Aquaculture project Ramapuram
From End Of Poverty
AQUACULTURE project implemented in Ramapuram; a fisherman village affected by tsunami.
All the fishermen families of Ramapuram, a coastal village in Prakasam District, were hit by Tsunami either directly or indirectly and are not in a position to get their tank renovated without any external support. However, the community is very much determined to take up this activity as they have been requesting it repeatedly. The villagers can do this work manually as the work involved is only the earth works excavation and developing bunds. Earthwork excavation has to be done to a depth of 1.2 mts for the tank area of 190 mts length x 90 mts width.
The following are the various sub-activities being planned under this programme:
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Earth work excavation and forming bund around the tank:
A bund with a bottom width of 3.5 metres and top with 1.5 metres to a height of 1.5 metres all around the tank will be developed. Circumference of the tank is 560 metres. Soil taken out from the tank area is used for forming the bund. It is estimated that 6,720 cubic metres of soil excavated from the tank will be required for forming the bund all around the tank. One person can excavate 3 cubic metres of soil in the tank per day at the cost of Rs. 81. Accordingly, 2,240 man-days are required to do the earth work excavation and formation of bund simultaneously. Hence, the total cost for the earth work excavation of 6,720 cubic metres and laying a bund to a length of 560 metres (3.5 metres x 1.5 metres x 1.5 metres) is estimated at Rs. 181,440. The villagers will be motivated to contribute Rs. 11 per man-day as their contribution for developing the tank. This small amount of villagers contribution will be useful to promote the ownership of the tank and the community can feel it is ours and they take care of it with utmost care. As such, Rs. 24,640 will be the villagers’ contribution for this activity and the required external assistance is Rs. 156,800.
Earth work excavation in the tank area and removing the soil:
Another area of 14,280 cubic metres of soil has to be removed to form the tank and the soil has to be transported to a minimal distance of 250 metres away from the tank area. Soil is thus also will be used to fill the low-lying areas in their dwelling places where the house construction is under process. Part of the soil will also be used to form the roads and to fill other low-lying areas within their dwelling place. One person can remove the soil in an area of 3 cubic metres and put it in the tractor. Accordingly, 4,760 man-days are needed to do the excavation of 14,280 cubic metres. But, it is estimated at Rs. 45 per day only since the transportation through the tractor is lighter than forming bunds simultaneously in the above activity. Similar to the above, the villagers will be motivated to contribute Rs. 5 per day as their contribution for the formation of tank to feel the ownership. Hence, the total cost of the earthwork excavation of 14,280 cubic metres at the cost of Rs. 15 per cubic metre is Rs. 214,200. Villagers’ contribution would be Rs. 23,800 and thus required external assistance is Rs. 190,400.
Second sub-activity under this would be the transportation of the soil far away from the tank. Soil taken out of 14,280 cubic metres can be estimated at 4,760 units. As such, 4,760 trips of soil have to be transported to a minimal distance of 250 metres away from the tank. A tractor can make a minimum of 20 trips per day. Hence, 3 or 4 tractors have to be hired at the fixed unit cost of Rs. 54 per each trip as per the local rates. Total transportation cost for carrying the soil of 4,760 units can be estimated at Rs. 257,040.
Strengthening the bund with tree plantation:
In order to strengthen the bund and to withstand any eventuality in future, it is suggested to plant the wind-breaking trees on the bund. 200 trees will be planted at 2.8 metres distance to a circumference of 560 metres all around the tank. ASSIST along with the community elders will obtain the required quantity of 200 trees from the Government nursery at free of cost. All the 200 trees will be planted by the villagers at the cost of Rs. 10 each and Rs.2,000 will be the contribution of villagers.
One technical person will be exclusively assigned to monitor and execute the work for a period of 4 months. He will ensure the execution of work as per the time plan given in the project proposal. He will be assisted constantly by the Area Coordinator, Community Organiser and professional staff from Headquarters.
Constraints / Challenges:
- Heavy rains sometimes hamper the work.
- Raising local contribution is a big problem due to poor condition of the community.
