|
The
project location
Pimpalgaon Wagha is a
small village covering an area of 840 ha in the Ahmednagar
district of the state of Maharashtra. It is located at the
foot of barren and rocky hills in the rain shadow area of
the Western Ghats. With an average annual rainfall of 511
mm, most of which falls within a span of a few days,
Pimpalgaon Wagha has been experiencing severe droughts for
many years.The landscape is marked by heavy soil erosion.
The highly eroded stony soil is largely unfit for
cultivation, but for the lack of alternatives, the people of
Pimpalgaon Wagha continue to grow crops.
Pimpalgaon Wagha has 879 inhabitants, 27% of the families
belong to backward caste, they live at the border of the
village. A socio-economic study conducted in early 1988
revealed a very grim picture. Because of recurrent drought
and the resulting poor economic condition, the 879
inhabitants often experienced hunger and were prone to many
diseases. The women were the worst affected. Drinking water
was not available within the village and they had to walk
for miles to get water and fuelwood. More often than not,
this task was given to young girls, who had to leave school
to help in household chores and were, as a result, deprived
of education.
In 1988 Social Centre, a voluntary agency which has been
working in the district for two decades, decided to work in
the village because of its poor condition. When Social
Centre approached the village, the people expressed a desire
to start a dairy co-operative as they had seen one in a
neighbouring village. Social Centre helped them in this
endeavour and also helped them obtain loans to buy better
cattle. Thus a relationship of trust was established.
|
The
Way to Success
|
| |
|
Ø
In 1989 Social Centre decided to introduce watershed
development in Pimpalgaon Wagha. Some villagers were
taken on an exposure visit to Adgaon and Ralegan
Siddhi, where experiments of participatory watershed
development had been successful. The villagers were
very impressed and enthused. They saw the benefits
of watershed development and decided to try out the
same in their village. The conditions laid down for
successful implementation of watershed development
were quite rigid and demanded a change in the
prevailing lifestyle of village community. But the
now-motivated people readily accepted the
conditions.
Ø
Watershed
development involves the complete participation of
the affected people, where they are responsible for
the planning, implementation and monitoring of the
project. The people of Pimpalgaon Wagha formed a
Village Watershed Committee (VWC) to oversee the
activities involved developing their watershed. This
body was nominated from among the villagers and was
representative of all communities and geographical
regions within the village. This was again a novel
experience as the backward communities who had never
really been part of the village affairs now had fair
representation on this decision-making body. As the
VWC had been unanimously nominated by the villagers,
the better-off farmers lobby could not dominate it.
Ø
A
ban was imposed on free grazing and free felling.
The villagers decided to levy a fine on defaulters.
The villagers also sold off their scrub cattle and
replaced them by good quality hybrid cattle. Goats
were sold off, as a result of which children who
otherwise had to tend them could go to school. The
villagers then decided to take up measures to
conserve soil and water.
Ø
Social
Centre gave them support for technical surveys and
other managerial assistance. A nursery was set up by
a small farmer. Treatment measures like contour
trenching, contour bunding, gully plugging,
construction of check dams and percolation tanks
were taken up. The villagers contributed free labour
on the basis of two man-days per month per family or
two days wages in lieu of labour. Women also
contributed free labour for tree plantation
activities.
Ø
The villagers were trained to carry out tasks like
surveying and levelling. The activities were
monitored by a supervisor who was also from the
village. The result was that the people began to
feel responsible for the project and so worked hard
to make it a success.
|
Social
Before the implementation of watershed programme the
backward communities were considered as social outcasts. The
watershed movement brought about a change in this attitude
of the people of Pimpalgaon Wagha. Social taboos have been
lifted and these people are now allowed freely in the
village. The backward communities have a fair representation
on the VWC and participate actively in the decision-making
process.
As more children could go to school, literacy in the
village improved and today the literacy rate is about 80%.
Biogas plants were set up in some households in the village
and their fuel wood consumption declined. As drinking water
had become available within the village, the women did not
have to go far for water and so could contribute more
positively to the development of the village. They set up a
revolving credit and made loans available to the needy at
the low interest rate of 2%.
Economic
The soil and water
conservation measures increased the water levels in the
village wells and water was available for about 11 months in
the year. Before watershed development was introduced in
Pimpalgaon Wagha, only 40 of the 75 wells had water and that
too for just 8 months. As a result, the farmers could
irrigate their fields and agricultural productivity
increased by nearly 50%.
Horticulture was introduced in the village on wastelands and
private farmlands bringing more land (33 ha) under
productive use. Eleven ha is under dryland horticulture,
while the remaining 22 ha under mango, chickoo, orange and
tangerine cultivation is irrigated. The dairy co-operative
is running successfully and milk production has also gone up
to 1200 litres per day. As more opportunities for employment
have become available within the village, the migration to
urban areas and other agricultural wage labours has stopped.
In fact, some families who had earlier left the village have
now returned.
Natural
resources
Positive impacts
on natural resources are also observed. The once rocky
hillsides around Pimpalgaon Wagha are now covered with
grasses and shrubs, as a result of the ban on free grazing
and free felling. In spite of the drought situation, nearly
80% survival rate is seen in the 200,000 saplings planted by
the people.
Soil erosion had
declined considerably and grasses are growing along the
waterways. Streams which would flow only up to November now
flow up to January even in a dry year. Drinking water is
available even in the dry years. This year, for example, the
monsoons did not arrive in Pimpalgaon Wagha till September,
but the people had drinking water, and could also irrigate
their horticulture plots.
Today,
Pimpalgaon Wagha acts as a role model for other village
communities that wish to help themselves and better their
conditions. The people of Pimpalgaon Wagha have even decided
to adopt another village community in their vicinity and
introduce it to watershed development, thus giving an
impetus to a watershed movement.
References
:
-
Lobo C. & Kochendorfer-Lucius G, 1992. The rain
decided to help us. Pimpalgaon Wagha: an experience in
participatory watershed development in Maharashtra State,
India. GTZ, Bonn.
- Pangara G. & Pangara V, 1992. From poverty to
plenty: The story of Ralegan Siddhi. Studies in
ecology and sustainable development No. 5. INTACH, 71,
Lodi Estate, New Delhi - 110 003, India.
Source:
Centre
for Information on Low External Input and Sustainable
Agriculture (www.ileia.org)
|
