The outcomes were remarkable. Within a decade, more than seven hundred springs were rejuvenated across Sikkim’s four districts, directly benefiting around sixty-five thousand rural households. Studies recorded increases of forty to one hundred per cent in spring discharge and improved groundwater storage in treated areas. What made Dhara Vikas distinctive was not just its engineering but its governance, a locally driven, evidence-based approach that transformed both landscape and mindset. Recognised by NITI Aayog, ICIMOD and the World Bank, it is now embedded in Sikkim’s State Water Policy and has become an international reference for sustainable mountain water management.
PART-1 Solving Water Scarcity in Ukhrul District
Ukhrul’s geography and governance traditions make it well suited to adopt such a model. Its forests, customary institutions and collective ethic provide a social foundation as strong as its physical terrain is fragile. The Tangkhul Naga system of village governance, with its respect for community consensus, mirrors the participatory spirit of Sikkim’s Gram Panchayats. By identifying recharge zones, protecting forests under village resolutions, constructing infiltration structures through local labour, and mobilising funds through convergence of the Jal Jeevan Mission, MGNREGA, PMKSY and CAMPA, Ukhrul can adapt the Dhara Vikas principles to its own conditions. This alignment between science, community and policy could turn Ukhrul’s vulnerability into resilience.
The road ahead, however, requires both ecological restoration and institutional coordination. Ukhrul’s forest cover, its most valuable natural asset, is under stress from encroachment, burning and shifting cultivation. Protecting these forested catchments while developing engineered recharge structures and sustainable agricultural practices offers a twin path forward. Yet water governance remains fragmented among multiple agencies with little integration. To overcome this, the establishment of a District Water Governance Council chaired by the Deputy Commissioner is essential. Such a body can unify planning, monitoring and investment, ensuring that water management is no longer divided between departments but guided by a single long-term vision.
Also read HIV/AIDS in UKhrul: The Role of Public Health
Short-term priorities must focus on immediate relief and preparedness, extending tanker supply, installing temporary storage tanks and ensuring rainwater harvesting on all public buildings. Simultaneously, critical springs should be identified, fenced, desilted and protected from contamination. Medium-term strategies must build on Sikkim’s lessons by expanding recharge mapping, constructing percolation trenches and strengthening legal protection of catchments through public employment schemes. Urban water infrastructure should be upgraded to reduce leakage, expand treatment capacity and employ solar-powered lift systems for high-altitude settlements. Over the long term, sustainability will depend on creating a Ukhrul Water Fund that consolidates government, climate and corporate resources, supporting maintenance, capacity building and transparent monitoring.
From a policy standpoint, these priorities can be distilled into clear actionable steps. The first is institutional integration through a District Water Governance Council to coordinate data, planning and funding. The second is a comprehensive hydrogeological survey to produce a Spring Atlas of Ukhrul for evidence-based decision-making. The third is to establish a Ukhrul Springshed Revival Mission, modelled on Dhara Vikas, by converging national programmes. Fourth, critical recharge forests and headwater zones should be declared Community Water Sanctuaries with village-level protection. Fifth, all government buildings should adopt rainwater harvesting and efficient storage. Sixth, youth should be trained as para-hydrogeologists to collect and analyse hydrological data. Seventh, a dedicated Ukhrul Water Fund should ensure sustained financing. Finally, principles of springshed development must be integrated into Manipur’s State Water Policy so that hill districts receive the specialised attention they require. While many of these are drawn from proven models, their successful implementation in Ukhrul will depend on detailed feasibility studies and adaptive research.
Ukhrul water crisis in dry winter; Needs additional water sources to sustain
Equally important is the role of ordinary citizens. Water security cannot rely on the state alone, it begins at home and within communities. Households can harvest rainwater on rooftops, maintain ponds, build small percolation pits and plant trees around homesteads to slow run-off. Villages can form water-user committees to monitor springs and regulate extraction during dry months. Schools and churches can lead awareness campaigns on conservation and waste reduction. Each such act, though small, creates ripples of change that accumulate into resilience. These practices, while yet to be systematically studied in Ukhrul, are proven across similar Himalayan contexts to strengthen both ecology and community cohesion.
Evidence from Sikkim and preliminary results from Lunghar suggest that spring discharge can increase noticeably within two to three years of sustained intervention. The broader social dividends, reduced reliance on tanker water, improved public health, revived agriculture and greater local confidence, could be transformative. With coordinated planning, participatory governance and scientific guidance, Ukhrul can achieve functional, equitable water access by 2030 and stand as a model for community-driven water management in the north-east.
Also read Regional Politics Rewired?: One NE Bloc Debuts in Tripura
Ultimately, Ukhrul’s crisis is not one of scarcity but of design. Its salvation lies not in distant pipelines but in living watersheds, not in external supply but in local stewardship. Every passing season of inaction deepens the wounds of the land and erodes the faith of the people. It is no longer a question of policy convenience but of moral responsibility, a test of whether governance can rise to meet the quiet suffering of its own citizens. The hills of Ukhrul do not cry for charity; they demand justice through sustainable action. The state that fails to protect its springs will one day find its cities thirsty for redemption. The Dhara Vikas experience of Sikkim demonstrates that when science and society work together, springs flow again and communities rediscover their strength. Ukhrul, with its rich forests and resilient people, possesses all the ingredients for such a transformation. If Sikkim and Lunghar have shown that water can return to the hills through knowledge, faith and collaboration, Ukhrul too can reclaim its hydrological heritage. Each trench constructed, each forest regenerated and each spring revived will not merely conserve water but renew dignity, health and hope for generations to come.
(Dr. Aniruddha Babar, Dept of Political Science, St. Joseph’s College, Ukhrul, Manipur. Deputy Director, “Center for North-East Development and Policy Research (CNEDPR)”, St. Joseph’s College, Ukhrul, Manipur).