Marathwada is unfortunately infamous for drought. MANAVLOK implements several activities in hundreds of villages to minimize the problems of people due to drought and make village water abundant. The best way to tackle this scarcity is watershed development. As Man and his environment are interdependent, the changes in the surrounding environment directly affect the lives of the people depending on it. We are implementing the following activities to achieve the goal of a drought-proof village. Previously state government of Maharashtra selected MANAVLOK as the ‘Mother NGO’ for implementing WSD program. For this project government of Maharashtra selected 13 NGOs from Maharashtra on the basis of their contribution and experience in watershed development and water management.
CCT’s are excavating continuous trenches (60 cm wide x 30 cm. deep) on continuous contour lines which are mark, prepared with the help of contour marker.Trenching was started from top to bottom. Distance between two trenches is depends upon the slope as well as availability of time and resources.
This activity is executed with the help of earthmovers machinery, a trench of size 1*1 M along the contour line is excavated so that more water will be stored.
These are small structures constructed in the upper ridge of watershed area or waste land (having slop more than 5%), undulating topography and/or where run off is high. It is performed by labors with stone available at local site. It tends to protect soil erosion from hilly area and also helps in vegetation.
This activity is approximately similar to farm bunding. It is performed by constructing bund of size 0.30*0.80 *0.60 M with stone available at site. It can be only performed with the help of labors.
These are generally built to temporarily halt the flow of water, to enable the soil conservation and storage of water. The bund created is the mixture of soft rock and black cotton soil.
This activity is combination of gabion structures and Cement Nala Bunds except cost difference. This structure stores water almost similar to the quantity that of CNBs but comparatively very low cost. It is totally executed with the help of labors. A concrete wall of 2M is constructed partially then stone with chain mesh are bounded together to increase its strength.
Farm pond is a structure constructed to store the water on the farm by excavating a pit. Farm ponds are small tanks or reservoirs constructed to store water, essentially runoff water.
This structure is constructed by making a trench of 5*3*2 M in size along the streams or brooks where there is moderate flow.WADTs create a barrier to flowing water andalsotrap fertile soil.
Farm pond is a structure constructed to store the water on the farm by excavating a pit. Farm ponds are small tanks or reservoirs constructed to store water, essentially runoff water.
This activity is performed to create more water storage. It is totally a construction work executed with the help of machines and skilled labors. A bund in 2 meter height along river basin constructed and stores back water upto 100 meters.
The objective is to excavate the silt from the dried dams using earth moving machinery and spread it over nearby farms. The activity increases the water holding capacity of the dried dams, meanwhile also enhancing the soil fertility of the farmlands.
Doha is created by widening and deepening of existing Nala or river. The size of Doha varies between 10-15 M as per the local sites. The sole purpose is to rejuvenate the water structures.
It is performed in a river basin where water percolation is poor, mostly in black cotton soil. A 100 feet bore-well is drilled, and a trench of 2.5*2*2 meters is created and filled with stones, pebbles, and sand to increase recharge.
Rejuvenation work of Holna river and its tributaries was carried out in the villages of Patoda, Palaskheda, Devala from Ambajogai block of Beed district. The work of rejuvenation started in January, 2016 in the auspicious presence of renowned Water Expert Honorable Mr.Rajendra Singh. More than 10 KM of work has been completed in these villages.
This activity is performed to rejuvenate the existing defunct bore-well. A trench of 2.5*2*2 Meters is created and filled with stones, pebbles, and sand.
The objective is to increase agricultural production by desilting old wells that will enable farmers to draw water from the wells in the times of scarcity. Because of the desilting the farmers have started using the wells they had abandoned. The rejuvenation of the old wells has also created the availability of water in the Rabi Season. This activity has benefitted the farmers and has increased their crop production.
Water saving devices- drip/sprinkler sets were provided to develop a micro-irrigation systems that will enable farmers to utilize water from the wells or farm ponds in their farmland in times of scarcity as optimum utilization. With drip/sprinklers available for irrigation, farmers are now saving more water compared to the traditional method.
Drought proofing in the region is done by carrying out tree plantations. It helps in increasing green vegetation, preventing soil erosion, providing means of livelihood for marginal farmers, and mitigating the impacts of climate change.
In the year 2019-22, 8 machines were provided by Manavlok to clean the sub-minors Yeldari and Siddheshwar dam canals at the request of the Purna Irrigation Department, Tal. Wasmat Dist. Hingoli. The canal water gets distributed in the three districts: Hingoli, Parbhani, and Nanded. A major canal cleaning project was carried out. Within this, a stretch of 450 km was cleaned from 2019 to 2020. In the period 2020-2021 and 2021-2022, canal cleaning was done for 370 km and 270 km respectively.
The purpose of this project is to ‘Strengthen the Institutional Arrangements for Drinking Water Safety and Security Planning and its implementation in rural areas of Maharashtra’- supported by evidence generation and upstream advocacy with a demonstration in three districts (Latur, Pune, Osmanabad) of Maharashtra.
MANAVLOK team worked in reclaiming saline soil in the villages of Shirur Block, Pune (Project: Lavan2020). We supported in desilting, and provided advisory assistance to the villagers about saline soil management and micro-irrigation techniques. Overall, the project helped in rejuvenating the 16 km stream by deepening & widening. We also implemented compartment bunding in 2000 acres to reduce soil salinity and groundwater runoff, thereby, benefiting 400 families directly.