Home | Impact of Change | Faces of Change

Faces of Change

Gujarati Women Organize in Search of Water, India

In Moti Morsal village in Gujarat, India, the 146 families of the Talapda Koli tribe are the poorest in the region. This village is settled on the bank of the seasonally rain-fed Bhogavo River, which hardly fulfills needs during the monsoon season. The monsoon rains are the only source of water during monsoon season. However, in the summer and with onset of winter, the river dries up and the villagers have no other source to get clean water.
It is women's responsibility to collect water. They wait in an endless queue, taking hours to get their turn at filling pots from the riverbed. The village women would dig virdas (holes) in the dry riverbed to collect water, but in summer these virdas become dry. Women of Moti Morsal village travel more than four miles to get water from government tanks. Frequently, they have to wait more than six hours in a queue to get their turn.

The people of Moti Morsal have benefited from AKRSP's help. 62% of the households have installed the rainwater harvesting systems. This appropriate technology has reduced women's workload and also conserved vital rainwater in a very unforgiving climatic region.

Given these challenging conditions, the village women approached the Aga Khan Rural Support Programme (India) to deal with this water scarcity issue. In the adjoining village of Maghrikhada, the Aga Khan Rural Support Programme (AKRSP) assisted villagers in constructing roof rainwater harvesting structures. This technology is very simple. During rainy season, rain falling on the roof of the houses is trapped through a pipeline that goes underground to above ground tanks, where the water is treated and made available for drinking as well as domestic purposes. This water is stored and used during the dry season. The women of Moti Morsal wanted the same technology that AKRSP introduced in Maghrikhada village.

AKRSP(I) asked the village women to form a village level committee and to partner with AKRSP. Initially, the village men formed a village level committee and discouraged women from participating. But the Moti Morsal women were not deterred and created an informal group consisting of 15 members. Membership increased to 30 in a few months. Shortly thereafter, this informal group was given the formal status of an association (called Mahila Vikas Mandal), and under this association a sub-committee was formed called Pani Samiti (water committee) to deal with the water issues of the village. These members were introduced to the AKRSP's work and local masons from the village were trained in constructing roof water harvesting structures.

The people of Moti Morsal have benefited from AKRSP's help. 62% of the households have installed the rainwater harvesting systems. This appropriate technology has reduced women's workload and also conserved vital rainwater in a very unforgiving climatic region.