ABSTRACT
Rajendra Singh has been called the ‘River-maker’ for his work in bringing
dead rivers back to life in India’s desert state of Rajasthan. At a time when
there is widespread recognition of the scarcity of water, it is not surprising
that he has received many awards for his work, including the prestigious
Ramon Magsaysay award for community leadership.2 After all, it seems
obvious that quenching thirst in a dry and dusty region is in everyone’s
interest. Well, it may surprise you to learn that this was not the case, and
that Rajendra Singh has faced strong opposition from rural élites and gov-
ernment officials, who for different reasons felt that his work was counter to
their interests. On one occasion he suffered a fractured skull after a particu-
larly heated debate with rural government officials! The rural élites – mainly
power brokers and money lenders – were concerned that more water in
the landscape would lead to economic empowerment of the poor, which
could liberate these farmers from their clutches. The government irrigation
department felt that the traditional systems of water harvesting advocated
by Rajendra Singh challenged their scientific knowledge base and threat-
ened their authority and power. So although everyone in that part of India
recognized water scarcity as a serious problem, their interests were very
divergent. In a sense Rajendra Singh had it easy because at least there was
agreement about the common problem, namely the shortage of water in
the dark zone, that part of the country where there was no groundwater.
