Remembering Anand Kapoor

He had been working to empower tribal communities displaced by Dimbhe dam in Maharashtra, along with his wife, Kusum Karnik, for the past 34 years. In 1996, they registered a voluntary organisation called Shashwat, which has helped tribal communities develop sustainable fishing in the Dimbhe reservoir. Through lobbying and partnership with the local government, dam displaced farmers now access light- weight pumps and pipelines for crop irrigation; on steep slopes high above the dam and tribal farmers have been supported to cultivate small paddy terraces. The organisation runs schools and also supports local farmers with land tenure securitisation (official ownership documents). Grain harvests have improved substantially, ensuring food security. Seasonal migration to nearby cities, from 14 villages, has stopped. In recognition of Shashwat’s accomplishments, it was awarded the 2012 UNDP Equator Prize for Freshwater Resource Management chosen from among 812 nominations in 113 countries.

Anand had coordinated R&R works of about 20 organisations following the 1997 Jabalpur Earthquake in and participated in long-term recovery following the 2001 Kutch earthquake. Kapoor had an engineering degree from Indian Institute of Technology (Kharagpur) and had been visiting faculty to the Centre for Technological Alternatives for Rural areas (CTARA) of Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay.

Anand Kapoor’s passing away is certainly an irreparable loss, but Aid For Change endeavours to take his vision forward through its programmes and make it a reality.

A Witness of Change

He reveals that a decade ago this village had no road and every monsoon when the river would flood its banks he had to wade his way to a shanty that had turned into a puddle. “It was risky crossing the river on foot when it was flooded. We paid 2 rupees to specialists from the katkari tribe who would help women and children wade through the rising river water and a lot many lives were lost,” he reminisces.

Today with the intervention taken by Sakav in partnership with Aid for change the village showcases a better picture with a broad main road. An over-bridge made from allotted civic funds awaits official inauguration and has made ‘Boricha Mal’ more accessible and reduced the risk tribals took every year for crossing the river on foot during the monsoon.

On his 2 and half acre land that runs close to the river, Tulya Dore grows paddy and has over the recent years also added broad beans (vaal) to his inventory. A well sanctioned under MGREGA makes it possible for him to grow vegetables like eggplant (brinjal), snake gourd (padval) and broad beans all through the year and he does not have to wait for the paddy seasons.

With the proximity of his land to the river and a rich water table he wants to trench a portion of the land and use it for breeding the local katla and rohu fish that fetch up to hundred rupees a kilo at the market. “Digging ten feet we reach water in this village so breeding river fish is possible,” he says and looks forward to implementing this fishery project next year. Giving his nod of approval to this idea is one of his five children Tukaram who works as a wireman in one of the suburban cities of Mumbai and comes home for weekends and holidays.