Water scarcity in Alwar
Aravalli range is the oldest fold mountain in India and the principal mountain range of Rajasthan.
It is running approximately 692 km in the southwest direction starting from Delhi, passes through southern Haryana and running diagonally in Rajasthan, and ends in Gujarat. Aravalli range expands in seven districts of Rajasthan namely Sirohi, Udaipur, Rajsamand, Ajmer, Jaipur, Tonk, and Alwar. The northeastern hill track of Aravalli Mountain range of Alwar hills. covering Jaipur and Alwar is one of the physiographic units of the Aravalli range and hilly region. For the reason of less annual rainfall 400-550 mm rainfall, the Aravalli range lacks vegetative cover, agriculture, and livestock practices. The villages in Kishangarh, Umren, Mundawar, Behoror and Tijara blocks are water-scarce regions. The groundwater level in the Dadhikar and Ratakhurd villages of the was 145 meters and 138 meters respectively. The cost of the water was 15paise/liters. The village had no tube well which affected the cultivation and productivity of the farmers. The farmers harvested very less yield of wheat (700kg) and mustard (300kg) per Bigha due to water scarcity that prevailed in that area. The farmers were unable to cultivate vegetables too that resulted in malnourishment and Anaemic conditions in children and adults respectively (mostly pregnant and lactating mothers). Along with wheat and mustard, they cultivated gram crops, Bajra, Arhar were also cultivated but with less yield. With reference to the plantation in the village, only 4-5 trees were planted, and no fruit plantation was feasible. The poor plantation leads to adverse effects of Climatic changes in the village.
Integrated watershed management is considered an appropriate approach to develop arable and non -arable land in rainfed areas for increasing and stabilizing production by adopting improved soil and water conservation measures. Development of water resources structures like construction of earthen Paal, pond, anicut, and land leveling, or shaping, diversified and mixed cropping & agro-horticulture plantation system is recommended to achieve the dual objective of sustainable production and restorations of climate ecological balance in a harmonious manner through scientific management of land and traditional rainwater harvesting resources. An attempt was made to analyze the impact, benefits, and cost analysis of the project investment. Economic analysis was done by working out benefits to cost ratio, net present value, payback period, and internal rate of return (IRR).
Project Area
SPECTRA in association with Centre for Social research, targeted 27 villages/hamlets of 3 blocks Kishangarh Bas, Umren, and Tijara block focusing to benefit total population of around 6240 HHs. These are underprivileged areas where agriculture and livestock are the main source of livelihood.
Objectives of the Integrated watershed management
The recharge of the groundwater through traditional Rainwater harvesting systems, like- Johad, paal, Small Earthen bund, Farm field bund, anicut,gully-plugs, LCSD, etc.
To promote agro-horticulture, plantation work for the revival of climatic resilience.
Construction of Rainwater Harvesting Structures
As a part of the integrated watershed management, rainwater harvesting structures like
40 Earthen Paal, Renovation of 10 Ponds, Construction of 10 Spillway, Construction of 10 Anicut, 13000 Earthen Field Bunding, 1000 Land Leveling, 1800 Loose Stone Cheek Dam, 70 Gully Plugs, Promotion of 2 Zero Runoff Village were constructed.
These rain harvest structures resulted in various positive impacts on the environment. The Renovation of Ponds helped to rejuvenate the selected ponds. Spillway structures provided the controlled release of water from a Small earthen bund, Paal or level downstream and include floodgates and fuse plugs to regulate water flow and reservoir level. Anicuts helped to increase the residence of water to recharge groundwater and will be to provide sufficient water holes for animals or to provide habitats for aquatic flora and fauna. Earthen field bunding slowed down water sheet flow on the ground surface and encourage infiltration and soil moisture. Loose stone check dams were useful to stabilize the incipient and small gullies and the branch gullies of a continuous gully or gully network. Gully plugs reduced runoff speed, erosion, and gully erosion in the channel. The Zero Run-off system can reduce soil erosion by eliminating surface runoff.
Qualitative impact on Argo-Horticulture program
Crop cultivation, vegetable cultivation, and Fruit Plantation will support to increase of the income of villagers from the projected areas; and the availability of more crops, vegetables, and fruits, will improve the health of villagers and provide the nutrients in their regular diet. Fodder & Timber plantation will support the availability of more fodder for livestock, which will result in an increase in their milk production capacity, ultimately increasing the income of the targeted villagers. Increase in agriculture production, Convergence with an existing Government program, Less dependency on weather, Greater stability and lower risks, Efficient use of fertilizer and crop protection, with no leaching, Adaptation of new technology & POP in the agriculture program.
Quantitative impact on agri-horticulture programme
The plantations increased to 300 trees were planted in the surround
ing area of paal construction. 1000 trees and 80 fruit plants are now available in one bigha land plot. The cropping area have been increased to 35-40%. The land rate per bigha is now increased from INR 3,50,000 to INR 6,00,000. The soil erosion has been reduced and the soil fertility was good after the watershed activities. As a result, farmers had increased productivity of wheat crop (1500kg), mustard crop(600kg), gram crop(600kg), bajra crop(800kg), arhar crop(500kg) and other vegetables(25000 kg) from one bigha of land area.Also, the livestock activities were also improved. Marginal farmers initiated 2 buffaloes and 7 goats rearing after the watershed activities. Watersheds provide requisite livelihoods for their inhabitants, but their natural resources
are finite, often under pressure and are susceptible to degradation. Degradation caused by unsustainable exploitation of natural resources is usually the key problem. It leads to poverty, food insecurity, and social conflict. The negative socio-economic consequences of unsustainable resource use are significant. As per weather statistics report after every 4-5 years drought is very common in Rajasthan State. As a result of this programme implementation, we can find a result to prevent this drought cycle.
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