Watershed Management-Ralegan Siddhi by Sukriti

In the years 1972-73 there was wide spread severe draught in whole of
Maharashtra. In order to provide employment to the rural population in this

situation Government of Maharashtra decided to undertake soil conservation
work in rural areas which required lot of labour. Agriculture and Irrigation
Departments of the Government were appointed as nodal agencies to execute
the programme and they undertook the work of construction of percolation
tanks, nalla bunding and contour bunding in Ralegan Siddhi. While the work
was executed in Ralegan Siddhi due to apathy of the Government agencies the
percolation tank constructed at Ralegan was not constructed taking due care
and was leaking and thus its purpose was defeated.
1. Thus, to bring back water, and eventually farming he undertook a project

with the villagers to construct nalla bunds, something similar to what is
shown here:
The purpose of nalla bunds is to eliminate soil and water run-off, catching
useful nutrients and allowing the water to percolate into the soil and
recharge the local aquifer. Anna enlisted local labor and constructed six nalla
bunds in this first stage. The village later constructed a further 31 nalla bunds
throughout the village with a storage capacity of 282,183 cubic
meters. Along with these nalla bunds they also constructed contour bunds
and shaped the land to direct water and soil into the bunds.
2. The village’s next task was to renovate an old percolation
(RECHARGING GROUND WATER) tank that had been built in the
past. The tank was built with good intentions, but because of technical
faults failed to hold water for more than two months, letting it seep out of
the sides and be wasted. A percolation tank acts much like a nalla bund,
holding a large amount of water and allowing it to slowly percolate into
the soil. Money was donated by those who could give, and government
grants were also received to support the project. Further, to help keep the
soil permeable and help with percolation trees were planted around the
tank. Once the tank was renovated it could hold 323,378 cubic meters
of water! They were now well on their way to recharging their
groundwater.
The logical next step was to dig wells near the tank, however, digging wells
takes money, and the villagers didn’t have very much. To deal with this
problem Anna brought together 16 poor farmers that held continuous plots
(plots adjacent to one another), and they dug a well that was to be shared among
them. Half of the cost was offset by labor provided by the farmers, and Anna
borrowed the other half for materials. This well provided a regular supply of
water for 35 acres of land, and was the first of eight community wells
constructed over the next two years. Once all of the wells were constructed
(and there was a supply of water due to the water harvesting projects) they were
able to irrigate 700-800 acres of land and had water year round! To bring even
more water to the community gully plugs and contour trenches were built, and
shrubs, trees and grass were planted along the hillsides all around the village.
One last project specifically related to bringing irrigation water to the Raleghan
Siddhi was to lift water from a canal 3km away. There had been 100 other
attempts to lift water from this canal by other people, and they all had failed, but
Anna and the people of Raleghan Siddhi succeeded. How did they do what so
many others couldn’t? Their success is attributed to the formation of the
Krishna Pani Purvatha Society to oversee the project and to maintain it. The
society provided leadership, an administration system and held people
accountable for doing their jobs and following the rules. There are 260
members of the society, 11 of which are chosen to be part of a committee that
meets regularly. They have rules and guidelines to decide how much each
farmer is charged for electricity and water based on cropping patterns, and each
farmer has to outline how much water they will require, and failing to give this
information results in a rate increase. People are held accountable to do their
jobs, and are disciplined for failing to do so. However, discipline is rarely
required because everyone is working towards a common goal of a productive
and healthy Raleghan Siddhi.
Other projects Anna organized the village include the installation of boreholes
and handpumps to provide drinking water, the planting of 400,000 trees, the
introduction of “social fencing” to keep cattle from grazing indiscriminately,
and stall feeding of livestock with cultivated fodder from their 500 acres of
grassland. Drip irrigation was also introduced and successfully implemented by
a number of farmers in order to conserve their precious water.
But why did it work out this way?
When Anna came back to Raleghan Siddhi he brought with him a strong value
system based on sharing, compassion, and equality. He organized the
community and convinced them to implement the practice of sterilization (I am
assuming to help control the population), a ban on addiction, ban on felling
trees, and a ban on grazing. In addition, it was expected that everyone in the
village would participate. With each new task the village would decide on an
amount of time for each person to spend providing labor. This made sure that
everyone did their part, and that no one had to do more than their share. It was
a fair system and was the cornerstone of Raleghan Siddhi’s
success. Participation gave the people of the community a sense of ownership
and pride, and improved monitoring of the projects once they were complete to
ensure they lasted for years.
When people get involved it motivates them. All of the sudden you’re not
sitting around all day thinking about your problems, you’re taking part in the
solution. You’re making a real difference in your community, and one that
could be seen. Raleghan Siddhi turned itself around in 10-15 years. Yes, that
may sound like a long time, but some things were completed within one year,
some within the next few years, and so on. Everything built upon the project
that was completed prior until the entire village was what it is today (and it
continues to be improved).

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In the years 1972-73 there was wide spread severe draught in whole of

Maharashtra. In order to provide employment to the rural population in this

1. Thus, to bring back water, and eventually farming he undertook a project

But why did it work out this way?

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