Background

Development Alternatives has been executing major field operations in Bundelkhand region for nearly a decade now.  The region is characterized by vast tracts of wasteland which at one time had extensive forests; acute scarcity of water for irrigation and drinking; and rampant rural poverty.  Under the aegis of the National Wasteland Development Board, Development Alternatives has been able to regenerate hundreds of hectares of wasteland resulting in huge quantity of bio-mass and other non-timber products available to the neighboring communities.

The water scenario has undergone progressive changes for the better under the Watershed Development & Management Projects where Development Alternatives has been a major player.  Development Alternatives has constructed nearly 90 check dams that now provide perennial water for irrigation and for drinking for a number of villages in Bundelkhand.

The development of Bundelkhand region becomes meaningful only when a substantial dent is made into rural poverty through creation of sustainable livelihoods for the rural population.

During its decade – long presence in Bundelkhand enrolling participation of the local population, taking stock of natural resources including what are generally considered to be weeds and wastes, Development Alternatives created a vision for itself of designing a model of production systems that would ensure sustainable livelihoods for hundreds of people in their own environment and without disturbing the ecological balance.  This model was to fulfill the criteria of economic viability, equitable income generation, efficient resource management and ecological harmony.

Development Alternatives came to realize that there was a great need for capacity building in various skills of the local people which would help them to become active players in the production systems that were to be based on available local bio-mass and waste materials.  This vision of Development Alternatives has taken concrete shape at TARAGRAM.

Vision to Mission

What exactly is the vision of Development Alternatives?  Is it static and rigid?  Or, the socio-economic dynamics of alternatives in development strategies get reflected in it through a process of intellectual dialogues, reviews and new opportunities and situation?  The answer to the last question happily is in the affirmative.  The vision of the organization today may be expressed as “sustainable development through sustainable communities which have access to sustainable livelihoods.”    The challenge is to create the opportunities for livelihoods through enterprises that draw very little non-renewable resources from the environment.  Human ingenuity has often come up with magical solutions in times of crisis.  Three words “Waste to Wealth” conjure up such magic.

Mission to Action

A vision takes shape when people work with missionary zeal, but to do so they must know what the ‘missions’ are.  These need not be defined with military precision, but should be visible upfront as realizable goals within the overall conceptual framework.  For TARAGram, the mission statement looked like this:

q	To create enterprises that converted wastes to wealth
q	To adopt alternative technologies (where appropriate) to ensure efficiency, economic viability & environmental sustainability.
q	To incorporate innovations.
q	To empower rural population, particularly women by capacity building and employment through their participation form the incipient stage.
q	To create a ‘showcase’ training institution for all Development Alternatives’ technologies and appended capacity-building programmes for acquisition and upgradation of various job skills and knowledge.

Planning for Action

Needless to say, nobody saw the ‘vision’  in a flash!  Rigorous intellectual discussions, brainstorming and a hypercritical analysis went on over a period of time, seeking and getting participation of all Development Alternatives members, to create this vision.  Defining the missions did not take long.  But, how are the missions to be executed?  Where is the money, and the land?  Where will we get the power ?  Will there be enough water?  What is time frame?  What are the specifications for machines and equipment?  Who will supply or make the drawings?  Who will manufacture them?  Who are the “missionaries” to form the “core group”?  Where are the workers going to come from?  Who will be the beneficiaries of the newly created opportunities and on what criteria are they to be selected? 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Where there is a will, there is a way.  Development Alternatives has proved it time and again in its struggle for survival and achieving its goals over the decade.  A challenge always spurs the Development Alternatives people to rack their brains, put their noses to the grind wheel, and come up with solutions.  They just do it!

Donors were identified, projects prepared, presented, appraised and hallelujah – funds came through!  The Madhya Pradesh government has always been Development Alternatives & land was made available in Baberi forest with an adjoining nala that joins the Betwa river.  The site provides easy access – 12 KMs away from Jhansi off a metalled road that leads to Orchha, a heritage town famous for its palace & temples.  But provision of power was a problem – it would take time – the process of transfer of ownership of land and mutation had to be completed before power could be provided.  That did not deter us from moving into action – we are the protagonists of  “decentralised power production systems” as a pathway for enterprise development in the rural sector.  Without access to electric energy, the development efforts are stymied and severely handicapped. The Development Alternatives solution was to generate captive power through an online “Gasifier” of 100 KVA that would use Ipomea – an unwanted “pernicious weed” as its feed stock – nearly 500 tons available locally annually.  The requirement of the Gasifier is about a ton a day for ten-hour operation.  The ‘Waste to Wealth' programme has just taken off.

The planning for the construction stage could be taken up after working out the detailed programming.  The core group led by Dr. Arun Kumar (Material Scientist), Geeta Vaidyanathan (Architect), Prema Gera (Social Scientist) got on with the job and the broad plan emerged for action on the ground at Orchha.  Geeta was to be the Project coordinator for construction with two engineers Rajiv Gupta and Sanjeev Sen to assist her.  The team had the tremendous benefit of the begin administrative umbrella of AVM S. Sahni – by now a father figure in Bundelkhand in wasteland regeneration & watershed development.  A check dam on Baberi Nala was to come up inevitably to provide all the water that TARAGram (the facility at Baberi jungle got christened before the ground was broken!)  Would need. Prema got on to the job of identifying the micro-enterprises such as “leaf cup” and rope making and the prospective entrepreneurs.  She, along with Neeta Goel & Om Kumari who belong to Jhansi, identified and mobilised the prospective workforce for construction and he paper unit that was to produce nearly 200 tons of paper annually when the facilities were in place.  The team laid down the criteria for selection of women – their economic and marital status, dependents, level of education – in short, the degree of need for a job and motivation.

Planning with Nature

The site offered a great many advantages.  There was enough clear space for buildings to come up which meant no felling of trees.  The terrain has natural gradient allowing rain water to run off to the ‘nala’.   There is a huge outcrop of rocks and boulders.  Access from the road in easy.  All the buildings could be designed in harmony with the landscape – and the local forms, particularly stone arches, incorporated at many places.

Design Considerations

Taragram is a ‘showcase’ institution all construction materials have to be resource, economy and energy efficient.  Stones, nature’s gift to Bundelkhand are an automatic choice.  Stone dust, and chips considered to be a ‘waste product’ of crushers, is available free and is an input for micro-concrete tile manufacturing.   Mixed with cement and coarse sand, stone crete’ blocks provide excellent walling material.  And, soil other than topsoil, would go into production of compressed earth blocks.  Geeta set up her building material production centre at the outset.  Time – July, 1995.  Kailash, the master mason from Development Alternatives, Delhi was the kingpin around whom the production machinery moved.  Geeta’s penchant for ‘human development’ found expression in setting up a ‘balwadi’ for the kids of the workers, compulsory literacy classes for all and bringing out a spreadsheet “Aditi” with contributions from the neo-literates and the Taragram ‘family’.  Yes, one family it is.

Bio-mass Based Enterprises

While Geeta and her team been engaged in the constructive activities.  Dr.  Arun Kumar and his team comprising Subramanian & Suresh got busy working on the “Handmade paper Unit” lay out.  The capacity of Development Alternatives workshop in Delhi was utilised fully for fabrication jobs.  Ramesh Sharma joined the team for setting up the Generating System and the distribution cabling.  The gasifier, designed by Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore was under manufacture by NETPRO, Bangalore.  A project of this magnitude and scope can not be executed without hiccups and hiccups there were aplenty!   But, the ingenuity, dedicated hardwork and zeal overcame all obstacles and by end-May the Handmade Paper Unit was ready to go on stream.  A core team of supervisors and workers has gone from Delhi for training the local workers and to take care of the trial production stage, but in a few weeks’ time the local worker at Orchha will take over.  This unit will use agro-wastes and other fibre and fabric wastes as raw material.  Women will make up most of the workforce – 80%!  The marketing of the product will be handled from Delhi.  

TARAGRAM – the Flagship

The project had generated great interest in the local community.  The Administration had been the facilitators.  It will be considered a landmark in the sustainable development scenario.  Nobody wants believe that such an enterprise can come up in less than a year.  But, Development Alternatives is not going to rest on whatever laurels it has earned.  There is a lot to be done – the training modules for the various courses, the trainees’ hostel, and the craft village.  An early appraisal will indicate course corrections and point new direction towards the vision.

Tailpiece 

The first shower has washed off the dust from the foliage of Baberi ‘jungle’.  The ‘nala’ has started to swell.  The rocks and boulders stand out as works of sculpture in the green surroundings.  The site is idylic.  A group of motorborne tourists on their way back from Orchha stopped by at TARAGRAM seeking shelter for the night taking the place to be a tourist resort!  The watchman needed all his persuasive power to convince them that it was an ‘industrial enterprise’.  And here hangs another tale – is ‘Eco-tourism’ within the ‘sustainable livelihood’ vision?

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