India has a great tradition of organising foot marches, including some which become historically very important, the most obvious example being the Dandi Salt March under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi, an iconic chapter within the freedom movement of India.
In post-independence times, various social and environmental movements have made good and effective use of the foot-march. The Chipko movement in Himalayan region was particularly good at this. The famous Kashmir-Kohima foot march initiated by Sunderlal Bahuguna was very useful for knowing more about ecological ruin being caused even in very interior and remote areas as well as for understanding the problems of people of remote villages. The Askot-Arakot march of young activists was also a very memorable and useful experience. Some Chipko activists like Vijay Jardhari and Kunwar Prasun later became equally involved in the movement for saving and conserving diversity of traditional seeds called Beej Bachao Andolan. This was also known for several very useful foot marches leading to collecting not just a lot of information about diversity of traditional sees but also collecting and exchanging these seeds so that their growth on farms could continue or restart.
More recently, foot marches organized by Vaagdhara voluntary organisation in Rajasthan to spread the message of Gram Swaraj have made a good contribution.
However not all foot marches have been equally useful or effective. A review of several foot marches reveals that those foot marches are able to make durable contributions in which the outcomes regarding important desired results are clearly planned, and then activities relating to the achievement of these objectives regularly take place during the course of the march. On the other hand, if there is a lot of walking and just random inter-actions without any careful planning regarding desirable results, then durable benefits are unlikely to be realized.
A recent water conservation march in Bundelkhand region of central India provides a good example of a march that is carefully planned to realise desirable objectives and these objectives have in fact been realized at a relatively early stage when some of the planned follow-up work is still continuing.
This was a march of jal-sahelis or women water volunteers, mobilised by a voluntary organisation Parmarth, who have been playing a widely appreciated role in the region to improve water conservation and drinking water supply. This march was interwoven with a number of dialogues with on route villagers on water and related issues. A lot of attention was given to gathering relevant information on water-related problems.
As a result of such efforts, it has been possible to collect detailed information on water tanks in this region, what kind of problems are faced by them and what sort of remedial actions are needed. The review of these issues published recently provides a lot of useful information regarding which tanks have a seepage problem and which ones have excessive silting, which tanks need deepening and which tanks need cleaning, which tanks are being encroached upon or have already been encroached upon to a substantial extent. This kind of detailed information which could be collected during the march will be very useful when remedial actions are planned.
Parmarth and Jal Sahelis have also been involved in efforts to improve the Jal Jeevan mission. In the course of the recent march, problems could be identified regarding this too. It is now known which habitations are still not receiving water and these are generally located in the upper portions of villages. Similarly the villages or hamlets which are facing problems in terms of the quality of the supplied water not being satisfactory have also been identified and this information too will be very useful for remedial actions.
One of the aims of the march was to tell more villagers of the inspirational work of many jal sahelis so that the people of more villages feel motivated to take up similar work. This expectation of this march too has been more than fulfilled as after listening to the stories told by jal sahelis many women of villages on the route of the march felt highly motivated to do similar work and nearly 400 women have enlisted themselves as future jal sahelis. Similarly contacts with other people were established who are keen to take up water conservation and related work including protection of tanks and rivers. All this will be very helpful for future water conservation and protection work.
In terms of increasing solidarity and empowerment of jal sahelis also the march of the jal sahelis has been a very important experience. Jal sahelis from several different villages could come together for several days, stay together, share their experiences, make future plans, and come in daily contact with a very large number of people. This has certainly added greatly to their empowerment, confidence and capability, and they are better prepared to take up bigger responsibilities.
The march has also enabled activists and jal sahelis to closely observe several situations closely and to listen to villagers regarding what can be done to about this and what kind of difficulties they face while trying to resolve these problems. This has enabled Parmarth and jal sahelis to come up with more specific and detailed recommendations which are more likely to work in real life situations. Several of these recommendations are addressed to governments, departments and water authorities.
At the practical level it is very important for such efforts that people feel that their problems are being reduced and actions to correct existing problems are being taken at the level of the government level and at other levels. Most problems ultimately need government actions for effective solutions to emerge. In this context also the march has been helpful as this has given the jal sahelis a wider and more effective presence and they can approach the authorities for resolving various problems with greater confidence.
Some of the expected good results have already started emerging within a short period of the march and it is hoped that a lot of more follow-up work can be taken up. Certainly a more hope-giving situation has emerged soon after the march.
(The author is Honorary Convener, Campaign to Save Earth Now. His recent books include Protecting Earth for Children, Earth without Borders, When the Two Streams Met and A Day in 2071.)