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Water Resources Development and Energy Conservation for Sustainable Management of Environment (BAIF)

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Implementing Organization: BAIF Development Research Foundation, Pune.

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Start and End Date: September 1996 – March 2003.

Increasing pressure on fuelwood and fodder, over the years has reduced the forest cover in India. This has led to the vicious cycle of depleting natural resources, ecological imbalances and poverty, which can be remedied only through vigorous grassroots action. The project set out to demonstrate replicable models at three different sites with vastly diverse topography, environmental challenges and cultural regimes. These are: Hassan district in Karnataka, Bundi

district in Rajasthan, and Kanpur Rural district in Uttar Pradesh. The project objective was to enable natural resources management by local communities for improved living conditions, increased productivity, and a balanced ecosystem.

farm pound for groundwater recharge

Distinctive strategies were adopted in each of the sites. At the site in Hassan district (Karnataka) a drought prone and rainfed area, a farm pond network-based watershed development approach has been evolved. The chain of ponds allow water to slowly flow across the slope and harvests the total rainwater of peak intensity, which ultimately percolates below the ground.

The project was also able to successfully demonstrate in one village, a community bio - gas

plant, to generate electricity for domestic lighting, pumping drinking water supply, energizing street lights and cooking. It is operated at a profit by the local women’s group. Community bio-gas plant has run successfully for five years in Tiptur.

The site in the Bundi district of Rajasthan was highly degraded with acute poverty. Development and management of common and private wastelands, recharge measures in the catchment area with combination of conventional and innovative measures, have transformed the ecosystem and socio-economic situation of the people. The ravine area in Kanpur Rural district (Uttar Pradesh) had very high soil erosion and formation of deep ravines, inhabited with a socio-economically backward community, with a

negative attitude, because of bitter experiences with official development efforts in the past. The ravines were reclaimed and turned productive by applying intensive appropriate soil and water conservation measures.

Progress during the year

The focus of work in this year for BAIF was on gradual withdrawal from the project leaving the community organisations to take full responsibility. To this end, development of local resource teams, strengthening of community organisations and handing over assets to them, documentation and dissemination, were the main activities of the reporting period. Residual physical work was completed. This included bunding with vegetative protection in 288 ha, improved agriculture 249 ha, horticulture 57 ha, 337gully plugs, 456 kitchen gardens, over 500 compost pits and two drinking water sources.

Women managing nursery.
Background : community biogas plant

Two district level workshops were organised for experience sharing, apart from several training and exposure visits.

Assessment

The project can be seen as a successful model of the watershed plus stage of development wherein NRM concepts have been integrated with livelihood support and environmental management. It has managed to provide year round food and water security to the target communities, and empowered beneficiaries, specially women. Hundreds of families have increased income from agriculture, livestock and local employment. Time required for women to collect drinking water, fuel and fodder has been

reduced significantly. The successful approaches have been adopted by the governments of Rajasthan and Karnataka, The farm pond approach has been presented to the Planning Commission and NABARD has funded BAIF to replicate the same in different watersheds in 10 districts of Karnataka. The approach was also presented in the 12th International Soil Conservation Organisation workshop in China and published in the International Journal of Natural Resource Management (Australia).