Author: Bashir Pathan
Publication: The Indian Express
Date: November 21, 2005
The checkdams built on 73 major rivers across Saurashtra under the government's participatory scheme have not only boosted the agro-economy in the region, but also checked migration of marginal farmers to urban areas.
There's more good news. Many of these rivers which used to dry up soon after monsoon, are still flowing bank-to-bank, thanks to water harvesting through the checkdams, a report says.
A preliminary survey jointly conducted by the State Water Resources and Agriculture departments reveals that the water table in the vicinity of these rivers has increased considerably, recharging the ground water level, and bringing up the level in thousands of farm wells, particularly in Bhavnagar, Amreli, Rajkot and Junagadh districts. In Bhavnagar and Junagadh districts, Ghelo, Keri, Kalubhar, Uben and Singoda rivers flowing bank-to-bank for the first time in over a decade, the report states.
Water Resources Minister Narottam Patel said that in Mandavdhar and Lakhanka villages, farmers earlier had to dig around 250 feet deeps to draw water for irrigation, but now, the wells are almost full to the brim. Farmers who earlier used 15HP pumps to draw water from tube wells are now seen using 5HP pumps, he said.
Patel said that the perennial water scarcity in Suarashtra had forced many middle-class and poor farmers to migrate to Surat and take up petty jobs in diamond units. They have now returned to their villages to get back to farming as the water availability has improved after the checkdams were built, the minister claimed. The kharif crop too has been very good in the region, he said.
The survey revealed that the checkdams have helped recharge over one lakh farm wells in drought-prone Saurashtra. Of the total 25,000 checkdams built across the region, as many as 128 are big ones, each having a storage capacity of five million cubic feet and irrigate about 100 hectares.
The participatory water harvesting scheme has not only boosted the kharif crop production in the Saurashtrian districts, but is also poised to help farmers reap reach dividends in the rabi crop.
The government also plans to carry out similar survey in North and Central Gujarat to assess the effect of checkdams built there.