PUZZLES IN THE PUDDLES: GOA LOOKS TO AGE-OLD PONDS TO KEEP FIELDS GREEN By Frederick Noronha
PANJIM (Goa): Facing a water crisis -- brought on by speedy urbanisation, touristic demands, industrial requirements and mining-caused water depletion -- the heavy-rainfall state of Goa is looking back to its traditional ponds as a means of alleviating its widely-felt water crisis. Goa's technocratic chief minister Manohar Parrikar, a metallurgical graduate of the prestigious IIT-Bombay, has goaded agricultural decision-makers and officials into working out schemes that hope of de-silting an ambitious 745 ponds in the state over the next three years. Most of these are tiny water-bodies built up over the centuries. It's to be seen how successful this is in a notoriously politically-instable state, where drastic policy changes accompany each change in government. Goa's minister for agriculture Dayanand Mandrekar recently announced that the state government would take up de-silting work of about "800 traditional ponds and lakes in Goa state". Organisations of farmers, called 'user groups', are taking up this work. Officials in state-capital Panaji said: "This year the target is 150. It will include both small and larger ponds all over Goa. So far 59 have been taken up. We have a budget of Rs 1.5 crores (Rs 15 million). Each pond's de-silting would cost Rs 20,000 to 30,000 or more, depending on their size." De-silting of ponds (called 'tollem' in Goa) has been dealt by the Directorate of Agriculture only since April 2003. Earlier, this is the job of the Water Resources Department looking after 'minor' irrigation. Though this was labelled 'minor' irrigation -- in keeping with the official mindset -- in actuality, the tiny water-bodies scattered across the state helped keep crops growing in large areas of Goa. Thus, in a rain-fed state which didn't know the concept of medium or large dams till three decades ago, such ponds actually provided fairly 'major' irrigation. Reports from the field suggest there has been a good response from the farmers. Says Prabhakar P Kumbhare, the agriculture deputy director in-charge of watersheds <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> : "This is the first time such a scheme has been launched. The response is good. We have 77 proposals with us. Out of these, 59 have started. Currently (in early July) work has slowed down due to the monsoons. But in the case of 23 ponds, we've released the second installment too." "We've not taken up bigger ponds, because this is not under the power of the director. To be approved these go to a high-level committee. Also, a decision is taken over whether the work should be issued through a tender or a consultant. By October (after the heavy spell of monsoons Goa gets), we will take up larger ponds too," he adds. He informs that, under the scheme, beneficiaries of the pond clean-ups need to form 'user groups' and open an account in the bank. Once this is done, the team is given the chance to take up the work. Funds are released in three installments -- 40% in advance, 40% after half the work is completed, and the remaining 20% on completion. Adds Miguel Braganza <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> , an enthusiastic former agriculture officer who has opted out of the department and keeps busy with his private landscaping enterprise and also promoting social causes: "Farm ponds are part of watershed technology now. Our fore fathers knew their value. We thought we were too smart. Now we are re-learning their value" "Field-side ponds or 'tollem' are effective water harvesting devices for irrigation. The big tollem near St. Alex Church at Curtorim has helped raise many bumper harvests of rice. At least one minister for agriculture was raised on rice grown here. But, it was only in 2003 that anyone thought of implementing a scheme to de-silt such ponds. Many such ponds have been so long in disuse that one agency is reported to have pumped spoilt beer into a tollem in Salcete. Fortunately it did not go unnoticed this year," adds Braganza. Braganza points out that farm ponds are there in almost every paddy growing area in Goa -- Saligao, Pilerne, Camarcazana, Peddem, Revora, Oxel, Maina-Siolim, Maina-Betim, Maina-Curtorim, Maina-Bicholim, Raia, Piedade-Divar, Amona, Ela, Carambolim, Santa Cruz, Merces, Goa Velha, Mandur, Agacaim, Nagoa-Verna, Rivona, and the like. Recently, the minister distributed cheques to cover the first installment of the estimated cost. Cheques were handed out recently to farmer groups at Assagao (Bardez), Van-Maulinguem (Bicholim) and Valpoi. Minister Mandrekar says the de-silting of ponds and lakes would help to increase the ground water level and storage capacity of the existing ponds "which can be used for cultivation of horticulture, vegetable crops in the entire year", an official statement said. But the official version apart, agriculture has come under increasing pressure in a state that has seen a touristic boom which, in turn, fuelled a real-estate speculative rush. The main aim of this "new approach to watershed development" -- as a state government brochure calls is -- is because Goa's age-old traditional sources of irrigation had got badly neglected, leading to areas depending on them going fallow and uncultivated, due to the water problems they face. (This, though, is not the only reason. There are other complex socio-economic factors involved, including the fact that agriculture cannot economically compete with the touristic economy, or the spurt in the local bureaucracy which now employs a considerable segment. In addition, hasty and politicised land-reforms and land-ownership questions could have contributed to the problem rather than to the solution.) "The aim is to create additional water storage in the villages," say officials. Ponds have been taken up in diverse parts of the state -- seven in the southernmost taluka of Canacona, 12 in northernmost Pernem taluka, eight each in coastal Bardez and Tiswadi, and five and four in Sattari and Bicholim respectively. Each pond currently taken up is below 500 square metres. Apart from de-silting, in some cases, stone-pitching is also done on the sides to avoid against cave-ins. Of course, the official style of doing things has its own limitations. For instance, the press release on this work focuses on a long list of officials present at the function to release cheques of just a few tens of thousands of rupees, to groups of farmers. There is also the possibility that funds could get diverted to build up political support, as often is the case in Goa, rather than work out an effective solution that's badly needed. Goa government says its new approach to 'watershed development' is based on "retaining the technical strength of older programmes and incorporating the lessons learned from successful projects, especially on community participation". "In Goa, only de-silting is done. In Maharashtra and Karnataka, the bottom is lined with silpaulin or plastic sheet to reduce percolation. Re-use of the clay (locally called 'chikol') to line the pond would achieve this in an eco-friendly way," argues former agri officer Braganza. Officials concede that Goa's soil, in areas, is very porous, leading to the percolation of water. There's a hint of changing priorities. The deputy director of agriculture who was once in charge of sugar-cane -- a crop sought to be brought into Goa some three decades ago, quite unsuccessfully -- is now re-designated to look after watersheds, a field critical to Goa but long ignored perhaps since it was seen as 'pre-modern'. But still, there is just a staff of four at the agri department's watershed section. (In all, the agriculture department has a staff of nearly a hundred.) In the past too, hype has sometimes been created over schemes which have had only a relatively small official outlay. So the real test would be how much of an impact such schemes make over the years. Last year, a pilot project was taken up for three ponds taken up in Savoi Verem with the involvement of an NGO -- actually, a farmers association called the Gomantak Shetkari Sanghatana -- and once seen as successful was extended on wa wider scale, officials say. Farmers from Sanguem and Canacona and National Social Service (NSS) volunteers from Verna, Mashem and Chaudi have thrown up some interesting examples of working out water solutions. In Canacona, remote South Goa, for instance, one user group comprising of farmers in Canacona has de-silted a pond with an expenditure of Rs. 65,000 as against an earlier estimated cost of Rs. 250,000. "Local technology has been used and some of the work was voluntary through 'shram dhan' (voluntary labour). People are more interested in preserving old water harvesting structures than we give them credit for," says Braganza. Experts assure that rainwater harvesting is a an easy affair. During the torrential monsoons that hit Goa from June to September, the wells re-charge the subsurface aquifers (called 'zoreh' in Konkani) that feed the wells after the rains are long gone. For long, well have been Goa's water-harvesting device. But Goa's attempts to build up a watershed society have so far come a cropper, and apart from high-profile meetings, the results are hardly there. Goa's high rainfall, its steep slopes -- particularly in the east and southern parts of the state -- with its tree cover make it an ideal place to trap its water. "If the rain was trapped in open water right tanks, it would stand ten feet tall by the end of the monsoons in Goa. We can use this natural asset without building RCC tanks", comments Alex Fernandes, an agriculture graduate working with the farmers and school students in South Goa. Can Goa tap two natural assets it has in great supply to bring about solutions on this front: rainwater and human resource? (ENDS) -- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Frederick Noronha (FN) | http://www.fredericknoronha.net Freelance Journalist | http://www.bytesforall.org http://goalinks.pitas.com | http://joingoanet.shorturl.com http://linuxinindia.pitas.com | http://www.livejournal.com/users/goalinks ------------------------------------------------------------------------- T: 0091.832.2409490 or 2409783 M: 0 9822 122436 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ########################################################################## # Send submissions for Goanet to [EMAIL PROTECTED] # # PLEASE remember to stay on-topic (related to Goa), and avoid top-posts # # More details on Goanet at http://joingoanet.shorturl.com/ # # Please keep your discussion/tone polite, to reflect respect to others # ##########################################################################
