Watershed Management- Jalgaon District (2019)

Talukas except for two or three in the north and east of Jalgaon, are labelled under drought prone areas with unpredictable rains. At times it rains heavy and then it does not rain for three to four years. The area is also affected badly because of hailstorms. A majority of the population in this area depends on agriculture and hence their economic condition is very weak. There was a time when this area was famous of cultivation of bananas. Now the water level in the ground has gone down to 700 feet. Due to such problems, people are migrating to Pune, Mumbai, Nashik and Gujarat. When the situation gets worst, farmers choose to end their miseries by committing suicide. Condition of farmers in the adjacent Dhule district is no more different.

According to the government, in Jalgaon there are 1,533 villages with population of 42,24,442. Jalgaon covers 11,765 sq. kilometre area. 80 percent of the district is occupied by rural population and 20 percent by the urban.

Bhagini Nivedita is working in the space of Community Development since 2000 in the village Bahadarpur. We are also working in the villages of Nashik, Dhule and Nandurbar on the following lines:

1. Formation of Self Help Groups

2. Creation of opportunities of income generation for women by establishing small enterprises for them

3. Imparting various trainings in agriculture and supporting with finance to the farmers

4. Initiation of various activities for village development

1.Deepening and widening of stream (Nala)

• Day by day the streams/Nalas are getting filled up with mud and soil.

• Many streams/Nalas have been narrowed down due to the encroachment of farms and other things

• Because of the two reasons mentioned earlier, water percolation capacity of land is reduced to a great extent

• It is the need of an hour to do deepening and widening of streams/Nalas after a proper technical survey

2. Soak-pit

• Roof water harvesting

• Soak-pit for sanitation

3. Farm-pond

• Size of a farm-pond depends on the quality of land and available water source

4. Construction and maintenance of bunds

• Conservation of flowing water and soil from farms

5. Bund on streams/nalas

• On the basis of source of water in stream/nala, the distance between two bunds, no. of buds and types of bund are decided

6. Well refilling

• According to the slopes present, percolation of water near a well and then steaming it in the well

7. Tree plantation

• Tree plantation in village, on the roadside area and provision for maintenance of these trees

8. Ponds/lakes/dams

• Rejuvenation of existing lakes/dams and digging out mud residue from them

• Creation of new lakes and dams

9. Underground bunds

• Construction of underground bunds in rivers/streams to control wastage of water flowing underground

10. Drinking water

• Taking necessary actions to overcome scarcity of drinking water in villages

Methodology:

1. First of all, awareness about conservation of water, jungle and land will be created in multiple villages. Mediums like digital presentations, street plays, documentaries, posters and banners etc. will be used to create awareness

2. BNGVN will accept an application and a resolution from a village for starting different interventions by BNGVN in their village

3. Once the village will be chosen, a proper primary survey of the village will be conducted and an action plan and a budget will be made

4. While focusing on the objects of working for conservation of water, land and jungle, initiatives for individuals and society will be implemented by following rules of the land

5. All the technical aspects will be checked and considered before implementation of any activity

6. This project will be implemented only for those who will assure forever maintenance of the work done in their village

7. The villages will be chosen according to the village selection criterion. Final right of selection of villages will be with BNGVN only

8. Different initiatives under this project will be implemented by skilled technicians governed by contract

To change the existing scenario in Jalgaon and to make it prosperous, we are proposing ‘Watershed Management’ as an intervention strategy for the district.

Objective:

1. Agricultural development in Jalgaon district

2. Economic development of farmers in Jalgaon district

3. Water conservation – percolation of each drop of rain in Jalgaon district

4. Soil conservation (Prevention of soil erosion), environment conservation and tree plantation in Jalgaon district