Out of necessity?

Auroville’s history is very much interwoven with the story of water accessibility.  When the Mother launched Auroville on this desertified plateau, it was out of necessity that tree planting, contour bunding and check dams were started, so that life could prosper and sustain the growing needs of the population. Because of the obvious advantages it created, these efforts are still supported.

Today run-off from rain is used to recharge the groundwater.  It turns out to be our near-to-only accessible fresh water resource because other resources (rain water harvesting, recycling, reduction of water usage, optimized irrigation practice, etc) are poorly developed. In ancient times the water was collected in the nearby lakes and ponds and visibly recharged. Today the runoff  simply “disappears” for us underground or is fast drained away. We lost the visual connection to the natural cycle of water, just as we lost the connection to the many other things we are burying underground.

With trees being planted, dams and erosion control being developed, helping – invisibly– to maintain our groundwater, settlements and urbanised areas emerged in Auroville and its neighbourhood.  However, the influence of fast-changing surroundings was massively underestimated or even denied. For along with these developments one could observe a shift of paradigm, in Auroville as elsewhere, from ancient preservation and respect for land, water, wildlife and population to a money-driven society. 

As a result, Auroville’s bioregion, not so long ago described as water-rich, is now facing a serious water crisis: the irrigation tanks are not maintained,  groundwater is massively overexploited and depleted, sea water is intruding into the area, while the pollution of land and water is increasing. The Tamil Nadu Government is not blind to the seriousness of the situation. Massive funding is being mobilised to protect and recharge the groundwater around Kaliveli Lake, groundwater extraction is being moved 20 kilometres inland from the coastal stretch, and purification of wastewater and river remediation are also underway.

But are we ready in Auroville? NO! 

With our one single water resource from the past we are certainly not able to face this crisis and move towards the New. The way forward is only by considering all resources available – that means multi-sourcing resources and their optimised usage. 

What holds us back still is our attachment to the predominant top-down, centralised, non-consultative, opaque and largely dogmatic approach that we have developed and is today preventing a new move forward. For example, for the two coming financial years no request for financial support of water projects has been requested to the Government of India, water metering in communities is not done or not shared, degradation of the quality of water is not monitored, and water infrastructures are developed without considering population growth and other factors like global warming.  

A true effort is necessary to become free from the prevalent socio-economic model and our psychological and physical disconnection from water. Then one can enter a space of creativity.

Yes, we are in the middle of an evolutionary crisis and it is not by repeating old ways that we can face it. And, yes, humans are a transitional being, invited to participate in this evolutionary process. But with or without humans, the material and spiritual evolution is happening.

The call is there, which means to never rest with what has been achieved. 

“Higher, always higher!” (The Mother)