A watershed programme in Haveri district has improved the productivity of the land, while also creating jobs for the people in their own towns and villages, writes AMRITH JOGI
The implementation of Sujala watershed development project in Haveri district is showing some fruitful results in the first phase. This World Bank-aided project envisages people?s participation in water harvesting and soil conservation works.
The State government had chosen Haveri as one of the five districts, Kolar, Dharwad, Chitradurga and Tumkur being the other four.
This ?reformed? watershed approach believes in natural resources management. It believes in the involvement of community and stake holders? participation in various stages of planning, implementation, management and maintenance.
Earlier, watershed programmes like DPAP (Drought Prone Area Programme) and Danida Watershed Programme merely used to concentrate on physical treatments of soil and water conservation without much emphasis on various other natural resources management and community development activities. According to Watershed Development Department, Sujala Watershed Project is suitable in alleviation of poverty in predominantly rain-dominated areas as it improves the productive potential, enhances production and livelihood systems in the field of agriculture. It also strengthens community and institutional arrangements for the natural resources management.
At present, the activities of watershed project is going through the second phase in Haveri. Six out of seven taluks in the district have been chosen for this project. About 13 micro watershed groups have been formed in Haveri, Hirekerur, Ranebennur, Shiggoan, Byadagi and Savanur taluks. The project covers 62,548 hectares of land in 111 villages. The programme is for five years. ?After that the beneficiaries themselves have to maintain the works done under this programme,? insists the programme officer M Vijayakumar.
The involvement of non-governmental organisations in the scheme is stressed.
Each NGO is entrusted with the job of motivating villagers to take up work under the programme. Conducting informal meetings with individuals or families, street and village meetings, or street plays and jathas etc are some of means adopted by NGOs to do this. ?It is not that difficult as we expected, to make villagers to take up these development works. Our job, besides motivating people, is to provide technical guidance for planning and implementation of works? says Heeladahalli, a worker in Indian Development Society (IDS), an NGO which looks after affairs in Haveri.
The presence of drought in the district since three years made works of government officials and NGO workers a little bit easy as people lined up to find some works.
The government expected to spend Rs 103 crores in three phases of works over the five years in the district. So far 14 area groups have been formed in two micro watershed groups in Itagi and Guttal in Ranebennur and Haveri taluks respectively. ?As many as 34 area groups will be formed in 14 micro groups in other taluks in the second phase. In the third phase constitution of 58 area groups in 7 micro groups will be taken up. The preparatory works are going on,?? informs Vijayakumar.
Micro watershed groups are formed according to rain pattern, geographical location and flowing map of water. Under this, area groups are formed per 80 to 120 hectares of land. Constitution of self help groups is another aspect. These groups will raise peoples? contribution either in the form of money or labour.
To maintain transparency in the works, all details about the works, viz. total number of works, their cost, labour, etc will be displayed in a central place of the target village. The huge wall painting on the bus shelter in Basapur village of Haveri taluk is a good example of this. The local department had so far released Rs 82.50 lakhs to different groups in two micro watersheds out of which 62.50 lakhs were spent.
The groups in turn contributed Rs 10.42 lakhs. 85 farm ponds and 10 mini check dams were constructed in the Guttal micro watersheds to conserve water and soil. Beneficiaries desilted three tanks besides developing forest in 126.26 hectares of common land.
?Besides providing assets in many forms the watershed programme checked migration in the village to a great extent,? says Neelappa Kambali of Vinayaka Sangha, an area group in Basapur village.
According to him about 1,500 to 2,000 villagers used to migrate to Goa and Malnad areas every year. But Sujala watershed works provided works to 3,500 labour workers in their own village.
Besides conservation activities the programme is also helpful to horticulutre, afforestation, live stock and fodder development, and upliftment of vulnerable and tribal groups.
The rains in October in Haveri district gave a boost to the watershed works. One must see whether the programme maintains the same trend even during scanty rainfall which is becoming a regular feature of the district.