Afterword and bibliography

Abstract

In July 1994 I spent several weeks in Rajasthan, visiting Hinganiya and travelling further west to Jaisalmer and Barmer. I also visited the now completed Rajasthan Canal. The visit was brief and I had no opportunity to carry out comprehensive research. Nevertheless, what I observed provides a focus for useful reflections.

The early 1994 monsoon had been extremely heavy, causing heavy flooding in parts of Rajasthan. In fact, since my last visit in August 1987, monsoon rainfall had been generally good. This lead to some astonishing changes in Hinganiya.

Judging by the increased number of houses there had been ·a considerable increase in village population, probably the result of a natural increase combined with the return of crisis migrants. Most strikingly, there were many new pakka houses, including several in the Nayak and Meghwal sections of the village. Further, there was quite a lot of new construction activity. One of the Nayaks had become an accomplished mason and was earning around Rs 150 per day building houses. Electricity had been connected to many houses and the village appeared quite prosperous in comparison to earlier visits.