Rural India

Groundwater depletion has reached such alarming proportions in the semi-arid and arid regions, despite huge investments in watershed development programmes by the state and central governments and the international donor community. One of the stated aims of these programmes is to mitigate drought and ensure water availability throughout the year.

How does Land Shaping bring a change? 

The low-lying area of the Sundarbans in West Bengal is well-known for frequent floods and cyclones. Water stagnates from June-July and remains muddy upto December making it impossible to grow any crop except the low yielding variety.

In 1991, MYRADA and the International Institute for Rural Reconstruction (IIRR), Philippines, with support from Ford Foundation, initiated a research-cum-action project in partnership with the farmers of Kamasamudram in Kolar district of Karnataka. MYRADA had already been working in these villages for several years and was familiar with the local people.

Nayakateni, a small village of 58 families underwent a process of transformation through the intervention of NYSASDRI. This case study outlines the process by which the community took development into their own hands and were able to design, implement and construct a water harvesting structure.