In Rajasthan’s Phalodi, where water scarcity has long dictated the rhythm of everyday life, access to water was never just an infrastructure challenge. It shaped women’s time, household incomes, agricultural productivity, and even the possibility of economic independence. Through its Integrated Water Management initiative, HGS is attempting to change that equation by placing women at the centre of water governance and community ownership.
Spread across 31 villages, the initiative has reached thousands of households through interventions such as rooftop rainwater harvesting, community water structures, and farm-level irrigation support. But its most significant impact may lie beyond the numbers. As women spend less time walking long distances to fetch water, many are now stepping into leadership and livelihood roles through collectives such as Sujal Saheli and Marwar Saheli, a women-led enterprise focused on locally produced goods.
In this interview, Shilpa Sinha Harsh, EVP, Global Corporate Communications, CSR, DEI and ESG at HGS, discusses how water security can become a catalyst for dignity, agency, and long-term rural transformation.
Read the full conversation below to understand how this integrated model is creating ripple effects across agriculture and gender equity.
Q&A
Q. Water scarcity continues to shape everyday life in many parts of rural India. To help our readers understand the context, what were the key challenges faced by communities in Phalodi before this project began?
A. Phalodi, which lies in the buffer zone of the Thar desert in Rajasthan, faces extreme water stress, shaped by low rainfall, poor groundwater quality, and limited local storage. The annual rainfall in the region was as low as 350 mm, while groundwater salinity levels were very high, with TDS levels reaching up to 7,000 ppm. This made reliable access to drinking water and irrigation an everyday challenge.
Before HGS’s Integrated Water Management project began, we saw that these challenges affected the women in the region more acutely as they bore the responsibility to fetch water for their household from distant sources, often walking 3 to 12 kms a day. This created physical strain, reduced time for education, livelihood, household care, and community participation. Agriculture was also deeply affected. Farmers were dependent on erratic rainfall and traditional flood irrigation, which meant low water-use efficiency, limited cropping cycles, crop stress, and lower incomes.
In short, the challenge was not just water scarcity, it also intertwined with a development issue affecting health, women’s time, farm productivity, household income, and long-term resilience in the village ecosystem.
Q. Could you share a few key data points that best capture the scale and impact of this initiative so far?
A. HGS’s Integrated Water Management was designed to address these challenges. During the project, which currently spans 31 villages, showcased tangible results that improved the livelihoods of the people of Phalodi, particularly women. These benefits include:
Water Storage & Reach:
- Created over 2.1 crore liters (21 million liters) of water storage capacity
Achieved through:
- Rejuvenated ponds
- Farm Tanks
- Rooftop rainwater harvesting systems
- Community water structures
Outcome:
- Reached 10,040+ households
- Benefited approximately 58,000 rural residents across Phalodi and Alwar
Water Infrastructure Developed:
- 677 rooftop rainwater harvesting structures
- 33 farm tanks
- 42 community rainwater harvesting structures
- 7 revived ponds
- 68 borewell/tubewell recharge pits
- Solar-powered drinking water systems now serving 3,000+ people
Agricultural & Economic Impact:
- Over 300 hectares of farmland brought under improved irrigation
- 40% of participating farmers reported doubling their incomes
Women’s Empowerment & Livelihoods:
- Mobilized 240+ women through platforms such as:
- Sujal Mahila Mahasangh
- Marwar Saheli
Outcome:
- 80% of water assets are now owned or managed by women
- 30 women entrepreneurs formed livelihood groups in: Food processing & Tailoring
- Time saved from water collection redirected into income-generating activities.
Q. How has improved access to water changed women’s daily routines and their role within the household?
A. Improved water access has changed women’s lives in a very practical and immediate way. Earlier, many women had to walk 3 to 12 km daily to fetch water, spending several hours on a necessity. With water now available closer to their homes, many women are saving up to four hours a day. This has reduced physical strain, improved convenience, and given women more time for household priorities, childcare, education support, farming, and income-generating work.
What’s equally powerful has been the shift in women’s role from being primarily water collectors to becoming active decision-makers in water management. Through platforms such as Sujal Mahila Mahasangh and Marwar Saheli, 240+ women have been trained and mobilized, and 80% of water assets are now owned or managed by women. This has strengthened their voice within the household and the community, because they are not only using the water infrastructure but also helping maintain it, plan for it, and lead awareness around health, hygiene, and responsible water use.
In many cases, the time saved has also opened livelihood opportunities. For example, 30 women in Alwar were trained in food processing and tailoring and formed production groups making items such as snacks, papads, and uniforms. Thus, the impact is not only about reducing laborious work for the women, but also about creating space for dignity, participation, and economic agency.
Q. In many rural settings, time spent collecting water limits women’s ability to pursue livelihoods. What shifts have you observed in how women are now using this time?
A. With water available closer to home, women are redirecting their time toward income-generating activities, skill-building, and collective enterprises, while exercising greater choice. Many women are using the hours saved and engaging in activities beyond the household operations, from participating in SHG initiatives, getting educated about entrepreneurial ventures, offering farming support and focusing on overall well-being of themselves.
For example, 30 women in Alwar, who were part of the Marwar Saheli initiative, were trained in food processing and tailoring and now produce items such as papads, snacks, and uniforms, converting time saved into income-generating work, while enabling them to contribute more visibly to household income.
There is also a leadership shift. Through platforms such as Sujal Mahila Mahasangh and Marwar Saheli, 240+ women have been mobilized, and many now lead awareness campaigns, support water asset management, and participate in village-level planning. The change is both practical and social as women have more time, more agency, and a stronger role in shaping community development.
Q. The involvement of the women-led SHG Sujal Saheli appears central to this model. How did you engage the group, and what role have they played in ensuring adoption and ownership?
A. From the outset, Sujal Saheli was not treated as a beneficiary group but as a community leadership platform. They were involved in identifying households, prioritizing needs, facilitating community dialogue, and spreading awareness about efficient water use.
Their leadership ensured trust, transparency, and sustained adoption. Because the solutions were shaped and championed by local women, the community viewed the initiative as theirs, not something imposed from outside. This grassroots ownership is what makes the model resilient.
They helped mobilize families, encouraged responsible use of water infrastructure, supported awareness campaigns, and reinforced the importance of maintaining assets such as rooftop rainwater harvesting systems, ponds, and drinking water structures.
Q. The emergence of Marwar Saheli reflects a shift from access to income generation. What has enabled this transition on the ground, and what market linkages and training support its sustainability?
A. Once women were able to save time because of improved water management and infrastructure, they started thinking beyond survival and economic self-reliance. Marwar Saheli became the livelihood pathway for this transition. Around 30 women in Alwar were trained and organized into two production groups, focused on food processing and tailoring.
More importantly, what supports the sustainability of this framework is the group-based model. Women are not working in isolation. They are organized through a SHG-style platform, which helps with peer learning, shared production, basic quality discipline, and collective ownership. The broader project also links communities with government development programs such as the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY), the National Horticulture Mission, and Panchayat-led planning, creating an ecosystem for long-term rural development.
A noteworthy aspect of this model is the possibility of women not only producing the food items but earn a livelihood by selling them directly in the local market and via institutional partnerships.
Q. Rainwater harvesting at the household level is a decentralized solution. What partnerships have supported the implementation of this model, and how do you ensure its long-term sustainability and maintenance?
A. The household rainwater harvesting model was supported through a partnership-led approach involving HGS, the Hinduja Foundation and its partner organization, local communities, and government-linked development systems. The project did not work only as an infrastructure intervention. It brought together corporate CSR funding, community contribution, local implementation capacity, and alignment with schemes such as Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana, the National Horticulture Mission, and Panchayat-led water planning. Long-term sustainability is built into the model in three ways.
First, the community has a financial stake in the assets. The initiative followed a nearly 50:50 co-investment model, with nearly Rs.10 crores contributed by communities and local stakeholders alongside nearly Rs.10 crores invested by the Hinduja Group. This helped move the intervention away from a charity model and toward shared ownership.
Second, women-led community structures play a direct role in adoption and upkeep. More than 240 women were trained and mobilized through platforms such as Sujal Mahila Mahasangh and Marwar Saheli, and 80% of water assets are now owned or managed by women. This ensures that household-level systems such as rooftop rainwater harvesting structures are not treated as one-time installations, but as community assets that are used, maintained, and protected.
Third, the model combines practical training, awareness, and local governance. IEC (Information, Education, Communication) campaigns, health and hygiene awareness, school engagement, household outreach, and village-level planning helped communities understand safe water use, storage, and maintenance. This is critical for decentralized solutions because their success depends on everyday behavior, timely upkeep, and local accountability.
Q. As HGS implements similar initiatives across Rajasthan, Karnataka, and the Himalayan belt, what key learnings have emerged in adapting this model to different local contexts?
A. A key learning for us has been that this model cannot be replicated as a fixed template across India. It must be adapted to the local ecology, water source, community structure, and livelihood pattern of each region. In Rajasthan, for instance, the focus has been on drought resilience, decentralized rainwater harvesting, rejuvenation of traditional water systems, and efficient irrigation because the region faces very low rainfall, high groundwater salinity, and long distances for water collection.
Some broader learnings that have emerged are:
- Start with the local water problem, not the intervention. In desert and semi-arid regions, household rainwater harvesting, farm tanks, ponds, check dams, and micro-irrigation may be more relevant. In hilly or Himalayan regions, spring shed protection, recharge, and source sustainability may become more important. In peri-urban or rural Karnataka contexts, the approach may need to focus on lake rejuvenation, groundwater recharge, or community water bodies. The principle remains the same, but the technical solution changes.
- Community ownership determines sustainability. The Rajasthan model shows that when communities contribute financially and operationally, they become stewards of the assets. The nearly 50:50 co-investment model helped build accountability and long-term ownership.
- Women’s leadership is not an add-on. It is central to adoption. Across contexts, women are often closest to the lived reality of water scarcity. In Rajasthan, more than 240 women were mobilized through Sujal Mahila Mahasangh and Marwar Saheli, and 80% of water assets are now owned or managed by women. This shows that women-led governance improves adoption, maintenance, and household-level behavior change.
- Traditional systems work best when strengthened with modern efficiency. One of the strongest learnings from Rajasthan has been the value of combining local wisdom, such as tanks, nadis, and check dams, with modern systems such as solar-powered water supply, HDPE pipelines, drip irrigation, and sprinklers. This makes the solution culturally acceptable while improving efficiency and scale.
- Water access should be treated as a platform for wider development. The most meaningful impact comes when water security is linked to livelihoods, health, nutrition, and women’s agency. In Rajasthan, improved water access enabled kitchen gardens, better irrigation, reduced laborious shifts, and gave rise to livelihood groups such as Marwar Saheli. This reinforces that water projects should not stop at infrastructure; they should create pathways for income, resilience, and dignity.
This means each geography needs a locally designed solution, but the core model remains consistent, including community ownership, women-led governance, appropriate technology, convergence with local systems, and a clear link between water security and long-term social impact.
Q. Many CSR water projects focus on infrastructure creation. Based on your experience in Phalodi, how can companies move toward more integrated models that create ripple effects across agriculture, livelihoods, and gender equity?
A. Companies can move toward integrated models by treating water not as a standalone infrastructure issue, but as an entry point for wider rural development. In Phalodi, the intervention was not limited to constructing water assets. It linked water security with women’s leadership, efficient irrigation, agriculture productivity, livelihood creation, nutrition, community ownership and overall rural development. That is what created the ripple effect.
A few principles are important:
- First, link water access to livelihoods: In Phalodi and Alwar, improved water availability enabled irrigation and kitchen gardens, bringing 300+ hectares under irrigation and helping 40% of farmers double their incomes. Water creates lasting impact when it drives productivity, not just access.
- Second, put women in decision-making roles: Through platforms like Sujal Mahila Mahasangh and Marwar Saheli, 240+ women were trained, and 80% of water assets are now owned or managed by women, strengthening adoption, maintenance, and local governance.
- Third, turn saved time into income: With reduced drudgery, women redirected time into livelihoods. Under Marwar Saheli, 30 women now run food processing and tailoring units, converting water security into economic agency.
- Fourth, blend tradition with technology: The project combined local systems like tankas and ponds with solar pumps, drip irrigation, and pipelines to improve efficiency and climate resilience.
- Finally, build ownership, not dependency: A co-investment model between communities and the Hinduja Group ensured accountability and long-term sustainability.
The shift companies need to make is from building water assets to building water-secure communities.
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