IN RAJASTHAN, BAGRU CRAFT SUFFERS TOO

Farmers have stopped sharing their water with the Bagru craftsmen of Jaipur district, Rajasthan.

“Weak monsoons over the past five years have put more pressure on groundwater levels. So now we are dependent on water tankers,” says Lal Chand Derawala, 43. Most of the craftsmen can only afford one or two tankers a day, so output has dropped and incomes are falling.

For master block printer Suraj Narayan Titanwala, 55, the irony is that of all the growing demands on existing water sources — urbanisation, infrastructure, industry — the Bagru craft is the most non-polluting.

“The water we use can even be reused to water crops. That’s how non-polluting it is. And yet we have to struggle to sustain the same craft that has made this region famous,” he says. “Dams in the region supply drinking water for swimming pools and parks, but they don’t supply to us.”

The water crisis and resultant shrinking margins are turning younger generations off the business. “Earlier, the whole family would be involved. Now, youngsters prefer to work in big cities and earn better, more stable pay,” Derawala says. “A craft that was so successful, famous around the world, is becoming less and less profitable.”

Amit Derawala, 23, son of Lal Chand, is among the few youngsters of his generation willing to fight the battle. “I am hoping to try design innovations and work on ways to reduce how much water we use,” says the Commerce graduate.

Suraj Narayan’s 31-year-old son Deepak Kumar, meanwhile, describes how he and his family have struggled to identify alternative sources of water.

“We are trying a combination of rainwater harvesting and water recycling to try and recharge the groundwater table and sustain the business. But it would help if the government could allocate water to us from dams,” he says.