Software to the rescue of parched Indian villagers
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COMMENTS 
Just think of the potential of a software that allows users to create an interactive water-map of the village. This means, villagers would be better equipped to cope with drought. Thanks to IT (information technology).
Called Jal-Chitra, this software has been developed by Jaipur's Ajit Foundation, in close collaboration with the Barefoot College of Tilonia. Says Ajit Foundation's Vikram Vyas: "The advent of Personal Computer together with the development and expansion of Internet has provided us with a unique opportunity to bring the tools of scientific modelling and computation to rural development."
One "immediate area" where such tools can make a tangible contribution, he argues, is in the process of drought-proofing the villages lying in the arid and semi-arid regions of the developing world.
How is this done? An estimate of the monthly water demand and the monthly water availability from various sources is the starting point. Then comes the question of allocation of available water.
Likewise, a water-budget can be created. Solutions can range from water conservation, to the development of new water sources or water storage systems, where possible. Or even getting in water from external sources. Villagers need to balance between underground water and rainwater harvesting systems.
Once done, Jal-Chitra software aims at helping villagers to take advantage of information and communication technologies to exercise their right to manage their own water sources.
Jal-Chitra basically creates an interactive water-map of the village enables the community to keep records of the amount of water available from each water source,can record water quality testing, lists maintenance work done and required, estimates water demand, generates future monthly water budgets (based on past records), and shows the amount of community need met through rainwater harvesting systems.
In an interview with Vikram Vyas says, "I think Jal-Chitra can be used in any village which is in the arid or semi arid region of developing world. The greatest potential is that it will enable local democratic institutions, like panchayats (local village councils in India), to make more informed decisions regarding their own water sources. Jal-Chitra has potentialities of many further developments including use of satellite photographs and more sophisticated in-build models, perhaps based on neural-nets. I am looking for other people, software developers, to help me with this. I have been away from physics for too long and would like to return to it and spend most of my professional time teaching and doing research in physics. So further development of Jal-Chitra has to become a collaborative effort. Also, I am waiting for the response from the actual users." He thinks that there is a need for the Hindi version of the users manual and software of Jal Chitra along with its incorporation in formal and informal educational systems.
Frederick Noronha/Third World Network Features - Interview with Vikram Vyas