Case studies on amelioration of water scarcity in rural Gujarat by Sir Ratan Tata Trust and the Navajbai Ratan Tata Trust

This document is by journalist Suhit Kelkar on behalf of Sir Ratan Tata Trust and the Navajbai Ratan Tata Trust. It is a collection of case studies on ways to ameliorate water scarcity in rural Gujarat.

It provides first-hand accounts of how water programmes impact lives of hundreds and thousands of villagers. The solutions to deal with water scarcity include the promotion of rainwater harvesting (RWH), groundwater replenishment and drip irrigation. The highlights of the stories are as follows:

• With technical advice from the Kharash Vistarotthan Yojana (KVY) a farmer could install a rainwater harvesting system in his house. With the collected water he could plant (chickoo) trees in non-agricultural rocky land.
• Installation of roof Rainwater Harvesting System in the homes of Khambadia village saves their time to collect water for domestic purpose.
• Villagers from Kukaswada village use RWH water only for drinking and cooking.
• Installation of RWH in Bamanwada village helps the villagers to deal with saline water.
• With the widening of Netravati River, six check dams and several recharging borewells built, wells in surrounding villages remain wet even in the dry seasons.

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