| Sukhomajri,
a small hamlet of about one hundred families with
average land holding of 0.57 ha, is located in the
foothills of Shivaliks in Panchkula district of
Haryana. It is at a distance |
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of
about thirty kilometers by road to the
north-east of Chandigarh. A successful
experience of participatory natural resource
management, which has been proved to be
conducive for bringing about socio-economic
and cultural transformation of the village
community, has been initiated by Central Soil
& Water Conservation Research and Training
Institute, Chandigarh. Until 1975, Sukhomajra
had no source of regular irrigation. The
entire agricultural land (52 hectares) was
under rain-fed single cropping. Small land
holdings (less
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than
one hectare per family) coupled with frequent crop
failures due to erratic distribution of rainfall, made
agriculture least dependable as a means of adequate
livelihood. Consequently, the people of Sukhomajri
were forced to keep a large number of sheep, goats and
cows to eke out a living. But, once the domestic
animals, especially the goats and cows, were allowed
to graze freely in the nearby hills, followed by
indiscriminate felling of trees for fuel and other
domestic consumption, the hill slopes, once covered
with lush green vegetation, soon became bare and not
even a blade of grass was to be seen.
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SUKHNA
LAKE TO SUKHOMAJRI
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In
the year 1975, the continuing problem of
silting of the prestigious man-made Sukhna
Lake in Chandigarh drew the attention of the
Central Soil and Water Conservation Research
and Training Center, Chandigarh.
A reconnaissance survey conducted by the
Centre under the leadership of Shri P.R.
Mishra, the then Officer-in-Charge, revealed
that the major source of sediment was about
twenty-six per cent of the catchment area
located in the close proximity of Sukhomajri
and a few nearby villages. Sedimentation was
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caused
by the erosion of the bare hill slopes caused by
over-grazing particularly by goats whose rearing had
been the traditional occupation of the Gujjars
inhabiting the village.
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| CONSTITUTING
OF VILLAGE SOCIETY |
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The
attitudinal change as manifested in the concept of
'social fencing', was strengthened through the
constitution of a village society in 1979 called the
'Water Users' Association', which later emerged as
"Hill Resource Management Society' (HRMS), duly
registered. The HRMS discharges three main functions;
(i) protection of hilly areas from grazing and illicit
felling of trees, (ii) distribution of irrigation
water from dams on payment basis and (iii) maintenance
of dams, water conveyance systems and other assets.
The sources of income
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to
the society are:irrigation
water charges, sale of bhabbar and fodder
grasses from forest area, income from leasing
dam for fish culture and, one time membership
fee. With the increase in income, both from
farm and dairy sector, the economy of the
villagers has shown a quantum jump. The
villagers have been spending part of their
income for constructing houses and a part in
acquiring assets and modern gadgets.
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To
address the problem the Research Center applied soil
conservation techniques developed by comprising
of mechanical and vegetative measures. This reduced
the runoff sediment from the highly eroded Shivaliks
at a spectacular rate from eighty tonnes to less than
one tonne per hectare, within a short span of a
decade. The vegetative measures consisted of planting
of tree species like khair (Acacia catechu) and
shisham (Dalbergia sissoo), in pits and bhabbar
grass (Eulaliopsis binata) at mounds of
trenches, and also Agave americana and Ipomea cornea,
in critical areas to protect the soil against erosion.
However, all these measures for containing the
sediment in situ did not succeed in the absence of the
willing cooperation from the people of Sukhomajri, who
depended for their sustenance on the resources
available in the catchment area. Hence, to promote
agriculture and water availability in the area
earthern dams were constructed. This resulted in rain
water harvesting & storage which could be used by
the villages for agriculture through out the year.
Thus dependence of cattle grazing and rearing. The
concept of social fencing gained wide recognition. The
society agreed to protect the hilly watersheds from
grazing and illicit cutting of vegetation and in turn,
were allowed to cut grass to stall feed their cattle
and collect dry and dead wood or pruned branches for
their domestic fuel consumption. As a result, the
forest areas which had a desolate look in the
beginning of the project were covered with grass and
trees within a period of 10 to 15 years. Grass
production increased more than double in the same
period (from 3.82 t/ha to 7.72 t/ha).
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Tree
stocking in catchment area of three dams (Number per
hectare)
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Year
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Dam
Number
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I
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II
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III
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1980
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103
(3.3)
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64
(2.0)
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27
(0/8)
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1984
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196
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113
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67
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1988
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288
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161
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112
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1990
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382
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291
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181
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1992
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393
(18.8)
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415
(15.5)
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211
(6.7)
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Note:
Figures in parenthesis are per cent canopy
cover
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| Rain
Water Harvesting |
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At
Sukhomajri, four earthen dams have been built between
1976 and 1985. These serve three main purposes;
firstly, to check instantly the gully formation in
agricultural fields and, thereby, effectively prevent
silting through the erosion of soil; secondly, to
store surplus rainwater from the catchment area to be
used later for irrigation after the withdrawal of
monsoon and thirdly, rehabilitation of the catchment.
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Details
of rainwater harvesting dams at Sukhomajri
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Dam
No.
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Year
of construction
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Catchment
area (ha)
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Storage
capacity (m)
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Command
area (ha)
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Cost
(Rs.)
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I
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1976
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4.3
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8000
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6.0
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72,000
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II
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1978
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9.2
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55600
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20.0
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1,09,000
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III
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1980
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1.5
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9500
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2.0
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23,000
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IV
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1985
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2.6
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19300
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5.0
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1,50,000
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INCREASE
IN CROP YIELDS
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With the availability of
irrigation water mainly for rabi crops and
introduction of improved agro-techniques, there was
manifold increase in crop yields both for kharif and
rabi. The average crop yields obtained before the
project and during 2000 are given in Table.
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Cropped
area and yield of crops
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Crop
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Pre-project
(1975-76)
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Post-Project
(1999-2000)
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Area
(ha)
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Average
yield (q/ha)
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Total
yield (q)
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Area
(ha)
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Average
yield (q/ha)
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Total
yield (q)
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Kharif
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Maize
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8.73
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6.0
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52.0
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26.73
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19.5
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521
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Sorghum
(Fodder)
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4.70
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80.0
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376.0
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12.86
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140.0
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1800
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Pulses
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0.56
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3.0
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1.68
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--
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--
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--
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Paddy
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--
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--
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--
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11.70
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25.0
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293
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Rabi
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Wheat
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8.60
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8.0
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69.00
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46.1*
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27.0
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1245
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Gram
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2.26
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4.0
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9.04
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--
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--
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--
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Sugarcane
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1.20
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150.0
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180.0
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1.4
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250
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350
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CHANGE
IN CATTLE COMPOSITION
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Social compulsions, economic considerations,
self restrain and availability of ample
quantity of grass and fodder, both, from
forest area and agricultural fields, brought
about a dramatic change in the cattle
composition in the village. Besides, barseem (Trifolium
alaxandrinum) is now being grown over an area
of 4 ha with an annual biomass production of
140 tonnes. This has given a fillip to the
dairy sector and boosted milk production over
the years.
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REPLICABILITY
OF SUKHOMAJRI MODEL
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The
Departments of Forests, Agriculture and Soil
Conservation, the World Bank aided Integrated
Watershed Development Project (IWDP), in the
North-West Shivalik States, have already implemented
hundreds of such projects in this region. To site an
example, till 1996 the Forest Department Haryana built
approximately 93 rainwater harvesting dams covering 53
villages and about 70 such dams were built by
Department of Soil Conservation, Punjab. The IWDP (Kandi
Project) has adopted this model on a massive scale in
the North-West Shivalik States.
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LESSONS
FROM SUKHOMAJRI
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Peoples’
participation must be ensured right from the
beginning.
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The
needs and the problems of the people must be
identified at the outset.
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Unless
a project is aimed at meeting their needs, solving
their problems and mitigating their hardship, it
may not succeed.
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Watershed
Management Projects should have short gestation
period. The benefits should available in shortest
possible period.
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Constitution
of a village society (HRMS) must be a
pre-requisite before taking up such projects.
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The
emphasis should be on sustainability and equity,
i.e., all the common property resources must be
available to all sections of the society.
Source:S.P.
Mittal, Y. Agnihotri & R.K. Aggarwal, Central Soil
and Water Conservation Research & Training
Institute, Chandigarh.)
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