Springs of Life is a book about water in all its complexities. It is an exhaustive account of water in India, and documents the natural beauty of the water bodies, the ways in which communities live and interact with water, particularly in hostile ecosystems, the resilience of people living in water stressed regions and their common sense solutions to local water problems. Springs of Life is a rare combination of an academic book with a coffee table presentation, for the first time integrating academic rigor with field reality and pictures from the ground (over 600 colored photographs!). Without binding itself to any one discipline of irrigation or water supply, the book looks at the entire spectrum of water in the country. The research is substantiated by evidence and stories from the field, with pictures taken by traveling more than 25,000 kilometers by road across the length and breadth of the country. Springs of Life is about India, but this is where about one-sixth of the world’s population lives, making it a vast resource of experiences in dealing with issues related to water. India is blessed with nearly all types of agro-climatic zones — from the cold desert to the hot desert, from mountains that rise to eight thousand meters, to a coastline of more than seven thousand kilometers. India also has the place with the highest rainfall in the world and the largest riverine island. India in a way is a microcosm of the world in terms of the diversity of natural resources and ecosystems. A readable account of the past, present and future of India’s water resources, the book will be useful to anyone, not just in India, but in any part of the world, working to address water related issues. There is certainly a lot to be learnt from the trials and tribulations of how India has dealt with, and continues to deal with, its water resources.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Binayak Das
Binayak Das is a Post Graduate in Environment Management from the Indian Institute of Social Welfare and Business Management, Kolkata. Before joining the World Water Institute as Senior Researcher, Binayak was working with the Natural Resource Management Unit of the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) in New Delhi. He has been reporting for the institute's environment fortnightly, Down To Earth. He was writing mostly about water and water related issues in particular and environmental issues in general for about 3 years. He has about 30 articles on water to his credit. Binayak also was responsible for carrying out the research work during the production of the book, Making Water Everybody's Business. Apart from reporting for Down to Earth, Binayak as a member of the Natural Resources Management team campaigned for Rainwater Harvesting. He participated in various promotional campaigns and workshops on rainwater harvesting. He also managed ' Pani Yatras', a water pilgrimage organized by CSE. Binayak is a Panos journalist fellow, a UK based development and media organization. He has reported on various environmental and development issues for its publication, Environmental Justice. He has also collected oral testimonies from people across India for the Panos project on Oral Testimonies. Binayak has also carried out Environment Impact Assessment (EIA), Environmental Monitoring (EM) and Environment Auditing (EA) for various industrial units like Oswal Chemical and Fertilisers, White and Mackay distilleries and Eveready Flashlight. These activites were carried out with Envirotech Centre for Research and Development, New Delhi where Binayak was working as a Junior Scientist. Apart from making field visits, he also conducted laboratory tests of collected samples of water, air and soil. Binayak worked with the market research team of the Indo-US venture, Thermax Cullighan, Kolkata. He was researching on industrial demand for water treatment equipment like filters, and softeners. For Thermax Enviro, he carried out a study on the requirement and demand of pollution control equipment in sugar industries. Binayak has carried out research work on Potential of Bamboo for Sewage Treatment for International Network for Bamboo and Rattan (INBAR). Binayak also possesses a Post Graduate qualification on Computer Application and Data Processing. He has working knowledge of Macintosh and Linux operating systems. He can work with design softwares like Quark Express, Adobe Photoshop, Aldus Pagemaker and Free Hand. Binayak also has clicked many photographs, of which many have been used in CSE and WWI publications. He has also traveled widely across the country both in rural and urban areas and has a broad understanding on water related issues in India.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Ganesh Pangare
Ganesh Pangare is a water resources expert currently with World Water Institute, Pune, India, as its Technical Director. His main area of work during the past fifteen years has been in people-centered water interventions, such as indigenous water harvesting systems, micro-watershed management, participatory irrigation management, urban water bodies, and wastewater management. Currently his main thrust of work is in the area of pro-poor water sector reforms and policy at local, national, regional and global levels for livelihood and food security, with a focus on primary stakeholder participation. Ganesh was a member of the High Level Working Group on Watershed Development, Rainfed Farming and Natural Resource Management of the Planning Commission, Government of India, for the 10th Five Year Plan (2003-2007). He is also a member of the National Civil Society Committee on Interlinking of Rivers in India. Ganesh is an Ashoka Fellow, of the Ashoka Innovators for the Public Program based in Washington, USA. He is also a Fellow of the London-based Leadership for Environment and Development (LEAD) International Program. He is an Advisor to the Water Portfolio of the Acumen Fund, New-York, USA. In the course of his career, Ganesh has been the Director of two premier organizations working in the area of Natural Resource Management in India; India's Natural Resource Economics and Management Foundation, and Indian Network on Participatory Irrigation Management. He has worked with Center for Science and Environment, New Delhi, and taught at the Institute of Rural Management, Anand, Gujarat, India. Ganesh's publications include Users in Water Management, co-authored with Rakesh Hooja, and K.V. Raju; Watershed Development Projects in India: An Evaluation Research Report 127,of International Food Policy Research Institute, co-authored with John Kerr, and Vasudha Lokur Pangare, From Poverty to Plenty: The story of Ralegan Siddhi, and The Good Society: The Pani- Panchayat Model of Sustainable Water Management. He has also published several monographs and working papers related to watershed development, participatory irrigation management and traditional water harvesting systems. Ganesh has done consulting work for the World Bank, International Food Policy Research Institute, Asian Development Bank, Ford Foundation, United Nations Research Institute for Social Development, Danida, GTZ, India-Canada Environment Facility, WWF, Government of India, and many other national and bilateral organizations. Ganesh was a panelist for the session on "Water for Food and Rural Development" at the Second World Water Forum, Hague, 2000. He was an invitee at the Stockholm Water Symposium 2001; International Conference on Freshwater, Bonn 2001; and World Summit on Sustainable Development, Johannesburg, 2002. He convened a workshop on Farmer Networks for Integrated Water Resources Management at the Third World Water Forum, Japan, 2003. Ganesh has traveled extensively, to different parts of the world to study various water and development interventions, including watershed projects in China, indigenous communities in North Canada, agricultural communes in CIS countries, sanitation projects in South Africa, dryland farming in Ethiopia, Farmer Federations in Nepal. Ganesh is an excellent photographer and has won a couple of awards. He is also a wildlife enthusiast, and spends all his spare time in nature related activities.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Vasudha Pangare
Vasudha Pangare has more than twenty years of experience in rural development and natural resource management. Her professional expertise is in assessment of community action and peoples participation in rural development interventions; gender and equity issues in water management; rural livelihoods and natural resource management; social and institutional issues and community action for watershed development and management; and assessment of social impact of water related interventions. Vasudha was a member of the Steering Committee of the Gender and Water Alliance, an Associated Program of the Global Water Partnership, for the period 2000 - 2003. Vasudha was a panelist representing the women's caucus at the 6th UN Plenary Summit Session on Water and Sanitation, 28th August 2002, WSSD, Johannesburg. Vasudha is a Board member of World Water Institute, Pune, and heads Oikos, a multi-disciplinary consulting firm in the field of rural development and natural resource management. She has undertaken consulting assignments for Royal Netherlands Embassy, International Water Management Institute, Winrock International India, International Fund for Agriculture Development, Asian Development Bank, DFID, India Canada Environment Facility, United Nations Research Institute for Social Development, SIDA, and OXFAM. Vasudha has served as a member of the National Standing Committee on Watershed Development and Water Resource Management, Council for Advancement of People's Action and Rural Technology (CAPART), of the Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India. Vasudha has coordinated and facilitated several national level workshops and participated in many international workshops, where she has made specific interventions to mainstream gender and equity issues in water management, such as the Second World Water Forum, Stockholm Water Symposium 2000, the International Conference on Freshwater, Bonn 2001 and the Third World Water Forum in Kyoto, Japan, GWP Consulting Partners Meeting in Stockholm 2000 and Accra, Ghana, 2002, GWP China Stakeholders Meet, 2001. Vasudha is the editor of Water Perspectives, an international water journal published by World Water Institute. She has authored several publications and contributed articles and papers to books and journals. She coordinated the research and production of the unique manual on Social and Institutional Issues in Watershed Management in India, published by Oikos and IIRR, Phillipines. With Ganesh she has co-authored From Poverty to Plenty: The story of Ralegan Siddhi; The Good Society: The Pani PanchayatModel of Sustainable Water Management; both books published by INTACH, New Delhi. Watershed Development Projects in India: An Evaluation, Research Report 127, of International Food Policy Research Institute, Washington, USA, co-authored with John Kerr and Ganesh Pangare. Vasudha has travelled extensively both in India and abroad to study various water and development related interventions.
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