SCHOOL students of Class 6 and 7 of Ranpur village in Ahmedabad district proved that if there is a will there is water. The village in Barwala taluka was perenially short of water and had no money to build concrete check dams to save rain water. So the students built 34 crude check dams known as ‘bunds’ using sand bags. Experts in the state agriculture and irrigation department say ground water tables have risen in the village this year. The student mission began in July when their geography teacher told them how their village faced water shortage because there were no check dams on the streams to stop water from flowing away. ‘‘There were no funds available to build check dams and the monsoon had already set in. We had to think of some thing to save this year’s rain water,’’ says Arjun Mehta, a student of Ranpur Boys School. A way out of this came from Town Development Officer R.L. Vedhanth. ‘‘Sand bags can be a temporary check dam. A thick wall of sand bags can hold back the water long enough for it to percolate into the ground,’’ Vedhanth told the students. "When students began work, they hoped to build at least five dams. They ended up building 34. The results have left even the state government impressed"Meanwhile, seeing the enthusiasm of students of Ranpur Boys School, teachers of neighbouring Barania Primary School also told their students of this effort. Word spread to Jadila Primary School too—about 2 kms away. Within a week there were about 200 students all wanting to build bunds to save rain water. ‘‘We formed eco-clubs in each school with a team leader and assigned some students to him,’’ says primary school teacher Hassan Shah. But getting plastic bags and sand was a bit of a problem. Help first came from the local agriculture produce marketing committee which sent 20,000 empty fertiliser and cement bags. A villager Narendra Dave brought a truck load of sand and the students got down to work. With their pupils showing the way, 30 teachers from the local school joined them too. The students first built the bund on a tributary of the Bhadar river. Once the first bund was complete, help started pouring in. Officials of Reliance Industries Limited sent 10,000 bags, merchants and trade associations contributed about 50,000 bags and sand and anonymous donors contributed another 30,000 bags and sand. TDO Vedanth says when the work began in July he did not think it was possible to build more than five or ten dams. ‘‘But they ended up building 34 bunds,’’ says S.G. Chudasama, a TDO official. The results of the students efforts even impressed the state government. ‘‘Within two months, water levels in wells in the fields surrounding the bunds rose. The state government in fact sent a team to photograph ecstatic villagers taking out water from wells with buckets,’’ says district development officer D.H. Brahmbhatt. ‘‘It’s a simple technique but very effective. The estimate from the Central Ground Water Board is that water levels rose by 2-3 metres,’’ says Brahmbhatt.
