ALWAR, June 11: In the harsh, arid slopes of the Aravalli hills of Rajasthan a minor conservation miracle has occurred.

Aravari river, which had been completely dry for years altogether, has come back to life, thanks to the concerted efforts of the villagers and a local voluntary group, the Tarun Bharat Sangh (TBS).

Nathu Ram, an old man of Hamirpur village, where a 50-feet wide and 11-feet high dam has been constructed, said in his six decades of life in the village he had only seen wells drying up and cattle dying. ``Earlier we had to take the cattle out for water and grazing, but now we have plenty of water all the year round and productivity of the land is increased by three to four times.''

``Frankly we had no idea that we would revive such a big river when we began work in the villages of the region,'' admitted Rajendra Singh of the TBS.``All we wanted to do was to work on reviving traditional water bodies of the villages called `johads', as there was a tremendous demand for water in this dry region, as well protect the trees, forests and wildlife of the region,'' he added.

The TBS started work in this region over a decade ago. Their strategy was quite clear: Villagers had to be stake holders in whatever activity was undertaken to ensure its survival and long-term sustainability.

Residents of Hamirpur paid nearly one fourth of the cost of the dam, besides contributing manpower. The villagers have also built and repaired nearly 1,500 water structures in this region, with nearly 200 being in the catchment of Arvari alone.

The villagers were also taught about the need to revive and protect forests of the region. According to TBS sources, ``We explained that if there would be no forests, the rain, when it falls, would wash away the top soil from their farms and damage the water bodies that the villagers were building. Trees would also help in trapping the rain water which would percolate into the ground and recharge their wells and, later revive the river.''

The villagers readily agreed and evolved rules not only to protect lands and trees, but also the barren lands classified as `forests'.

All this has qualitatively changed the life of the villagers. Bardi Devi of Hamirpur says that earlier she had to walk for over 2 kms just to fetch water, but now there is water in river and in the wells. Children splash about in the river, women wash clothes, men have leisurely baths and even the animals have a ghat to bath and drink.

Things have improved to such an extent that people who had earlier migrated to the slums in Delhi and Ahmedabad are returning, according to Kunj Bihari Sharma of the adjacent village. ``The river has come alive with fish that are two feet in length and weigh up to 10 kg,'' he added.

The fish are protected and those found fishing are fined. Recently, the Government awarded a contract to a Jaipur businessman to fish in the river. But the villagers drove him away.

One of the villagers said the Fisheries Officer of the district threatened to poison the river if the contractor was not allowed to fish. ``We had all night vigils at the dam until we were convinced that nothing would happen to the fish,'' he said.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.