(on March19, 22)
1. Shri Dilip Patel welcomed everyone to the 10th webinar of the Alliance of Change Makers and requested the participants to share information about the platform among their government circles so that the platform can expand and an inspirational atmosphere can be created for officers, especially the young ones in the All-India Services.
2. Shri Mahesh Kapoor welcomed everyone on behalf of ICCfG and the Alliance of Change Makers, especially the members from the Department of Administrative Reforms, GoI and the NCGG. He gave a brief introduction of ICCfG which now is almost two decades old, and mentioned its several activities like acting as a think tank, advocacy group, holding seminars, lecture series, workshops, bringing out The Journal of Governance and the flagship training programs in ‘Ethics in Public Service’, with members from different walks of life like the academia, media, corporate sector and of course, bureaucrats. He explained how in the sharing and learning in the training programs, it was discovered that a number of officers were doing good work, but there was no platform to bring them together.
It was with this intention that the Alliance of Change Makers was created where civil servants who were going beyond their call of duty and doing exemplary work, could share their stories with a larger group. The Alliance has been hosting young officers from across the length and breadth of India who have done exemplary work, to share their experiences with others and inspire. The ‘Power of One’ is great, and such officers have demonstrated it through their strong will and desire to serve the people. Today, we would be hearing the story of another such officer, Shri Dharam Singh Meena from the Indian Forest Service, in his own words.
Shri Dilip Patel requested Ms. Jyotsna Sitling, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Van Panchayat, Uttarakhand to introduce the keynote speaker of the webinar. With more than 30 years of service in the Forest Service, Ms. Sitling was the best person to introduce Shri Dharam Singh Meena. She herself has been a very active officer and has in the recent past been working diligently to build a sustainable ecosystem for social enterprises.
3. Ms. Sitling said that it was her pleasure to introduce Shri Dharam Singh Meena to the audience. He joined the Indian Forest service in 2009 in the Uttarakhand cadre and belongs to Rajasthan. Presently, he is Additional Secretary, Environment and Forests, Government of Uttarakhand. During his 12 years of service, he has worked in various capacities. He was responsible for the IT cell modernization for forest fire management. Under him, there was a collaboration with NASA, and the Uttarakhand Van portal for forest fire management was created. He has led several afforestation drives and has been instrumental in generating local livelihoods and consequently, revenue generation. He has written academic papers on themes like forest fire management, birds in Nainital region, and more. He has also come out with a handbook on soil and spring conservation.
He has written several scientific research articles on forest management related issues. His way of working is very inspirational to others. He has received accolades, awards and commendation for his work, like the award for excellence in civil services in Uttarakhand in 2020, and others. The Better India has ranked him in the top 10 bureaucrats of India in 2021. His work on river rejuvenation is what he is going to share with the audience today.
4. A) Shri Dharam Singh Meena thanked the organizers for having him and said that the Alliance was a great platform; he was feeling privileged to be invited on it. He said that just like Barack Obama, he, too, believed that change will not come if we keep waiting for some other person and some other time; we have to create the change. The government created the All-India Services and invests in training the officers and giving them exposure – it is, in turn, the responsibility of the officers to understand the local problems and work dedicatedly for the people.
He recalled how he was visiting the Tehri Division in 2018 and encountered ‘ghost villages’ and heard the term for the first time. Uttarakhand faces the issue of large-scale migrations of people from the hills due to lack of local livelihood opportunities and the lack of water. Tehri-Garhwal is a water-deficit district.
A river rejuvenation project has to be comprehensive and inclusive. He organized a meeting involving the various stakeholders, including several NGOs, IIT Roorkee, concerned Central institutes, many government officials, local politicians, etc. Thorough discussions revealed that the river Heval could be revived only with a scientific approach. Water was central to the hill village economy and ecology; Uttarakhand had around 750 ghost villages, with migrations of more than 5 lakh people.
There are two types of rivers in Uttarakhand – those that emerge from glaciers (Ganga and Yamuna) and others in the forest areas that are rain-fed. The latter are the main source of water in the hills and the local population is heavily dependent on them for their drinking water and water for other requirements of daily life.
The forest rivers get their water mainly from springs. There is hardly any literature available on these issues. Along with IIT Roorkee and others, the entire area of about 50 hectares was surveyed for a year. More than 60 springs and several river beds were identified. Efforts were geared towards water conservation, and related departments like Agriculture, Horticulture, Rural Development etc. were also involved. MGNREGA was also linked to it.
Water Samitis were created comprising of local villagers, with local Pradhan as the head; they had to identify the springs and make a plan. Geohydrological studies were undertaken to identify the aquifers and more. Based on the data collected, the kind of interventions needed in the area was decided. All the interventions were near-natural, as the attempt was to not disturb the ecology. The idea was the intervention should last for 3-4 years and then the natural vegetation should replace it.
Data holds a lot of importance in the sustenance of rivers, especially with the challenges of climate change that we are facing. River rejuvenation is a herculean task and a collective approach is needed.
The project covered a stretch of 50 kms divided in two phases. They had to face many problems like issues of encroachment, technical issues (for example, the staff was not trained adequately), political issues, etc. Initially, the people demonstrated against the project but gradually came around and ended up being the real executors. There was hardly any literature available before 2017, and the team was apprehensive and evolved the SoP for river rejuvenation based on international papers. Tasks were allotted to various departments and the activities were converged. Employment was also generated through the project for river rejuvenation, which helped in checking the large-scale migrations. Nature-based employment opportunities were provided. Women SHGs were created, as also a dairy.
Waterfalls created ‘selfie points’ and nature-based local guides earned money through these tourist points, in collaboration with the local hoteliers. Afforestation activities were undertaken. Small check-dams were created on the river bed and water was lifted to the villages through solar pumps and tullu pumps. Water tanks for irrigation were created in the unirrigated areas.
Out of 66 springs, 34 have been revived so far through these efforts. 10 lakh seedlings have been planted and the use of funds in the whole project has been very judicious. Now it is being considered as a model that can be replicated in other areas. The government has created the consortium of springshed management of Uttarakhand. Earlier, IIT Roorkee had trained their team, but now they are training them as IIT has only knowledge based on desk-work, whereas their team has acquired practical knowledge of field work. They are also providing training to IIFM Bhopal, with the intention of replication of the model in other states. They have given a policy document to the Niti Aayog and the latter has come out with the springshed SoP.
Heval river used to dry completely during the summers but now it has water all through the year. Since 2018 they have been working for the rejuvenation of the river, generating employment opportunities for local youth and protecting the biodiversity of the area. People now have faith in the government machinery. Overexploitation of water has also been checked by the district administration.
B. Some teammates of Shri Meena as also some of the villagers who had benefitted from the rejuvenation of the river, spoke about their experience. They narrated how they had benefitted from the availability of water and were able to grow crops like tomatoes, ginger, dhaan, etc. Since people are now able to earn through such farming, they are returning to the earlier deserted villages. This was all due to the efforts of the Forest Department under Shri Meena. They are now also able to maintain livestock as they have water. They do not have to bring water from kilometers away and it is available at a much closer distance. The sources of water that feed the Heval river have been recharged. Awareness on water conservation has been generated among the villagers. They thanked Shri Meena for changing their lives for the better. A Forest Department junior staff said that he had learnt how to conserve water and several techniques of recharging water sources.
Shri Meena said that his team has now learnt the techniques of river rejuvenation. They have also trained and sensitized the local villagers. Data collection through geohydrological studies is itself a big task involving a lot of labour and monthly data is needed. For this reason, and the long-term sustenance of the project, it is important to train local villagers and have their cooperation and participation. He said that he felt happy and satisfied that he and his team could change the lives of the villagers and that the quality of their lives has improved by leaps and bounds.
Shri Meena had a presentation on the project but was unable to play it due to technical difficulties. He said that he would be sharing the presentation on WhatsApp which could then be shared with the ICCfG core group members.
5. Several members of the audience complimented him profusely on the good work done by him.
A. Shri Ambasht gave the example of the Turra block in Mirzapur Division where in the mid-1970s check dams were created and water was lifted 15 feet by small tullu pumps. The initiative was taken by the Banvasi Sewa Ashram. So, such small initiatives have been happening in pockets through the years.
Shri Meena said that yes, many initiatives have been happening but what we need are comprehensive projects. One needs to look at the biodiversity component, pollution, and more. Namami Gange is a wonderful project and quite comprehensive but even then, it does not include springs. What the hills need is a focus on the rejuvenation of springs. The initiative to rejuvenate 66 springs in Uttarakhand is the first of its kind. The maintenance work on the project is being done by the Heval Dhara Committee.
A handbook on water conservation has been prepared which includes all the various aspects. A book on spring rejuvenation is also in the making.
B. Shri Amarjit Singh said that– the areas where Shri Meena is working, the upper reaches of Uttarakhand, are very important especially because they are bordering China. Water, and consequently employment, are very important there. This model should be replicated on a large scale.
– it is very saddening that 65% of our irrigation is from underground water sources but the government does not have a cadre of geohydrologists. We only have surface water engineers, even in states like Punjab and Haryana. We need a large number of geohydrologists.
– We have a clear map of the areas where the water table is on the maximum decline. MGNREGA should be linked to that.
– The areas of Amarkantak where the Narmada originates and 100 kms above Amarkantak where the Mahanadi originates, need special care and attention.
C. Dr. Reena Ramachandran said that Shri Meena has touched the most critical component of governance, which is the importance of water conservation and use. This affects the economic activities in the country. Water resource management in India is different in different parts of the country, with areas of overuse and misuse of water. Shri Meena’s efforts are a great lesson in leadership, innovation, scientific component, and the involvement of the people in government efforts to achieve desired objectives. Replication of such models is our weak point and hardly happens. This requires leadership and sometimes such replication also has to be forced as our future is at stake here.
D. Ms. Jyotsna Sitling thanked Shri Meena for his excellent, innovative work that touches the hearts of people. She also thanked his staff members. She spoke to the villagers present along with Shri Meena in the webinar and said that she has also worked with them in the past, and urged them to conserve water through community participation. She said that water was their own dharohar and they must preserve it. They should keep a check on how they use it, including for their livestock. Future SoPs must take a commitment from the villagers for this purpose.
Shri Meena said that they already have a kind of agreement with the villagers for the same. The Heval Dhara Samiti also engages in such maintenance work. However, more work is needed for the long-term sustainability of the idea as river rejuvenation is a big thing and continuous effort is needed.
6. Shri Kothari praised the work done by Shri Meena and asked the audience to clap for him and his team even though the event was being conducted virtually. He was able to rejuvenate a river with the participation of the people. Now the biggest focus should be on how this can be widely replicated. Each batch of the National Forest Academy should be introduced to this model in their induction course and later in their mid-service training.
The Secretary Forests should take this up, and also introduce it in the several state forest academies. The message could be passed to a larger audience through a video capsule and also on YouTube. The academies of the All-India Services and State Civil services should also include this example in their training with the purpose of large-scale replication.
Shri Kothari said that Ms. Sitling should also make efforts to spread the message to all people and related departments working on the subject, like Secretary Environment and Forests, Secretary Drinking Water, Secretary Rural Development, etc. She could also help in sensitizing forest officers in the forest academies at the national and state levels. The training institutes at the local level should be targeted, so that even the junior staff like the forest ranger is aware of water conservation and river rejuvenation techniques.
Shri Meena said that he has taken note of all the suggestions that have been made and he will work on them.
7. Shri Dilip Patel thanked each and every participant in the webinar for joining. He said that the Alliance of Change Makers had begun about 18 months ago and we are now getting more and more confident that the platform is proving useful in providing inspiration to government servants by sharing the stories of exemplars, getting us closer to the vision of a Naitik Bharat. The next webinar will be organized in another 4 to 6 weeks and we will continue to share the experiences of young officers with lots of potential.
He thanked Shri Dharam Singh Meena and wished him a very successful career growth and service to the people. He thanked all the participants who raised questions and made comments as it made the webinar more meaningful.
