Author: Sandeep Unnithan
Publication: India Today
Date: May 3, 2004
Introduction: Barren acres become
lush oases as an engineer shows an ingenious way to harvest rainwater
Aurangabad is the epicentre of Maharashtra's
torrid zone. Here temperatures soar to a scorching 45 degree Celsius, turning
the earth into a dust bowl. But you wouldn't know it from the Kedia farm,
a bumpy half-hour ride to the south of the city. The 15- ft-high teak saplings
which sway in the undulating terrain at the foot of a small clump of hills
tell the inspirational story of innovation and self-help which transformed
a once-barren land into a lush oasis.
Eight years ago, Vijay Kedia, 48,
a prosperous industrial contractor in the throes of a midlife crisis, switched
tracks to become an agriculturist. He bought 47 acres of hilly land to
grow teak and fruit trees. Reality soon hit hard. When it rained, the rocky
terrain failed to hold the slurry torrents that rushed down the hills and
took the precious topsoil with it. When it didn't rain (and that was more
often), Kedia spent lakhs of rupees to extract water from wells as the
water-table plummeted lower with each passing month. Yet for all his efforts,
the saplings did not survive the blazing heat. In 1998, the entire papaya
crop worth Rs 14 lakh withered away.
So Kedia shopped around for technology.
First he tried drip irrigation but gave it up when it proved to be expensive.
Then the bits Pilani-trained mechanical engineer racked his brains and
came up with a simple solution. In 2000, he made a series of check dams
and trenches that were 5-10 ft deep. He lined the walls with PVC sheets
and filled the dugouts with mud. With the next rains, Kedia knew the plan
was a success. The water falling on the trenches percolated into the 45
reservoirs built beneath them. While the PVC sheets prevented water from
flowing out, the trenches checked evaporation.
Now over 80 per cent of the rainwater
which falls on Kedia's farm trickles to the underground reservoirs. The
project cost of each acre worked out to Rs 2,000, plus the labour for digging
pits and ditches. A week's rainfall is enough to keep the reservoirs full,
equipped for a year's supply. The soil remains like a moist brown sponge,
the wells are brimful all year. Kedia hasn't wasted even the long pipes
he bought for his drip-irrigation project. A tailor's measuring tape stuck
on them, they form ingenious devices to gauge the water level.
The motor-mouth proponent of Maharashtra
Government's rainwater harvesting programme and its "Jal Mitra" (Water
Friend), Kedia is carrying forth his mission: "To make rainwater harvesting
affordable to all and raise the groundwater table." With a jeep-load of
audio-visual aids, he has conducted about 500 meetings across the country.
To the doubters, he points to the dozens of villages in Maharashtra where
people are enjoying the fruits of his labour.
