Green Zones

With farmers flashing cellphones,their children attending schools,cement-concrete roads,uninterrupted water supply and other amenities not yet common in Marathwadas rural belt,Vavna and Sonari villages are easily exceptions of sorts.

Significantly,the villages turnaround came about only six years ago when the Union governments water conservation project the Drought Prone Area Programme DPAP was started and successfully implemented. A Non-Government Organisation NGO,Dilasa Janvikas Pratishthan DJP,was appointed the nodal implementing agency.

Sarpanch of Sonari village Shankar Dabhade recounts the bleak past of the village where a majority of the population was below poverty line.

Before the projects began in 2003,we sowed only kharif crops. Due to water scarcity,we were completely dependent on monsoon. Consequently,a farmer could earn not more than Rs 25,000 a year. The village wallowed in poverty and youths went to cities in search of jobs. With little work and no money,many villagers turned alcoholics and also took to substance abuse. Many borrowed loans from private money lenders and a few also committed suicide due to huge debts.

Secretary,DJP,Sanjeev Unhale,elaborated on the government scheme. He said the DPAP aims at mitigating the adverse effects of drought on crops and livestock,as also on productivity of land,water and human resources.

Vavna-Sonari villages,being surrounded by mountains,were selected for the scheme.

An elaborate exercise was launched for continuous contour trenching CCT,a low-cost and efficient rainwater harvesting method. The project strived to block rain water coming from the mountains in between the two villages by constructing CCTs and,thus,increase recharge of water.

The pivotal factor was the focus of the DPAP on water conservation,as scarcity of water was at the root of most problems,said Unhale.

DJP project officer Vaishali Khadilkar said it was not easy to convince villagers about the government scheme.

We discussed the benefits of the project threadbare at gram sabha meetings and individual interactions. We demonstrated to the villagers that water flowing from Shekmaru mountain is going into small nullahs outside these villages when it could benefit them immensely. The villagers slowly started taking us seriously and assured us of their participation. That was a partial victory for us, Khadilkar added.

The DJP constructed the first CCT at Shekmaru mountains. Here,about 500 custard apple trees were planted to check soil erosion. A cement plug was constructed at the Kanher Nullah that resulted in increase in water level in the surrounding wells. Till now,11 such plugs have been completed here.

The villages that faced drinking water scarcity in winters,now have enough water even in summers. Agricultural productivity,too,has risen drastically with sufficient water being available for irrigation. Water has appeared in several dry wells and reservoirs.

So far,the water conservation project has successfully brought 340 hectares land in Sonari and 500 hectares land in Vavna village under irrigation.

The related projects like farm bundings,gulley plugs,gabions,Nullah bunding were constructed across the villages under the DPAP in order to make soil and water conservation more effective.

Sonari leads in milk production

Meanwhile,dairy farming was also promoted. Farmers,who couldn8217;t afford to purchase a goat,now own high-quality cows,priced up to Rs 50,000-Rs60,000.

Vavnas sarpanch Prabhakar Dagadgote said: Earlier,we could hardly feed our livestock. But now that we are growing both kharif and rabi crops,we have enough and quality fodder for our cattle. Each villager gets about 25-30 litres milk every day.

Sonari village,according

to Sonari sarpanch Shankar Dhabade,leads in milk production in Phulambri tehsil.

Apart from this,many farmers have began emu farming another lucrative venture.

Changing lifestyle