While various problems are being faced across the State especially when it comes to access to natural resources, some traditional practiced in some parts of the State present an example of practical and fair distribution of natural resources. One such traditional practice is the Pani Panchayat also called the Koolwali or Hara.
Observers point out that since the Government machinery took over facilitation of systems like irrigation, the more conducive traditional systems have been dying out. However, the Jadadhar village in Chamba block of Tehri district is one such place where a Pani Panchayat continues to successfully manage supply of irrigation water to the farmers of the village. This Pani Panchayat is said to have been implemented in this village in the distant past but is still functioning efficiently. Due to the traditional system being used, there are neither arguments between villagers regarding share of irrigation water nor do the villagers have to wait for the government to undertake repair works on the irrigation system. Situated in the Henwal valley, the Jadadhar village has about 400 families.
With steady supply of irrigation water from the Henwal river, agriculture has remained the main source of livelihood for most of the villagers here. The villagers state that their ancestors had created the Pani Panchayat centuries ago to prevent any disagreements or disturbance regarding the irrigation system. Pani Panchayat member Buddhi Singh said that this Panchayat runs on a community basis. The Pani Panchayat decides when and farms will be irrigated and how much water will be released for irrigation. Care is also taken to ensure that there is no bias against any villager. Since the farmers do not have to manage the irrigation themselves, they provide a fixed proportion of their yield to the Pani Panchayat in return. Speaking about this traditional system, villager Vijay Jadadhari said that similar Panchayats used to handle the responsibility of protecting and managing the use of natural resources like forests, water and land until these tasks were taken over by the government. The government now spends lakhs of rupees to construct irrigation canals and then abandons them due to which such governmental efforts benefit neither the State nor the people, he added.