Barmer

India witnesses 40 percent rise in farmer suicides in a year

Women in bright, colourful clothes carrying pots on their heads -- this is how popular media often depicts the women of rural Rajasthan. This is what I expected to see in the Bakhasar region of Barmer district, which borders the famous salt desert, the Rann of Kutch. The groundwater is often saline and rainfall does not exceed 250 mm.

Barmer district is situated at the 71° 23' East Longitude and 25° 45' North Latitude in west of state Rajasthan and country India. Total area is 28387 km2. Even 1% of this area can produce 24GWh electrical energy per year. The average sun shines for 340 days a year. The Sun gives light energy @ 1KW per square meter at   25 ° cell (solar cell) temperature and 1.5 air mas The solar insolation is 2400KWh per year. This means that if we install 1KW solar power plant at home, we can get energy of 2400KWh per year. This amount of energy is sufficient for average house hold. Besides this small power plant we can construct big plants in the range of 1MW to 500MW or more. These big plants can be grid connected for further supply to destinations. Though the energy cost of generated electricity is Rs.15/- per KWh, but it is pollution free energy. 1KW solar plant saves 0.8tones carbon. The solar energy is not only environmental friendly, but it also generates employments. The land owners can be made partner for that power plant.The secret of solar power plant is that it can be constructed in 1KW, 2Kw, -----1MW, 10MW ,100MW and so on  

This article is about an experiment taken up by Sambhaav Trust with communities in Barmer (district of Rajasthan), which tells us about the development of the rural area and how to bring about self sustainability to rural society. Readers may kindly write in with their feedback in the comments or to portal@arghyam.org. Comments & emails will be forwarded to Sambhaav Trust by the India Water Portal.

Introduction

The word rural is synonymous with backwardness in the eyes of the upper urban community. A general impression that has been created is that people living in rural areas are economically poor, uneducated, do not have any sense of business, are not hardworking and hence they are much below those who live in urban areas who are monetarily rich. This perception is a biased one. We have never asked ourselves - what are the indicators that make a man backward or advanced? We have measured everything in terms of monetary advancement. In our experience there are a number of indicators one can associate with development like social, political, value system etc. It is therefore important that we check our perception before we talk of rural development. We are not debating on the urban-rural divide. However, from our experience in the rural field we believe that if we are interested in national development and not just sectoral development, then it is essential to assess the potentiality of the rural sector to move forward. Our contention is that this potentiality has not been probed into. On the contrary, a policy to downgrade this sector continues year after year. We have to broaden our perception if we truly want a just state.