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| Jal yatra |
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Gujarat: the journey begins |
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| Raj-Samadhiyala, Rajkot |
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| SECOND STOP: | ||
| Harkahala, Sabarkundla, Amreli |
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THIRD STOP: |
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| Mandlikpur, Rajkot |
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FOURTH STOP: |
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| Mahudi, Dahod | ||
| RAJASTHAN:
THE STOP OVER |
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FIRST STOP: |
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| Kesrisinghpura,
Dausa |
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SECOND STOP: |
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| Neemi, Jaipur |
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THIRD STOP: |
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| Gopalpura, Alwar |
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FOURTH STOP: |
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| Khoili, Karoli |
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FIFTH STOP: |
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| Shehajpura,
Sawai Madhopur |
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| Vol.3 | No. 3 |
June 2001 |
Gujarat: the journey begins
Third stop:Mandlikpur, Rajkot
What do you expect from a village that has harvested water for six years and than goes without rains for the next three years? For the residents of this village, the option was clear: either to migrate or to reap the benefits of past efforts. They opted for the latter one. As villages around Mandlikpur reported large-scale migration and water riots broke out in neighbouring Dhoraji town, its residents waited for the monsoon to come and fill their wells again for prosperity.
| Due to water harvesting activities undertaken during the year 1993- 98, the grain stock in the village had gone up and average income of the village had doubled. The surplus created helped them sail through the successive three years of drought smoothly |
In 1993, Mandlikpur started recharging its 150-odd dried wells by diverting the rainwater into them, and in 1999, 110 wells had already been recharged where water level had improved from 110 feet to 30-40 feet. Then the drought of 1999-2000 arrived, after the 1998 monsoon that was 40 per cent deficit. "That was the second year of reaping the benefit of our past efforts,"recalls Saudas Senjelia who led the village in the well recharging movement. "But", he adds, "This year is the last year we can depend on the recharged wells for survival. In 2000, the rainfall was deficient by 60 per cent and water stored in half of the wells was used up to fight the last year’s drought. As a result, only 10 wells had water till the end of April 2001."
The kharif crop was managed in at least 60 per cent of the land using the rainwater stored in wells. But the winter crop was limited to those who had water in their wells. "I have taken a crop of vegetables and fodder to ensure an earning for me and also to ensure the lives of cows," says Senjelia whose well, the first one to be recharged in 1993, still has water.
While conversing with the residents it was evident that the reason for good harvest in the region was primarily due to the surplus water available due to water harvesting initiatives undertaken during the year 1993-98. Water harvested during that period helped the villagers to compensate for successive three years of drought. "During this period grain stock in the village has gone up and average income of the village has doubled. The surplus created during this period helped them sail through the worst drought smoothly," says Shamjibhai Antala of Saurashtra Lok Manch, a Dhoraji-based non governmental organisation, credited with recharging of seven lakh wells in Saurashtra.
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Reaping the benefits of his past efforts, Saudas Senjelia of Mandlikpur |
Though the village suffers from the absence of a community institution to manage its water, particularly when it is facing a crisis well recharging spread in this village as an individual effort as all the wells were private property. "It anyway doesn’t lead to abuse or misuse of the resources created as each individual farmer has adopted different plans to use the available water in their wells judiciously," says Antala. For example, all the 10 well owners with water instead of taking rabi crop opted for fodder species for the livestock. During the water paucity, people without private wells had to depend on water tankers." But the fact that they payed for the water tankers themselves instead of depending on government doles is an indicator of the village’s prosperity," says Antala.
This village in Dahod district of Gujarat is surviving its third successive drought even though it got only 240 mm in the year 2000 as compared to the average rainfall of 840 mm. The village is into its ninth year of water conservation done through a series of small dams constructed on river Machhan with the help of N M Sadguru Water and Development Foundation, a Dahod -based NGO. Despite the 2000 drought, crop harvest was normal and there was no migration. During the year 2001 drought, Dahod was the worst affected district and the state’s largest relief works were undertaken here. However, interestingly, this is the only district that has recorded increase in groundwater table due to extensive water conservation activities. Extensive water conservation activities have given birth to many effective village institutions that ensured judicious use of water during the 2001 drought.
In July 2000, when it became clear that another drought loomed large, in a general meeting in the village all water intensive crops were banned and priority was shifted to ensure drinking water. The lift irrigation cooperative society that manages the dams on the river was put in charge of monitoring water use in the village. "Water availability is less than 20 per cent of the normal storage in the village. So the immediate concern was to save water for drinking purpose and to take up the minimum crops to just sustain ourselves," says Hartabhai Devbhai Katara, a resident. This resulted into less water uses thus leaving water for drinking purposes. But maize was allowed as it gives fodder for the village’s livestock.
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Sustained water conservation saw the women in Mahudi smiling through its third consecutive drought |
This year too, the village has not reported any migration as it could take the kharif crops and partially rabi crops. The village has imposed its own drought-mitigation codes. In early summer, taking fresh stock of water availability and the intensity of drought, the cooperative society allowed vegetable cultivation. "This decision kept people in the village thus reducing migration," says Rakesh Pandey, deputy director of the N M Sadguru Water and Development Foundation.