Drought Proofing Programme

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Paani Thiye Panjo In Kutchi means Let us make
water sources ours again Strategies to
Revitalize Develop Traditional, Local Water
Sources as The Main Drinking/Domestic Water
Source in Arid Kutch Gujarat Presentation By
Sushma Iyengar
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Water Heritage of Kutch . . .
3000 year old water management system of Indus
Valley Civilization in Dholavira
Well within talaab Drought Proofing
400 year old lake system
Virdas a living tradition
Roof water harvesting in an old Masjid- Lakhpat
Well within riverbed
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Developing Drinking Water Source
An annual average rain fall of a mere 350mm,
coupled with 2-3 droughts every five years, makes
drinking/domestic water availability the central
issue for any development. The
partnership between Villages Communities, State
and Central Government , a Network of voluntary
organizations, and Technical experts have been
able to demonstrate that the most remote and arid
villages could develop sustaining solutions in
their villages This has ensured adequate and
good quality drinking water, even in droughts.
Womens collectives and Gram Panchayats manage
the supply and distribution of their local,
decentralized, water source and inspire an
understanding that the role of the State, should
ideally be restricted to providing capital costs
for peoples water plans, apart from legislating
and authorizing the Gram Panchayat and the
community to govern their drinking water
security.
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Learning from Tradition..The story of Khari
Village.renamed Leelpar
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• Aquifer Identification
• Well inventory to understand sub surface
  extension and other aquifer properties
• Surface geological mapping
• Surface extension of aquifer
• Demarcation of Zones of Salinity

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Common Dictionary

• For effective communication

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Strategies for Water Resource Development and
Preparation of Action Plan Aquifer Management
HAMIRSAR LAKE
HAMIRSAR LAKE
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Geo-hydrology-based solutions
Typically, as in Khari village, which has a
catchment of 125 ha, the rainwater inflow is
425000 cum, while outflow is 3,82,500 cum. With
runoff _at_ 60 (2,55,000 cum) , and Evaporation _at_
30 (1,27,500 cum), the water balance indicated
that 5-10 rain water harvesting for ground water
recharge could match the drinking water demand
even in a 3 year consecutive drought period.
Therefore the demand of drinking Water 21,600 cum
was infact met by 5 of the total rainfall.
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Available four Aquifers in the districts
Sandstone
Laterite
Weathered Basalt
Alluvium
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Available Shallow aquifers in Kachchh
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Derived Understandings contd

• Salinity Pattern
• Inherent Salinity due to Marine Deposits
• Salinity Ingress from Sea
• Shallow Aquifers in coastal areas
• In deep ground water
• Increasing Salinity due to Evaporation in Rann
  Areas influences Shallow Aquifers

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Identifying Aquifers.

• As most of the rocks are saline and not
  permeable, a regular watershed approach does not
  guarantee a sustainable source even in drought
  years. Out of the 19 Rock formations found in
  Kutch, 4 are good shallow aquifers Sandstone,
  Alluvium, Basalt, and Laterite. Almost every
  village in Kutch has at least one of the four
  aquifers which are sweet and can be recharged.
  Experts from rural comunities, with their
  traditional knowledge, along with geologists and
  engineers map these aquifers, based on which the
  villages are supported to
• Develop the aquifers with recharging strategy
  (check dams)
• Upgrade and develop wells as the main source for
  drawal
• Up-gradation of the traditional talabs
  (separate for cattle and human use)
• Use of solar energy for pumping water instead of
  diesel pumps (thus making the cost of pumping
  viable for the village community, and ensuring
  their ownership and control)

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Water Harvesting Structure developed and Drinking
Water Well developed as the main source by the
community, with Solar Pumping Device, managed by
the women at Dador village, North Kutch
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WATER RESOURCE PLANNING
Dador Groundwater Recharge and Management
Post Monsoon 2003
Post Implementation Scenario Quality Annual
Average TDS 1600 mg/l Post Monsoon 500
mg/l. Change in Groundwater Storage ( 9 m)
Installation of Solar system of 30,000 lit/day
capacity entails an investment cost of Rs. 2.5
lakh which has been recovered in a period of 4
years, while the same amount is normally expended
on a diesal driven pumping operation in three
years.
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Daddhamapar village community collaborates with
Sahjeevan and WASMO to develop water source and
solar pumping device as a viable pumping system
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Moti Sudadhro, Abdasa taluka which was supported
to develop its own source, and integrated this
with WASMO scheme for distribution
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Case Study of Naliya A Town of about 35,000
Population

• Prevailing Drinking Water Source of Naliya had
  poor quality of groundwater for drinking purpose,
  however, people were using it for other domestic
  purposes. The local source was connected with a
  six km long pipeline - the water drawn by this
  bore well was coming from sandstone covered by
  alluvium.
• To improve the groundwater quality in well - a
  percolation tank with three recharge pits was
  built, which has improved the water quality from
  2100 ppm TDS to 1600 ppm TDS

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It is important to strengthen the water planning
for the towns of the Taluka if one had to
eliminate the need to be dependant on the Narmada
as the primary source of drinking water. In 2005
Sahjeevan collaborated with the Panchayat of
Nalia ( the Taluka capital of 35000 people ) to
develop their comprehensive water management plan
and develop and recharge their aquifers.
Recharge Well
Borewell Site
Traditional wells - Dhamani and Panjarapol wells
which traditionally provided drinking water had
become inadequate due to small diameter and lack
of lifting arrangements this was resolved by
simply increasing diameter and depth of well
Dhaamani Well
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Vajira village in North Kutch which has tapped
its drinking water resource between two aquifers
and drought proofed itself even in years of
consecutive droughts
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Varnu village of Rapar taluka in East Kutch is
located on the fringes of the Little Rann of
Kutch. The village has a population of 735,
covering 151 households. The village undertook
the deblocking of catchment area, deepening and
desiltation of the talaab and renovation of the
4 wells to tap the underground water.
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Glimpse of Decentralized, local drinking water
sources revived and newly developed in 30 more
villages with support from MoRD

Sluice Valve
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3
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Lakhara D/W Talav Well
D/W talav well-Lakhara
D/W well- Nani Sudhdhro
D/W Well-Beru
4
3
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Regional development approach A Taluka takes up
planning for local sources.

• No. of Villages which have achieved self
  sufficiency in drinking/domestic water even in
  consecutive drought years by developing and
  maintaining their traditional system - 52
  villages
• Plan for one entire taluka Abdasa, with 165
  villages has been initiated through a
  collaboration between WASMO and Sahjeevan

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Challenges we faced before this approach was
truly accepted and institutionalized

• Changing the mind-set Communities believe that
  water is the sole responsibility of the state
  State believes that water from local sources
  cannot meet the growing need, and only
  centralized systems can fulfill this NGOs more
  comfortable in the role of implementors rather
  than socio-technical facilitators
• Since water from centralized sources are so
  heavily subsidized, there is a disincentive to
  develop, self-manage, and govern their domestic
  water sources/needs
• Doubts on the reliable availability of water
  through local sources in arid areas then doubts
  on its replicability then doubts on its
  upscaling potential!
• Developing a methodology and system for
  integrating traditional wisdom/knowledge with
  advanced technical and scientific
  expertise/knowledge for learning and delearning.
• Developing a sustaining solution by taking the
  existing and projected need as a given not the
  entire catchment as the base premise
• Using the guideline as a GUIDELINE not as a rule
  book for context specific, varied micro
  conditions.

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Developing critical mechanisms to overcome the
challenges..

• Undertaking detailed decentralized
  geo-hydrological planning with Gram Panchayats
  considering water budgeting, traditional sources,
  salinity patterns, overall water quality, and
  potential technological alternatives - at the
  village level, cluster of villages, block, and
  district.
• Setting up a college of rural youth as para
  water engineers who can motivate, and facilitate
  basic planning, implementation, and management of
  the developed drinking water source at the
  village level.
• Foster multi-stakeholder partnership based on
  known strengths State, Coordinating Agency,
  Technical Resource Group, Handholding
  organizations, and implementing bodies (Gram
  Panchayats, and Pani Samitis)

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Critical issues before us

• Protection of aquifers from competing users
  especially industries and agriculturalists.
• - Demarcation of acquifers within the village
• - Protective legal frameworks for Gram
  Panchayats especially
• Not adequately recognizing the growing pace of
  urbanization of rural areas which increases the
  stress on centrally managed drinking water supply
  schemes. (And therefore the need to develop local
  sources as the primary source, and centrally
  managed schemes as the back-up support system).
• -Urgent need to introduce a pricing policy which
  loads the incentive towards use of local source
  as primary source.

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• Thank You!