MECHANISM FOR CONFLICT RESOLUTION IN WATERSHED MANAGEMENT EXPERIENCES OF THE INDO-GERMAN BILATERAL PROJECT

Abstract

Various originations in India have been carrying out successfully Watershed Management Project, Success stories like "Ralegaon Sindhi" and "Sukomajri" are well known in India and abroad, However most of these projects have been executed and implemented by a single organization under the leadership of a dynamic personality. Few attempts have been made in the past to go beyond an approach involving only one single Organization, but to involve several organizations (Government and Non-Governmental Organization) having (different experiences, strengths and limitations. The Indo-German Bilateral Project has attempted in its Representative Watersheds to overcome the limitations each type of organisation has and to combine their strengths in order to combine all social and technical aspects of Watershed Management. For this in some pilot areas in Rajasthan, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, various Government and Non-Governmental Organization as well as local people carry out jointly Watershed Management activities since 1994. In orders to allow a fruitful collaboration and to minimize conflicts between the various actors, modalities for interaction, planning, implementation and monitoring have been developed in the form guiding principles. Ultimately, the project aims to learn from this approach and to contribute to protocols for the Ministry of Agriculture's Soil and Water Conservation schemes. The paper will elaborates in details the strategy and approach followed by the project and will share the experiences gained in working with different partners. It will take a critical look at the results achieved so far.