[Tavern-Talk] Trust Talk - Trust Objects and Purposes: Water - Part One

[Tavern-Talk]

As mentioned in the previous articles in this series, we will be 
presenting the development of each of the Trust Objects as given by Baba 
in the 1959 Trust Deed. The first Object, water supply, will be given in 
two parts.


Trust Objects and Purposes: Water - Part One


The name Arangaon means Forest Village; centuries ago the area was a 
jungle, or great forest. With increasing population and the subsequent 
clearing of trees, it eventually became dry and barren. Consequently, 
the people of Arangaon have long suffered famine due to a perennial 
shortage of rainfall. In 1923 when Baba came to Meherabad, located in 
Arangaon, there was only one well which nearly ran dry during the summer 
months. The mandali drew water from the well with a pulley and bucket.

At one point, Baba put Khodu in charge of the water supply. Khodu would 
distribute water to the Meherabad residents for drinking, cooking and 
washing. Because of his water duty, Baba nicknamed him "Sailor." One of 
Sailor's duties was to see that water was transported up the hill for 
the women mandali.  Pendu was assigned to carry two buckets of water 
balanced over his shoulders on a long bamboo pole from lower Meherabad 
to upper Meherabad, and Sailor would count how many buckets of water 
were sent there.

There was a Christian follower of Baba who joined the mandali at 
Meherabad named Charles Nelhams. Against the mandali's advice, he would 
insist on doing the heavy work of carrying water from the well in the 
same manner as Pendu. In the course of doing this work he wounded his 
leg. The wound became septic and he was finally hospitalized. Over the 
course of three days, Nelhams grew weaker and developed a high fever. 
When Baba observed him, he remarked, "Nelhams will be free of all pain 
by tomorrow morning." Pendu and Padri nursed him the whole night, but 
Nelhams died the next morning and, true to Baba's words, was relieved of 
all suffering.

Mehera asked Baba why He had chosen such a desert-like place for His 
ashram. Baba said that even He did not know why, but that it was a habit 
of His to pick dry, barren places. In His incarnation as Muhammad  he 
had also chosen such a place.

In 1924 a second well was dug, and in 1926 Baba sanctioned the digging 
of a third well, to accommodate the ever-increasing number of people 
staying at Meherabad. Experts and water diviners were bought in, and 
although they dug deeper than usual, no water was found. Concerning the 
water shortage Baba observed, "See the paradox and irony here: when 
outsiders come for my darshan, their desires are fulfilled by my 
blessings. They find enough water in their wells by seeking my grace. 
But at Meherabad all three wells are dry." This was to be a recurring 
problem at Meherabad, and of course after 1969, when pilgrims started 
coming to stay in larger and larger numbers, the water problem was 
exacerbated

Beginning in the 1970s, under Bhau's direction, various solutions to the 
water problem were tried. He initiated a Master Plan for the development 
of Meherabad. He realized that finding an adequate, steady water supply 
was critical to further development. In those years Meherabad's annual 
rainfall was significantly less than now. Beginning in 1972, Bhau had 
open wells dug but was unable to strike water.  He then tried bore wells 
which were drilled to a depth of 200 to 300 feet.  In those days, 
drilling a bore well was a big event because of the proportionate 
expense incurred. For example, a three hundred foot well cost three 
hundred dollars, a significant portion of Trust donations.

In the Meherabad area, the underground stratum is composed of ancient 
lava flow from the Himalayas which is called basalt. If the basalt has 
fractures or fissures, water will run in these fissures and begin to 
erode them. Ultimately this forms underground streams. The source of 
this water is annual rain which is held in the superficial aquifer, 
percolates down, and is captured in the fissures. In an average monsoon 
year, the heaviest rains are in September. By April and May the 
superficial aquifer, which only goes to a depth of 50 to 60 feet, dries 
up. The original Trust property was largely un-fractured basalt, and the 
fissures there tend to be filled with grey clay. Water diviners 
confirmed that there were only a few very small streams to be found in 
Meherabad's original area.

However, one success was the digging of the large square well near the 
residents' kitchen. That spot was chosen because diviners and a 
"psychic" dog indicated there was an underground stream at about 
twenty-two feet. Parenthetically, there is a rare breed of dog called 
the Diviner, originally from the sub-Sahara, renowned for its great 
skill in finding water. The well was dug during the summer when the 
stream was dry. Because of this, water was not found at twenty-two feet 
and digging continued down to sixty-one feet, but water was still not 
found. As it turned out, when it finally rained, the stream which the 
diviners had accurately located at twenty-two feet filled the well, and 
it is still productive today, except in the summer months from March to 
June.

In its quest for water, the Trust tried an entirely new tack involving 
the agency of the government.  In 1979 the central government instituted 
a water scheme. Under this scheme, the government would provide villages 
or charitable organizations with the service of geologists, on the 
condition that they make a "ten percent popular contribution". The Trust 
made a ten percent popular contribution on behalf of itself and the 
village. As a result, the government created the Sonawadi water project 
about three miles to the west of Meherabad. They built a huge dam with a 
250,000 gallon capacity. Below the dam, they built two wells, one for 
Kedgaon village, located on the Pune Road just outside Ahmednagar, and 
one for the Trust. The Kedgaon well was productive, but the Trust well 
proved to be dry. Even though the Trust well is very near the 250,000 
gallon lake, there is no way for the water to get to the well because it 
is bored in solid rock.

The Sonawadi scheme having failed, Bhau applied in 1983 to the 
Ahmednagar Municipality in order to receive an assured source of water. 
However, Trust property is outside the boundary of Ahmednagar 
Municipality. Bhau planned to get around the problem by buying a piece 
of land just inside the city limits, building a large water tank, and 
running a 3-mile pipeline out to Meherabad. However the government would 
not give the required amount of water until after the completion of its 
water scheme, which would take many years. Finally, Bhau convinced the 
local water department to sanction between 2500 to 4000 gallons a day. 
They made an exception, which is very unusual, and gave the Trust a 
6-inch connection. It initially worked well, but over time, the 
government took more connections off the 6-inch line, and ultimately the 
amount of water reaching Meherabad was negligible.

In the second part of this article we will conclude our account of the 
peculiar twists and turns on the road to the illusive goal of water 
sufficiency at Meherabad, and relate the equally intriguing story of 
water at Meherazad.

In His Service,
Peter Booth