WATER

From End Of Poverty

2. WATER:

At the Global level, one third of people are without access to safe water and one third of people are without access to sanitation. At national level in India, about 12 percent of people are without access to water, about 69 percent of people are without access to sanitation .In other words, about 125 million people have no water supply, about 700 million people have no toilets and practice open defecation.

The State’s rural population currently stands at about 55 million, and the rural drinking water requirement is estimated at 845.48 mcm (million cubic metres) per annum, at the consumption rate of 40-50 lpcd. At present, the requirement is being met to the extent of 634.11 mcm and there is a deficit of 211.3 mcm. It may be noted that the rural population in the State is expected to increase to 60 million by 2020.

As on date, there are only 11 districts in the State that have rural water supply schemes supplying water in excess of 34 lpcd. In 11 other districts, the water supply is ranging from 2 to 33 lpcd. Against a total number of 69,732 rural habitations receiving water supply as of April 2002, 44,591 habitations receive full supply, 1,157 receive partial supply, and 17,984 receive quality affected supply. A total of 21,028 rural habitations in the state are confronted with quality-affected supply. The most glaring problem is that of fluorides (12,068 habitations), while brackish water and iron related problems affect 8,519 and 441 habitations, respectively. Upto 2001, the fluorides and brackish water problem was addressed in 4,326 and 3,592 habitations. The iron problem, however, remains unaddressed.

In spite of continuous efforts made by the Governmental departments and Non-Governmental sector, it is very sad to state that we are not in a position to provide safe drinking water to the masses both in urban and rural areas in this region. The immediate solution to address the problem in this emergency situation is either to drill bore-wells or to supply water in trucks to the problematic villages. Once we analyse the problem in depth, it can be realised that there is problem in basic provision of water to all needs – dinking, consumption, irrigation and industry. To ensure the proper provision of water to all these needs, there is severe problem in conservation, usage and proper management of water provisions.

Bore wells:

Lack of safe and potable water is a basic problem in the villages. Drought-prone areas suffer for want of safe water all through the year and more so in the summer. The situation is more severe with the failure of monsoon rains year by year. Whenever the drinking water bore wells are provided, the government used to concentrate in the main villages as they have voice and power to get things done. Hence, the disadvantaged poor do not get the minimal basic amenities.

Drinking water is becoming a scarce commodity day by day. Optimum use of drinking water sources is the need of hour. However, the demand for safe and drinking water is becoming a great need and necessity in view of the vast population growth in the rural areas.

In light of this, ASSIST has developed the following guidelines for the provision of drinking water bore wells:

1. New bore well should be provided only in a community where a group of people are living permanently. 2. New bore well should be fixed only in a community place and not in a private place. If there is no possibility for a private place in that specific locality, the private place could be used for the provision of bore well only on the written agreement from the respective owner. The agreement should specifically mention that the facility can be used by all the needy in the locality irrespective of caste or creed. 3. New bore well should cater the needs of a minimum of 150 people or 30 families. It should be open to all the categories of people in the community irrespective of caste or creed. 4. The minimum distance of 100 mts. should be maintained from the existing either drinking water or irrigation bore well. 5. Participation of the local community is must for the provision of new drinking water bore well. Based on the socio-economic status of the specific target community, the maximum participation has to be obtained.

Over the past 22 years ASSIST has helped to install over 1,000 bore wells which are taken care of by the respective Village Development Societies for the proper maintenance including the disposal of waste water and drainage.

Provision of bore well is implemented in the following five phases:

Phase I: Identification on suitable points for drilling operations - A hydro-geological reconnoitres will be conducted with the help of qualified hydro-geologists. On locating the most suitable area where the chances of striking ground water are good and where drainage problems will not arise, geophysical resistivity test will be conducted to assist the depth and volume of water. In all, soundings will be taken at two or three places and the best sounding site will be taken up for drilling. In this process, the community will be involved so that a sense of ownership and ecological awareness is imbibed.

Phase 2: Drilling of the bore well: The responsible village elders will ensure proper depth of the bore well and note down the different depths at which the water is struck. The required depth of casing pipe based on the soil conditions will be lowered. The discharge of the water will be measured with V-notch.

Phase 3: Platform construction and soakage pit: The villagers will participate in excavation for the construction of platform and soakage-pit and supervise the construction of the platform. The precautions will be taken for the proper drainage system at each and every point drilled.

Phase 4: Installation of hand pump: Based on the discharge of water, Mark II hand pump which gives a discharge of 12 litres per minute will be installed.

Each bore well is expected to cater the needs of 200 - 300 population or fifty families.

Protected Water Supply Schemes:

Another viable solution to overcome the problem of lack of potable water in the villages or slums is by taking up a protected water supply scheme to cover one or a group of communities. This is most feasible where the ground water is not at all useful and where the permanent solution could be to draw the water from the far water source which could be a deep bore well or open well or canal water. This is one of the methods followed by the Government. But in some of the villages the Government might ignore the provision of extension of pipeline to the deserving communities when they do not have voice. ASSIST tries to identify such communities and plans to either take up the scheme exclusively for them or extend the existing schemes to them wherever feasible.

Normal procedure followed in these schemes is to identify the appropriate water source feasible for drinking purposes. It could be either canal or deep bore well or open well depending on the area. Such water is collected in the sump well, if necessary. Then water is taken through the pumping main to Over Head Storage Reservoir (OHSR) by installing suitable motors and pump sets. In between the sump well and pumping main, water is treated through the slow sand filter to purify the water. Later water in OHSR is also treated constantly as part of regular maintenance process. Selection of place to establish OHSR is crucial as it should be as high as possible to ensure the proper distribution to all the communities by gravity. Capacity of OHSR is calculated based on the population and required quantum of water. Hence, it implies laying the pipe line to a distance of pumping main, construction of OHSR of required capacity and the construction of pump house with the installation of motors and pump sets. Distribution pipelines are installed from OHSR to all the intended communities and required number of public taps also provided for each community. Thus the safe water is provided to the problematic communities either by the extension of existing schemes or provision of new schemes.

Water Treatment Plants:

Another intervention is to provide safe drinking water through Reverse Osmosis Technique for villages affected with excess fluoride and other dangerous chemicals in groundwater. Water Treatment Plant of 1,000 litres capacity per hour will cater the needs of around 2,000 people in a village.

Prakasam is one of the problematic districts in the State of Andhra Pradesh with the prevalence of excess fluoride content in the ground water. Latest government reports specify the excess fluoride content above the permissible limits in 322 habitations. People living in these habitations have no alternative except using the available water and as a result the elderly people suffer with orthopaedic disorders while the total population are affected with teeth disorders.

The first activity of this intervention is to obtain the required site within the community to establish the plant. This will be acquired with the voluntary contribution of the villagers or local panchayat. The second activity is to drill a bore well of 6” diameter to a depth of 200 to 300 feet depending on the availability of required quantum of water. Required casing pipe will also be installed while drilling the bore well.

A small shed of 20’ x 15’ will be constructed adjacent to the bore well to install the Reverse Osmosis Plant (ROP), raw water tank and safe water tanks. Reverse Osmosis Plant will be installed adjacent to the bore well in a shed with all the required filters to purify the raw water. Capacity of the plant depends on the population to be covered under this plant.

The objectives of this plant are:

• Remove the pathogenic organisms; • Remove color and turbidity; • Remove unpleasant and objectionable taste and odour; • Remove dissolved gases; • Remove suspended, colloidal and dissolved substances of both organic and inorganic origin; • Reduce corrosive and tuberculation properties of water which affect the pipes; • Make water fit for human consumption;

The raw water is fed in the inlet of multi-media filter for removal of suspended impurities. After multimedia filter, the carbon filter will be provided to remove the odour and the color of the water. Then water is pumped in high pressure through the Reverse Osmosis block, wherein the major quantities of dissolved salts are rejected in the reject stream and almost the pure water comes out as a separate stream. The plant also provides the Ultra-Violet sterilisers to further kill any trace of bacteria or germs in the water. Purified water is supplied to the target population through the cans and other containers. Desalination Plants:

Another intervention is to provide safe drinking water through Desalination Plant of Reverse Osmosis Technique for the villages having the availability of only brackish water adjacent to Bay of Bengal.

Krishna district has pockets of islands along the Krishna river adjacent to Bay of Bengal. Communities situated in these islands have the major problem with the non-avaialbility of potable water sources within their dwelling locations. These communities are surrounded by brackish water as the Krishna River is polluted with the brackish water coming from Bay of Bengal.

Average TDS level in this brackish water is 45,000 ppm. Hence, this water can not be purified with the normal reverse osmosis technique even as it can not dissolve the elements more than 10,000 ppm. Hence, the only alternative solution is either to purify the brackish water with desalination plant or to provide the water pipe line from the inland areas, which is quite expensive.

Lack of safe water in these communities has become a major obstacle for the development of these communities. Many people are forced to migrate to other places to save their lives leaving their fields in these islands. If the situation continues, there is a danger that these islands become empty and the fertile land becomes barren. Health conditions of people in these communities are also affected very badly and they suffer with chronic diseases lacking proper health care, too.

It is visible in all these villages that water-borne diseases are common and almost all the categories of population are affected with the consumption of polluted water.

The first activity of the project is to obtain the required site for the establishment of the plant in the target community as the contribution from the village either from an individual or from the local panchayat. The second activity is to install motor and the pipeline to draw the brackish water from the channel of Krishna river going to Bay of Bengal.

A small room of 20’ x 15’ will be constructed closure to the water source to install the Reverse Osmosis Plant (ROP), raw water tank and safe water tanks. Reverse Osmosis Plant will be installed in the room with all the required filters to purify the raw water. Technical specifications of the plant are given in the enclosed document. Capacity of the proposed plant will depend on the size of population in that particular community.

The objectives of this plant are:

• Remove the pathogenic organisms; • Remove color and turbidity; • Remove unpleasant and objectionable taste and odour; • Remove dissolved gases; • Remove suspended, colloidal and dissolved substances of both organic and inorganic origin; • Reduce corrosive and tuberculation properties of water which affect the pipes; • Make water fit for human consumption;

The raw water is fed in the inlet of multi-media filter for removal of suspended impurities. After multimedia filter, the carbon filter will be provided to remove the odour and the color of the water. Then water is pumped in high pressure through the Reverse Osmosis block, wherein the major quantities of dissolved salts are rejected in the reject stream and almost the pure water comes out as a separate stream. The plant also provides the Ultra-Violet sterilisers to further kill any trace of bacteria or germs in the water. Purified water is supplied to the target population through the cans and other containers.

Renovation of existing water sources:

Poor maintenance of the existing water sources in these remote villages is one of the major problems and this situation is making the people especially the women and children unhealthy. Renovation of existing water sources is one of the felt-needs of the people to promote good sanitary environment in their dwelling places. Most of the problems with regarding to the existing water sources are the broken platforms, damaged hand pumps, no proper drainage facilities and stagnation of water around the hand pump. Respective People’s Organisations are motivated to take up these water sources on a priority basis and see that they are restored properly and good environmental sanitary conditions are prevailed in these target villages. Even after the renovation People’s Organisations are made responsible to ensure the proper maintenance of the hand pumps on their own by identifying responsible person from the body in that particular locality.

In order to ensure the proper usage and maintenance of these water sources, number of activities are followed by ASSIST:

Potential youth (two or three per village) will be identified to work as mechanics and care takers eventually in order to ensure the safe and proper maintenance of water sources in their respective communities. These youth are given intensive training in cleaning, greasing and tightening the hand pumps constantly.

The WASAN (water and sanitation) committees will be promoted in all the communities as part of the promotion and strengthening of the POs. This committee plays vital role in mobilising the people and implement all the planned activities and finally to achieve the intended objectives of the programme. To perform all these tasks and to improve the capacities and capabilities of these committees training camps are organised for the representatives of these committees.

Water for Irrigation

The cropping pattern in ASSIST operational area is by and large oriented towards food production and maintenance of livestock. In recent times however the pattern has shifted towards horticulture in the upland areas while in coastal areas the emphasis is being put on timber cultivation. In certain areas along the coast, fertile food producing lands have been converted into fish and prawn tanks. This type of shift in land use has been possible for only rich farmers and urban businessmen who are able to invest sufficient money for changing the natural conditions of the land especially irrigation and land development. The small and marginal farmers on the other hand are gradually loosing their land to big farmers and not able to meet the adverse climatic conditions such as recurrent droughts and untimely rains and floods on the one hand and on the other hand the pressure of going in for commercial agriculture which has become very expensive. It is said that indebtedness and crop failure are inevitable outcomes of the corporate model of industrial agriculture being introduced in India through globalisation. The value of dry land is fluctuating yearly according to the level of indebtedness of the farmers. If the farmers have lost the crop and are in debt, the land value automatically plummets that year.

Even though, the statistics show that there are about 74.15% small and marginal farmers in Prakasam District, the percentage is likely to decrease in view of the increasing rural indebtedness among the small and marginal farmers due to commercial crops which are spreading rapidly in rural areas. The percentage of food crops is 54% in Prakasam District and at the state level it is 58% while at all India level it is 72%. Therefore one conclusion that may be drawn is that the cropping pattern is tending towards more and more commercial crops increasing the vulnerability of the small and marginal farmers in the District.

To prove the point a recent study of 60 random families of cotton farmers who had committed suicides in different Districts during the last two years revealed that majority of the farmers are in the prime of their age i.e. below 40 years, that except for 16 families who had between 5 to 7 acres of land the rest were small and marginal farmers including 6 who had no land of their own at all. Most of the small and marginal farmers also took land on lease in addition to their own land.

The reason for suicides were given as indebtedness, the reasons for the indebtedness was given as crop failure and the reason for crop failure was predominantly attributed to lack of water for irrigation either untimely monsoon or lack of sufficient water from existing sources. Spurious seed, pesticides and high interest rates charged by the money lenders came in the second category of responses for indebtedness. The study explicitly showed that the small and marginal farmers are becoming more and more vulnerable than big farmers with the shift from food crops to cash crops and land alienation is taking place at a fast rate to repay the debts incurred.

In this regard the conditions of the landless agricultural labour are seen to be better on account of increased wages in both agriculture and other works. The small and marginal farmers who traditionally depended on their own labour for cultivating land have now been loosing the wages for their labour as well as investment for inputs. Many small and marginal farmers have been loosing their lands in the process of farming becoming capitalistic and ownership getting concentrated in a few hands. The small and marginal farmers have been becoming landless agricultural labourers having to depend on the mercy of the landlords.

Water has come to play a very important role in defining the agricultural production relationships. The well-to-do farmers are able to invest in developing water sources for their lands. The irrigated area is about 35% of the total cultivated area. Out of this 60% is under groundwater structures such as wells, tube-wells and tanks. The canal irrigation constitutes about 40% of the area. Now the 60% of the irrigated area by and large are located on the Western side of the District where the groundwater potential is good. The 40% of canal irrigation take place in certain parts of the District, which are closer to the girdle-like path of the Nagarjunasagar project canal. The value of irrigated land is more than three to four times of the dry land. Most of the irrigated land has already moved into the hands of the big landowners. In most of these villages, one finds only landlords and landless agricultural labour. The villages situated interior from the canal line has large segment of small and marginal farmers, a few big farmers and a few landless agricultural labourers. Now due to pressure on land the speculation is increasing in land acquisition. The two river basins of Gundlakamma and Musi have become very busy places for land deals. The main reason for this is that the regenerated water from the Nagarjunasagar canal network in addition to the rainfall in the upper reaches has turned the two rivers into almost perennial rivers. The water is available for irrigation provided one could lift it to the lands. Therefore the rich farmers in rural areas joined by businessmen in urban areas are ready to buy the land where the possibility for getting water exists, particularly at the side of rivers and drains, as a commercial venture. The indebtedness among the small and marginal farmers is making them sell land at threw away prices and become landless agricultural labourers or migrate to other areas for work.

It is under these circumstances that ASSIST took up the challenge to work for the small and marginal farmers. The methodology of supporting the small and marginal farmers has been to form them into groups according to the location and contiguity of their lands, make them aware of various issues related to their lives, impart training to them on leadership qualities and finally make them together explore solution to their irrigation needs. The process of enabling them to crystallise the need and solution usually takes about a year. During this period the government departments are contacted to represent their problems, the local elected representatives are approached to pursue the matter at appropriate higher levels and finally the technical plans and cost estimates are worked out for implementation of the project to bring irrigation to the land identified for irrigation. During this process, ASSIST is continuously with the people encouraging and motivating them. For implementation of the project, the beneficiaries are formed into a committee, which takes care of raising local contributions by way of labour and cash and also liaison with the government. After the completion of the project the beneficiaries are constituted into a Water Users Association, which then manages the project. During this period of involvement, ASSIST also enables the emergence of other associations at the village level to look into different development needs of the village such as Village Development Society. The Village Development Society becomes the main institution for village development. At the time of withdrawal from the village the programmes and assets developed at the village level such as balwadi centre, health worker and any other need based programmes are handed over to the Village Development Society. At the area level the village development societies are formed into an APEX Body which will take up common issues pertaining to the area and conduct awareness camps, lobby with government with regard to problems faced by the farmers in agriculture such as supply of seed, fertilisers, power, pesticides, water and marketing of produce.

Using this methodology, ASSIST has implemented several lift irrigation schemes benefiting small and marginal farmers in Guntur and Prakasam Districts. Even during the course of implementation of these schemes, the programme has had a tremendous influence on the people of the area particularly small and marginal farmers. The farmers from other villages have been visiting the project area. They are immediately able to sense the fact that the small and marginal farmers in the project area are now very confident of themselves and holding their heads high. The cost of the land in the area has already shot up increasing the economic status of the families. The leadership in the community has improved and their ability to lobby with the government and officials is very clearly visible.

Seeing these very obvious changes and having become aware of the methodology of getting water for their lands, the farmers from the other villages, have started forming village level groups, making adjustments among themselves to consolidate contiguous land owned by them and locate the water lifting point on the river or rivulet closer to them. This process has generated a lot of interest from all sections of the farming community and ASSIST has once again been compelled to come centre stage to take up the current lift irrigation project.

The potential for lifting water from rivulets in these Districts is high because the naturally good rainwater collection is supplemented by the regenerated flow from the Nagarjunasagar canal project. This intervention will at least enable the small and marginal farmers in the area to survive as dignified landowners and not become landless agricultural labourers in the process of capitalistic farming which is emerging as a curse for peasants.

Details of the activities realised in one of the projects:

• Detailed feasibility study. • Efforts to get approval from the government. • Formation of committee. • Execution of the schemes. • Organising the training camps. • Efforts for sustainability.

Feasibility study:

After receiving the requests from the farmers, the team of engineers from the Irrigation Department had visited all the villages and conducted the feasibility study of the proposed schemes. The farmers had much participation in conducting the study. As part of the study the expert team has prepared detailed plans of the work to be taken up and the budget required for each activity. Initially some leaders from the village have taken initiative and interest to mobilise the people. They conducted meetings to discuss about the schemes and the role to be played by the farmers in completing the schemes. After the acceptance of all the farmers the leaders started making efforts to get the support from the government.

Efforts to get the government approval:

After making the detailed estimations the leaders of all the seven villages started making the efforts to get the approval from the government for all these schemes. First they made efforts to get the hydro geological clearance to take up the scheme from the concerned department. After that they approached the government to get the assistance to start the schemes. They approached the elected representative of the area and met the concerned government officials. After making sincere and committed efforts by the leaders for a period of six months the government has given its consent to contribute the 50% of total cost of the scheme. The leaders have informed the same to all the farmers. Later the leaders approached ASSIST and requested to contribute 25% cost of the scheme. After conducting the detailed study by the extension team members of ASSIST on social and economic aspects of the farmers and feasibility of the schemes it has given its consent to assist the farmers to take up the lift irrigation schemes in all the seven villages.

Formation of Farmers Associations:

After studying the status of all the families and the schemes ASSIST has started to try to form the Farmers Associations in all the villages. The need and necessity of the Farmers Associations was explained to all the farmers by conducting series of meetings and cultural camps. The role to be played by the association was also explained clearly to the farmers. The following are certain responsibilities that are carried out by the Farmers Associations in completing the lift irrigation schemes:

• Mobilising the farmers in the execution of lift irrigation schemes. • Organising a meeting with all the farmers once in a fortnight to review the work of all the schemes and to plan for the next fortnight. • Contacting the concerned government officials from time to time to get the sanctioned amount as well as technical guidance. • Mobilising the resources from the villagers. • Management of the scheme.

Execution of the schemes:

After getting clearance from all sides the Farmers Associations have started executing the lift irrigation schemes in all the seven villages. The technical staff from government departments as well from ASSIST conducted the village meetings in all the seven villages and explained the various works to be carried out to complete the schemes. According the designed works they have prepared the village action plan to execute the works. The Farmers Associations have taken the entire responsibility for executing and monitoring the activities as planned in the action plan. All the farmers met once in a fortnight to review the work progress and to solve the problems encountered by them at the time of execution. The following are the various activities that are carried out :

• Mobilising the farmers. • Construction of pump house. • Digging pipeline trench. • Laying pipeline and fitting them in order. • Covering the pipeline. • Efforts to get the power supply. • Purchasing the material required. • Fixing the motors. • Trail run to assess the schemes. • Commencement of the schemes.

The Farmers Associations with the major involvement of all the farmers and with the able technical guidance of the concerned government departments carried out all these activities. Most of the works were carried out according to the action plan prepared by them. There was some delay in obtaining the power supply but due to the efforts made the associations the problem of power was resolved. The following are the particulars of the lift irrigation schemes.

S. No. Village No. of acres covered No. of Families 1 Kothapalem 182 69 2 Dosakayalapadu 51 39 3 Vitalapuram 120 45 4 Thurakapalem 95 40 5 Ghadiyapudi 345 163 6 Parvathipuram 293 174 7 Tammavaram 119 60 1,205 590

Organising the training camps:

This is another activity carried out in all the villages to train the farmers on various aspects. Two training camps have been organised in each village. All the farmers covered under the schemes participated in these camps. The services of technical people from government departments have been utilised in organising these camps. The following are different topics covered under the training camps:

• Steps to be taken to strengthen the Farmers Associations. • Soil and its varieties and its suitability for growing crop. • Alternative cropping pattern. • Integrated pest management for each and every crop. • Optimum utilisation of water. • Sustenance of the schemes.

Result obtained

All the schemes in seven villages were completed in all aspects and they are in operation. The water was released for growing the crops. 70% of the land covered under the schemes was converted to grow the rice and in the remaining the farmers are growing irrigated dry crops such as chilli, cotton, tobacco and pulses.

• 1,205 acres of the land had the facility of irrigation and the farmers were able to cultivate the total land covered under the scheme. • The farmers had started growing various crops mainly paddy and other commercial crops. • The farmers are now able to produce required food grains in their own lands without depending on the other villages. • The fodder has been grown as second crop to feed their cattle , available even in the summer months.

Degree of efficiency and effectiveness

It was noticed that many changes have been taken place in the lives of the small and marginal farmers after commencement of the lift irrigation schemes. In all the villages the farmers are growing two crops. Now they are confident that they can grow different crops in their lands and can produce good yields. Mainly the land value has been increased in a maximum extent i.e. from Rs. 20,000/- to 50,000/- which has improved the value of fixed assets of the farmers. Now the farmers are in a position to grow the food grains required for the maintenance of their families. The farmers are now growing fodder as a second crop due to this the cattle rearing has increased and nearly 70% of the families are rearing cattle.

The farmers now have a loan facility from the local commercial banks for cattle rearing as well as for crop loans. In previous years they used to get the required loan from moneylenders for higher interest. It was observed that the economic status of the farmers has started increasing in the villages. Due to this some changes have taken place in the living standards of the families such as food habits, wearing good clothes. The farmers had realised the importance of the education and majorities of their children at the age of 6 to 14 years were admitted in the schools in the month of June 1999. Previously, the farmers seasonally attended to the agricultural labour work when they do not have work in their lands. Now they had the sufficient work and they are providing some work to agricultural labour in their respective village.

It was also noticed that the moisture content and fertility of the soil also increased due to the irrigation. The farmers were aware of the using organic manure and they realised its importance. They are not using that much of chemical pesticides compared to what they have used in previous years for cultivating their crops. Most of the farmers are growing vegetables in their piece of land and started eating fresh nutritional ones. Also the women were motivated to practice the saving habits in all the villages. They decided to start saving Rs. 30/- to 50/- in every month.

Methodology and community participation

The farmers committee has been formed with all the farmers covered under the schemes in all the villages. The farmers had contributed the 25% of the total cost of the scheme. The president and the vice president of the committee were assigned the responsibility of executing the scheme with able guidance of the Irrigation Department of government. The committee regularly conducted the meetings with all the members to review and to plan the various activities to complete the scheme. The works that were taken up at the time of execution were allotted to all the farmers. The farmers contributed their free labour for watering the pipes, earth works and assisting the mason’s etc. Also the committee has made sincere and committed efforts to obtain the power supply from concerned department. After completion of the scheme also the individual farmers had taken care to develop the land in taking up various measures to treat the land and to make it ready for cultivation and irrigation.

Future viability of the schemes

The entire management of the schemes in all the villages were taken over by the Farmers Associations promoted by ASSIST. The executive committee members were imparted the training on different aspects such as maintenance of accounts, organising regular monthly meetings and other technical aspects to run the schemes effectively. The committees in all the villages appointed the pump operators and they were given training on operational aspects of the schemes. The committees estimated the running costs of the schemes and they have decided to charge the same amounts per acre on the individual farmers. The collected amount from the farmers will be kept in the banks in the name Farmers Associations and the same will be utilised to meet the running cost. The committees are practising transparency in executing the various activities mainly in dealing with financial matters. Some of the active and selected capable people from the executive committees have been identified by the other members of the associations to perform the various responsibilities pertaining to the schemes. The following are some of the major responsibilities to be performed by the above persons to make the schemes sustainable in future.

1. Collection of water charges from the individual farmers 2. Paying the power charges to the Department regularly 3. Attending the repair works in time 4. Encouraging the farmers to practice alternative cropping pattern to maintain the soil fertility. 5. Conducting farmers meetings regularly to plan various activities to run the schemes smoothly. 6. To settle the quarrels among the neighbour farmers which arise at the time of watering to their fields

Problems encountered during the execution of the schemes

• Power supply has delayed since the concern department is running in losses. Farmers committees have represented the district authorities many times to get the power supply and explained about the uses of the schemes and convinced the authorities about the prompt payment of power charges to the concerned department. With the sincere efforts of the farmers and the local people’s representatives they were able to obtain power supply.

• In collecting the individual farmers share committees faced some problems and it took them about 4 to 5 months to collect all the share of the farmers. It has become difficult for the farmers to contribute their share at one time, so they contributed slowly on instalment basis.

• In one or two schemes the pressure main has passed through the loose soils, laying the pressure main in loose soils they faced some technical problems, however with the guidance and suggestions from the Irrigation Development Organisation engineers they are successfully completed the pressure mains.

• In transporting the heavy pipes to the fields sometimes the pipe carrying vehicles got stuck in the fields. All the farmers came and helped the vehicles to reach the destination.

Watershed Development:

Watershed development is one of the important activities to prevent the environmental problems and to maintain the ecological balance. ASSIST organise the POs and facilitate the process to take up needy and suitable measures in related to water, soil and vegetative conservation in the identified watershed area. Watershed is an area encompassed by surface water divides of a minor stream. It is a micro-stream. It is a micro basin not exceeding 2,000 sq. km. of catchment. A watershed controls the climate and rainfall, soil conditions, eco-system and environment. As such watershed based management restores rainfall, revives greenery and regenerates a rich rural environment.

Watershed management involves the management of land, water and greenery with special reference to socio-economic aspects of a watershed. Practically, it refers to the management of the land area such that the overland flow does not carry any soil load during rains. It implies growing green foliage on lands through proper utilisation of the water resources, arresting of soil erosion and thus allowing only clear water out of the watershed. In due course, it renders the villages self sufficient in food, fodder, fibre, firewood, fruits, fats, vegetables and clothing and to enjoy good education, health and hygiene. Thus, watershed management is a pragmatic programme for restoring soil regimen, reviving green foliage and rebuilding rural economy.

Improving the vegetative conservation in the proposed villages will also be taken up under watershed programme. The plantation will be taken up in the vacant places, backyards and on the roadside. The POs will identify such places and the recommendations are to be obtained from the expertise from the department of Social Forestry before going for plantation. Even after the plantation is completed the POs will take the responsibility to protect and grow the plants. They take care of watering and other safety measures required to ensure that the trees grow. (For more details on Watershed development projects, refer Annex 1)

The benefits are availability of fodder for feeding live stock, fuel for firewood fertiliser generating trees for soil enrichment, fat production trees for vegetable oil and fibre production