Jala Bandhus promote water security in India

In the state of Odisha in Eastern India, water stewards are engaging with their communities to rejuvenate the water sources and conserve the land on which they depend.

Water scarcity poses a significant challenge to rural communities in Odisha. Fewer people today have access to water all year round, with many perennial springs becoming seasonal due to climate change. Among those most affected, with no alternative sources, are the indigenous communities (or Adivasis) that live in forested areas.

Gram Vikas’s intervention is focused on capacity building, community institutional development and technical support, while harnessing the knowledge of indigenous people. Strengthening the local Adivasi communities’ agency and capabilities through forestry, agriculture, and land occupancy and use efforts has been key. Over 7,600 members of the community, in addition to a network of 2,300 young people and 2,150 Self Help Groups (SHGs), have received training, with local communities learning a host of new kills. These include everything from monitoring springs, developing degraded land and undertaking social and agroforestry plantations, to conserving soil and moisture, and intercropping to improve land and water sources.

The cadre of young people – 50 percent of which are women – are called Jala Bandhus (water stewards). Coached by trainers from Gram Vikas that live in the heart of the local communities, the local young people learn about hydrogeology, accounting, and the use of technology – such as Google Earth Pro and Vertical Electric Sounding tests. These efforts have helped the Adivasi community to navigate the challenges posed by changing climate, in addition to promoting entrepreneurship and helping to conserve the forests.

Since the intervention was launched in 2018, it has already developed knowledge and built the capacities of 769 forest-dependent communities. In total, more than 30,000 households have been mobilized, with 42,000 acres regenerated and 22,800 water sources treated to address climate change-induced risks to water security.

This training enables them to support their communities by managing and monitoring water sources, increasing awareness about land and water conservation, and setting up and operating central and village level plant nurseries. 

The fact that the Jala Bandhus are drawn from the local community is vital. “When these cadres talk to local people and encourage them to plant trees and other activities, there is a different impact,” says Sachin Gurang, Thematic Coordinator for Water Source Sustainability at Gram Vikas. “If outsiders like us go to them, it takes time for them to understand. But when local people talk then it spreads faster in the community.” 

Over the past three years, the Jala Bandhus have monitored nearly 4,500 water sources, including over 500 springs, across 27 different Gram Panchayats (or village councils). This data was then used by partner village communities and Gram Vikas to prepare the five-year (2020-2025) Village Groundwater Management Plan. 

Village Development Committees (VDCs) play an important role: liaising with government to secure funds, preparing the budgets, allocating and prioritizing funds for activities, and vetting the quality and appropriateness of interventions where funds are channelized.

The goal is to bring about long-term resilience to climate change by ensuring the sustainability of water sources, improving water availability for both drinking and domestic uses, increasing soil moisture conservation and fertility, and diversifying natural resources-based livelihoods. 

Adivasi communities across ten habitations now engage in agroforestry, planting productive fruit, fodder, and fuel-bearing species in over 500 acres of common and privately owned land. This increases forest cover, which in turn ensures water source sustainability, improves water availability for drinking and domestic uses, increases soil moisture conservation and fertility, and enables diversification of natural resources-based livelihoods.Understanding the importance of managing and conserving water and natural resources has inspired local people to work together on plant nurseries. 

“In the past, I cut down a lot of trees,” says Surekha Majhi, a Jal Bandhu, who lives in the village of Chirakelguda. “When I started taking care of the plants, I realized how much it benefits us. We get oxygen and water due to trees and forests. I’m happy to have learned this.” Surekha’s experience underlines not only the importance of conservation, but also of strengthening agency. “I used to be worried about my future, how I will earn an income. I’m now saving for my future.”

Over the past three years, the project has resulted in 137,000 social forestry plantations and 13,000 agroforestry plantations. The discharge of water sources across the intervention areas has increased by 15 percent, while the soil moisture has reduced the use of kerosene pumps for irrigation. What’s more, afforestation has created 130,000 tons of carbon sequestration potential, increased green cover in 100 acres, and improved water availability in 145 acres for a second crop.

Gram Vikas has already replicated the intervention to four other districts in Odisha – Ganjam, Gajapati, Kandhamal and Nayagarh – and the project is set to benefit over 170,000 people.