‘Jalyukta Shivar’ sprouts hope among farmers in Vidarbha


By Kartik Lokhande
“The day rainwater got arrested at the weir... It was a day of joy for entire village. The location of the reservoir has become a spot to sit and relax for villagers. It is also a location, the sight of which boosts confidence of farmers,” says an enthusiastic Abhay Dhokne, a farmer from village Madni (Amgaon) in Seloo tehsil of Wardha district.
Neither is Dhokne the only farmer with such a positive reaction, nor is Madni (Amgaon) the only village where positive result of a well-planned ambitious initiative ‘Jalyukta Shivar Abhiyan’ of Maharashtra Government is visible. The wonderful initiative ‘Jalyukta Shivar Abhiyan’ has arrested rainwater, percolated joy among villagers, and has also sowed seeds of confidence among farmers across Maharashtra.
Dhokne, who tills 8 acres of land, takes various crops including sugarcane and soyabean. The nullah, where the weir has been built now, has been a source of water for farmers in the area. A couple of years ago, with the help of Agriculture Department and a NGO, the villagers took up the task of deepening and straightening of nullah, but it did not have much impact as rainwater did not stay. 

Just raising the height of the ceiling of weir across Landgi nullah has worked wonders, and the site has become a sort of picnic spot for villagers of Gondi-Digras in Katol tehsil.

“As a result, previously, even the water in our wells did not last for over two-three hours if we wanted to water the crops at a stretch. But, today, only after a few spells of rains, water storage is impressive thanks to the weir built there. Good storage in nullah has also resulted in groundwater recharge and the water in our wells lasts for four-five hours,” Dhokne told mediapersons, who paid a visit to several sites of works done as part of convergence under ‘Jalyukta Shivar Abhiyan’ in Nagpur and Wardha districts. Availability of good quantum of water at sources close to their farms has sprouted hope among farmers in these and other districts of Vidarbha region too. And, the sound of hope is audible as Dhokne adds, “Our village has not seen suicide of any farmer. And, with the positive change now, it will not see any suicide of farmer in future.” 

MLA Ashish Deshmukh, SDO Avinash Katade along with villagers at the site of ‘Jalyukta Shivar Abhiyan’ work at Zilpa in Katol tehsil. The stretch of 1.750 kms of the nullah is filled with water only in the first few spells of rains.

Similar is the situation at villages Zilpa and Gondi-Digras in Katol tehsil of Nagpur district. Zilpa is in ‘dark zone’, that is, water-stressed. There is a nullah that had Kolhapur Type weir. However, often, miscreants stole the iron gates of the weir. As a result, water storage did not build up. The Government agencies came together and decided to adopt a novel approach.
“We thought of pitching the weir with stones, and not having gates. Further, we took up the task of deepening and widening the nullah. Today, results are for all to see,” says Avinash Katade, Sub-Divisional Officer, Katol. As on Sunday, the nullah had 18 feet deep water in the stretch of 1.750 kms. The water in nullah looked green, reflecting the colour of greenery around. The work has had positive impact on the water levels in nearby wells also. For instance, a water supply well had water at a distance of only a few metres from top rim.

Failed borewell being recharged at Gondi-Digras At Gondi-Digras, another unique approach has been adopted by Groundwater Survey and Development Agency (GSDA). Further, increasing the height of weir ceiling at Landgi nullah has resulted in massive storage.
Dr Shivaji Padmane, Senior Geologist, informs, “A water supply well in this water-stressed area has got good level now. Now, we are bringing the water from the well to a failed borewell through a siphon. Once the jointed massive basalt at the depth of around 450 feet is recharged, it will result in a working borewell. We have identified 10 borewells for such recharge.” It is a pilot project, and one could hear the sound of water gushing in from the well through a siphon into the deepest level of the borewell.
At Landgi nullah, the weir-gates were stolen. Here, too, the administration adopted a novel approach -- of raising the height of weir-ceiling and not having gates. Along with deepening and widening of nullah, this has resulted in massive storage built there in the first few spells of rains this year. As a result, it has become a picnic spot of sorts. Of course, it goes without saying, the farmers having agricultural lands on the banks of the nullah are happy.

‘Jalyukta Shivar Abhiyan’ aims at groundwater recharge: Deshmukh
“We are confident that the groundwater recharge will benefit almost 10,000 hectares of land in long-term,” observed Ashish Deshmukh, Katol MLA. Widening and deepening of nullah will help farmers immensely. The objective of ‘Jalyukta Shivar Abhiyan’ is not only to create water storage points, but also to percolate water and achieve the long-term goal of groundwater recharge to tackle drought effectively, he said.

Division-wise works under ‘Jalyukta Shivar Abhiyan’

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Division         Total villages            Total works             Works done through

                                                         (completed)           peoples participation

                                                                                              (No. of villages)

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nagpur                  1,077                      13,253                         406 (310)

                                                             (10,613)

Amravati               1,396                       10,648                       1,131 (459)

                                                               (8,438)

Nashik                     941                        21,747                          839 (718)

                                                              (15,444)

Pune                        903                         28,964                       1,696 (704)

                                                              (19,293)

Konkan                  203                           4,821                               79 (38)

                                                                (3,586)

Aurangabad            1,682                       37,092                           178 (130)

                                                               (23,151)

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Total                        6,202                      1,16,525                        4,329 (2,359)

                                                                (80,525)

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

(05-07-15)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Chanda boy Dr Vipin Itankar is UPSC topper in State

Hinganghat: Here rests the great surveyor of India...

Eknath Ranade, the man with ‘Rock’ solid determination