Studies, and Water Governance.