Bastiaan Mohrmann is a multidisciplinary specialist and thought leader at the intersection of water resources, agriculture, sustainability (ESG), and finance. Since 1992, he has been working on various projects in India, initially with the IFC (World Bank Group) and later on promoting technological and ecological innovations for smallholder farmers and rural landscapes in India, focusing on agro-water sustainability. In these 32 years, he has embraced Indian culture and its love for food. An independent Board member of Jain Irrigation Systems Ltd. since 2019, and a long time associate of Rajendra Singh’s NGO Tarun Bharat Sangh (TBS), Mohrmann was in Delhi last week in connection with his ongoing projects on creating water bodies and rejuvenation of rivers in the Chambal Valley.
Mohrmann talked to Neelam Gupta, a senior journalist known for her coverage of rural development, on how the West has lost connection with nature; how India is central to the emerging spiritual revival in the West and the era of blue revolution in the agriculture sector. He warned that if technology is not improved, farming around the world may dwindle. More importantly, he said it’s time that rural communities set the development agenda instead of the government. He used the example of TBS extensively and explained why its model of creating water bodies should be replicated, not only in India but in other countries as well. Following are the excerpts of the interview:
NG: In India, the five elements of nature – Sun, earth, air, water, and sky – are considered central to life and are worshiped. How does Europe view and interact with these elements?
BM: Unfortunately, for most Europeans, the connection with the five elements has been lost in modern times. In ancient Greek philosophy, articulated by Aristotle and others, there was a similar appreciation of natural elements categorised as fire, earth, air, water, and ‘ether,’ referring to the sky and universe. However, even then, these elements were not widely integrated into the daily lives and religious beliefs of the general population.
With the rise of Christianity, a monotheistic religion, the spiritual significance of these elements diminished. The Enlightenment of the 17th and 18th centuries further marginalised the spiritual connection as science assumed a dominant role in society. Today, however, growing environmental awareness is rekindling an appreciation for at least the elements of earth, air, and water, with the Sun offering tremendous renewable energy potential. While god can be interpreted as the ancient fifth element, a small but growing group of Westerners is beginning to appreciate deeper senses of spirituality, recognising that there is more to the universe and earth than science can currently explain. India is central to this emerging spiritual revival in the West.
NG: You said that India is the central to the emerging spiritual revival in the West. What kind of spiritual revivalism is this? Is the West seeing India’s spiritualism as an answer to environmental problems like climate change?
BM: This revival is demonstrated through the rapid growth of yoga and meditation practices in the West over the last 30 years. For instance, it is estimated that about 11,000 people are teaching yoga in The Netherlands alone, reaching an estimated 12% of the 18 million population. This is a remarkable difference from the days when my father was a sole performer of yoga during the mid-70s, standing five minutes on his head on the beach, to the amazement of all those passing by!
Meditation is practiced occasionally by up to 20% of the population and regularly by about 10% in The Netherlands, which is probably representative of many Western countries. While this may not sound like much in India, this growth has occurred over the last 30 years or so and is likely to continue.
The answer to the second part of your question, if India’s spiritualism is an answer to the climate change issues, depends on a few things. For individuals, this may indeed be the case. Yoga and meditation are often more about self-reflection, a process for inner-strengthening, a way to cope with the challenges of daily life. As more people, especially younger generations, feel stressed by the looming impact of climate change, they may be more likely to assume meditation or yoga. So, this primarily serves a personal interest. The optimist in me wishes to think that, once those 10-20% meditation practitioners are gaining inner wisdom and finding balance in their daily lives, they are more likely to think about positive contributions and collective responses. But I have no evidence to support such positive correlation.
NG: What forced the UN to include water as an important element to contain the impacts of climate change and declare the year 2024 as World Water Peace Year?
BM: I don’t really know the inside reasoning, but there is a strong recognition at the UN, and globally, that the challenges of humanity are interrelated. For instance, while the UN declared 17 separate Sustainable Development Goals, their detailed descriptions clearly demonstrate the interconnectivity of these challenges. I would argue that peace and climate change have been perhaps the main dual concerns of the UN emerging during the last 15-20 years. So, it is really heartening to see that the UN is now taking water as a perfect medium to foster awareness and solutions in these two critical areas.
NG: You were one of the key people in the 2030 Water Resources Group. How is this group helping India?
BM: I was indeed one of the key persons at 2030 WRG until I retired in 2018. The core objective of this global initiative is to unlock new solutions to the challenges of water resources by engaging the private sector, civil society and academia, along with the government. In India, the 2030 WRG works mostly at the state level, and we initiated multi-stakeholder platforms in Karnataka, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh under the respective chief secretaries.
Some notable results during my tenure include the concept of integrated community micro-irrigation schemes, piloted in Karnataka at the 24,000-hectare Ramthal project. This was the first time that micro-irrigation was integrated into the formal irrigation sector in India, leading to high water efficiencies and equitable distribution from head to tail across the command area. Many similar schemes have since been successfully implemented across India.
Another notable result was the introduction of hybrid annuity-based public-private partnership (PPP) solutions for wastewater treatment along the Ganga river, with a demonstration project co-developed by 2030WRG at Mathura-Vrindavan. Under this PPP model, about 40% of the investment is paid out by the government, over a period of 15 years, to the private sector concessionaire, thereby putting a strong incentive in place for actual performance of the facilities over time. The slightly higher overall cost of finance in the project, considering the inherently higher financing costs for private companies, is well worth the extended beneficial life of the structure. This performance incentive has failed time and again in traditional approaches where the private sector’s role is essentially limited to technology, construction, and perhaps operations, but without any meaningful stake in the outcome.
Also read: World Water Day 2024: Why Water Is Important For Peace At An Individual, Community and Global Level
NG: Is this wastewater treatment project helping clean the Ganga?
BM: Certainly, the sole objective of this series of projects is to enhance the performance of sewage treatment plants (STPs) along the Ganga by aligning environmental goals with financial incentives. Evidently, state and Union governments will have to closely monitor those performances objectively and transparently, and where necessary apply corrections. For PPP structures to function well, both sides of the equation need to play their respective roles well. And as long as urban centres along the Ganga lack the human, technical and financial resources to run STPs in a professional and sustainable manner, I do see this as the most realistic solution towards cleaning Ganga as far as urban sewage is concerned.
NG: In India, the increasing use of pesticides and chemical fertilizers has polluted various water sources, especially groundwater, and has adversely affected public health. The use of these artificial inputs began with the Green Revolution and was introduced from the West. However, we seldom encounter issues like crop chemicals spoiling the earth, water, or health in the West, to the same extent as in India. Why is that?
BM: It is a misconception that the West is not suffering from agricultural pollution. All countries around the world are struggling with the impact of excessive use of pesticides and agro-nutrients. In all these countries, the debate between ecological or biodiversity security and food security is ongoing. Governments have a serious responsibility to ensure that enough food is produced for their population and, collectively, to feed the entire world population, which continues to grow. Additionally, people in many parts of the world consume excessive amounts of food or foods with a high resource footprint, especially animal proteins, which is actually detrimental to their health. However, changing food habits is challenging, and governments find it difficult to correct them. In a democratic society, trying to regulate food consumption patterns is probably political suicide.
So, we are faced with a world with a growing population, adopting eating habits that exert pressure on the food production system. In many countries, agricultural land is actually shrinking due to conflicting demands from urbanisation, infrastructural development and renewable energy. This puts more pressure on land productivity, as well as on the protection of natural resources in countries like Brazil and Indonesia. It is a fact, that for most farming systems, especially those producing grains and other field crops necessary for staple foods, non-conventional farming is yielding less.
In my view, the medium-term answer is not for governments to ban all pesticides and chemical nutrients from agriculture but to adopt a dualistic approach. Firstly, identify the most polluting chemicals in terms of toxicity and stability (half-life) and develop alternative solutions, such as biological pesticides, that significantly reduce the impact on flora, fauna and human health. Secondly, governments should invest, along with industry, in high-precision agriculture technology, such as robotic weeding or satellite-based information systems that measure soil moisture or leaf nitrogen content for optimal production, to minimise the need for chemicals. Additionally, incentives should be included for smaller farmers, in a similar way that laser levelling was adopted successfully across northern India over the last 20 years.
We are at the beginning of the next agricultural revolution. Fifty years ago, we celebrated the start of the Green Revolution, aimed at eradicating widespread hunger. But times have changed. Farmers worldwide, including in India, are facing significant challenges in agricultural work. It’s no surprise, as this is physically demanding work, that people seek better job opportunities elsewhere. We need technology that is non-intrusive, clean, lightweight, and reduces if not eliminates pollution. This technology should be affordable and accessible for a wide range of farmers.
Without this technology, farming around the world will dwindle. In 20 years, we shall look back at today and wonder how farmers around the world knew how to farm without the daily help of technology. Just like Google Maps replaced physical land maps and is used by every individual in India with a smartphone, GPS will guide lightweight and increasingly low-cost machinery around the fields. This is what will motivate the next generation of farmers to continue cultivating the lands of their forefathers.
Let us now celebrate the upcoming blue revolution, the colour of technology as well as of clean water.
NG: To combat the effects of climate change, countries like the UK and Sweden have stopped or minimised agriculture activities and are becoming increasingly dependent on food imports. Is this the right approach to dealing with climate change issues, or is it another form of selfishness and escapism? What about the food security of their citizens?
BM: I am not sure about these trends. In fact, Sweden is likely to face a significant increase in average temperatures due to climate change, thereby ironically boosting agricultural productivity due to a prolonged growing season. Whatever the case may be, climate change is a global issue so the solutions must be drawn globally. At the same time, geopolitical developments can greatly affect a country’s food security, such as the recent shortage of bread in Egypt when traditional imports of Ukrainian grains were halted in the aftermath of Russia’s invasion. We need to help the more vulnerable countries in dealing with the impact of climate change on food security.
Also read: Nilgiris: Water Shortage and Climate Change Pose Threats to Biodiversity and Livelihoods
NG: You are also working with Tarun Bharat Sangh and were here to join its 50-year anniversary celebrations. How and when did you come into contact with Rajender Singh who is also known as the Waterman of India?
BM: I met Singh shortly after arriving in India in early 2011 to setup a new water-centric advisory and investment program for the IFC, the private-sector arm of the World Bank Group. Soon after my arrival, I came across a recent issue of the national Farmers Forum magazine, which shut down during the pandemic, that had highlighted India’s water challenges and profiled three individuals that played unique roles in addressing the challenge.
It included Singh, head of TBS, Bhanwarlal Jain, founder of Jain Irrigation System and Paul Rao of BIRDS and lead initiator of the Andhra Pradesh Farmer Managed Groundwater Systems project. I decided to visit all three to learn more about their work and experience. The meeting with Singh in Thanagazi was very inspiring, we immediately felt a mutual trust and thus a life-long friendship was born.
NG: Through TBS, Singh has been working for the last 40 years to rejuvenate the dry rivers of the Aravalli hills in Rajasthan. He started in Alwar district and now works in Karauli and Dholpur districts, both of which are known for dacoits. You have seen his work. How do you assess his efforts?
BM: It is truly excellent work. The most outstanding aspect is the community engagement in an environment that has traditionally been hostile to outsiders. Additionally, the rapid and effective structural designs are based on TBS’s deep understanding of the local geomorphology, including the underground flows of confined aquifers. The highly cost-effective constructions involve significant community contributions and require minimal outside machinery. What is remarkable is the sense of ownership that the local community feels throughout the process, from the moment of participatory site selection to final construction and maintenance.
Honouring dacoits-turned-water peace messengers in Mathara village of Dholpur district. Photo: Neelam Gupta.
NG: Tarun Bharat Sangh has created about 230 water bodies in two districts of Chambal Valley and the work is still ongoing. By next year, we may see the biggest tributary of river Chambal in this region i.e. Parwati flowing. What would you say about this and its impact on the ecology of the area?
BM: I would focus on the agenda of sustainable development. This is the paradigm shift that needs to be achieved worldwide and is in alignment with the UN SGDs. Moreover, the impact of TBS’s work directly affects the need for sustainable socio-economic development of disadvantaged populations for sustainable food production, ecological protection and increasing biodiversity. Of course, all these factors are leading to rejuvenation of a civilisation by building the self-confidence and self-reliance of the rural people.
There is no doubt the ecology is greatly benefiting from these terrific efforts. Not only will flora and fauna flourish in the areas bordering these water bodies, but also the significant expansion of farming land offers room for expansion of natural species and biodiversity. Most importantly, the micro-climate is changing as increased evaporation throughout the area raises humidity levels, thereby stimulating cloud formation and rainfall. This creates a wonderful hydrological loop that benefits both people and nature.
NG: TBS’s community based work has brought peace in the area. A number of former dacoits have joined this work and are now earning money by working on their fields and through animal husbandry. In context of water security and climate action (SDG 13 and SDG17), where does this work stand?
Also read: Caste’s Role in Shaping Water Access Is Missing From Indian Environmental Discourse
BM: The work definitely addresses the SDGs for water security and climate action by generating year-round water resources for the communities and mitigating the impacts of erratic rainfall patterns through water retention structures. It also significantly contributes to SDG 1: No Poverty, SDG 2: Zero Hunger, SDG 9: Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure, and SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities. This is truly wonderful work with numerous outcomes and benefits, beyond the most striking aspect of bringing peace to the villages and the hearts of the people.
NG: You have seen similar rejuvenation projects by agencies in different parts of the world. What makes TBS work different from others?
BM: As mentioned earlier, TBS’s deep knowledge of local conditions, both physical and societal, is unique. The harsh, hilly, and rocky environment of Alwar and Chambal areas presents challenges far greater than those found in typical rural areas across India, where conditions are more favorable, or in other regions where traditional watershed development involves costly contour bunding and check dam construction. These approaches require less nuanced understanding and can be more easily replicated by a variety of development agencies.
While many NGOs employ participatory approaches, TBS stands out for its ability to engage even the most challenging communities, including former bandits. Few others have demonstrated the courage, determination, and perseverance that Singh and his team have shown over a long period of time.
NG: Will you please elaborate the main characteristics, you have observed, of TBS’s work of community-based water bodies.
BM: The main characteristics of TBS’s work include its focus on creating community-centric water retention structures. These structures are engineered to be simple yet smartly designed, drawing on deep geomorphological knowledge and practical experience. They are built to be durable, ensuring long-lasting impact, and are relatively low-cost, facilitating meaningful cost-sharing arrangements with the community. For instance, TBS avoids using materials that need to be purchased from outside the community, like cement or steel, as much as possible. The main cash expense is the fuel for the machinery. All earth [mud] transportation is done by tractors and trailers from the community itself and the excavator is rented from a local contractor.
I should also mention the characteristic of creating multiple benefits. Evidently, the primary outcome is the recreated river itself, offering benefits to downstream communities for crop cultivation and household water, as well as downstream biodiversity through enriched flora and fauna. But the water body itself also offers benefits for fish cultivation and collecting enriched sediment to use in fields. This co-created effectiveness is what makes the communities feel deeply proud and a grateful beneficiary of TBS’s work.
NG: Do you think this model of TBS can or should be replicated in India and other parts of the world?
I certainly believe some of the core elements of TBS’s unique model should be replicated in India. These include: the focus on structures and their thorough geomorphological appreciation of local conditions, cost sharing and deep community participation. However, the main challenge relates, as alway, to people.
Singh is constantly travelling across India and the globe to advocate for river rejuvenation and water for life. However, his time is limited, and as the Waterman of India, he increasingly seeks to influence institutions and leaders in India and abroad to raise awareness and achieve greater impact.
He cannot drive community-based changes in Africa or Central Asia. And TBS itself is a relatively small entity formed by a group of highly motivated and capable persons so replicating this model requires the identification of similarly motivated people. This is possible, but it would require TBS to adjust its role, perhaps by becoming a global (on-the-job) training centre for like-minded people, or for its core team, beyond Singh, to go out into the world, as apostles that spread the work.
At the bank of the rejuvenated river Serani. Photo: Neelam Gupta.
NG: Bringing water bodies to the dry and turbulent land of Chambal has brought prosperity that the people here have never seen before. What challenges do you think TBS could face in making these water bodies and socio-economic development sustainable?
BM: Sustainability is very important and this was ensured at the very beginning, by making the community the owner of the process and structures, instead of them being government-constructed and owned.
I remember Singh telling us, during our first meeting in Alwar, how he had to battle government engineers and officers who did not approve of his work and the initial TBS structures. The sustainability of those structures was actually undermined by that same public sector attitude. Of course, those people were concerned about the stability of these dams built by a newcomer from the informal sector, worried that they may breach after the first heavy monsoon storm. However, over time, TBS has proven the seriousness and quality of its work, both from a technical and social perspective. The resulting socio-economic development has gained recognition and certainly benefited from Singh winning the Magsaysay Award in 2001.
Chambal’s bandits have turned into local community water managers, farmers and drivers of socio-economic change. They are commemorating this change by creating beautiful songs and texts inspired by the work of TBS. The songs are sung by the current generation, who have felt the impact of their transformed circumstances most deeply. They are fully committed to doing whatever is necessary to ensure sustainability.
However, the challenge will be to pass not just these songs and texts to the next generation, but also their deeper meaning and gratitude felt by the community. We hope that the next generation will add to these songs and take good care of the water bodies that TBS has given them.
NG: What about the aspirations of the younger generation emerging out of this local socio-economic development? How can TBS guide them towards sustainable development?
BM: That is really the crux of the matter. Young people all over the world are now aware what lies beyond the horizon of their traditional rural communities, thanks to smartphones, internet and social media. Farmers all over the world face the challenge of succession as their children are looking for a more prosperous and less arduous livelihood. Many farmers themselves hope for a better future for their kids. The reality is that many young people will leave rural communities – a global trend that has been occurring for over 200 years as societies shift from rural to urban identities.
Despite this, leaders in all communities, both old and young, male and female, will strive to maintain and sustainably develop life in rural areas. . I often think of Switzerland, a highly developed country that is also heavily decentralised, with many powers delegated to the local districts and villages. People love their villages, whether in the lowlands or on the higher slopes of the Alps. However, people also need jobs, and not everyone can remain a farmer.
The Swiss government invested heavily in rural infrastructure during the last 40-50 years. All villages now have comfortable roads that are maintained throughout the year, including in winter. People from villages can drive to nearby towns, perform their office or factory job and return home in the evening. This, for me, is the perfect balance between urban and rural livelihood.
It is a government’s choice whether to depopulate rural areas, as seen in Spain or France where entire villages have been vacated over the same period, or to follow the Swiss, and to a great extent, the German and Austrian example, where small-scale farming is cherished and rural villages flourish with well-maintained houses.
NG: Do you think the time has come to create the ‘100 Miles Communities’?
BM: The concept of ‘100 Miles Communities’ is very strong and I fully endorse it. In the 21st century, no village can sustain itself in isolation. Even groups of 10, 20 or 30 villages cannot achieve much without connection to urban services. But 100 miles is not a small size and actually aligns with the size of one district in India. The average size of an Indian district is roughly 4,300 square kms.
In fact, every rural community already identifies with its district, and this is where communities and grassroots organisations interface with the government. If communities within the district could unite and create a common voice about their dreams and future pathways, connect the youth among the roughly 1,000 villages in the district, and establish a mutually beneficial dialogue with the government, there would be greater hope for accelerating prosperity. People cannot prosper without investments or services from the government, even though sometimes NGOs may wish to think otherwise. In my view, perfect harmony is achieved by creating a strong balance between well-organised communities and a well-functioning government.
NGOs such as TBS have a crucial role to play in the mobilisation of communities and in balancing that dialogue. And while the dialogue with the government can be cumbersome, there is no doubt about the need for more advocacy for, and by, rural communities in shaping the development agenda. The Swiss have shown one example, let others follow.
Neelam Gupta is a senior journalist and former Adjunct Professor at Gujarat Vidyapith, Ahmedabad.
