Kachchh District

Forest Advisory Committee rejects the controversial Tipaimukh and Dibang hydro-electric projects

Gujarat Institute of Desert Ecology (GUIDE) will catalyse the process of ameliorating hardships to human beings in desert ecosystems of Gujarat, following sound ecological principles and carefully using scientific knowledge, imaginative technology and capital.

This report by the Water and Sanitation Management Organisation (WASMO) is based on the analysis of Multi-District Assessment of Water Safety (M-DAWS) carried out in 8 districts of Gujarat (Vadodara,Valsad, Mehsana, Gandhinagar, Kachchh, Surat, Ahmedabad and Dangs) , where ensuring adequate and safe drinking water to the people has been looked upon as a huge challenge needing urgent action during years 2007 and 2008 .

The Multi-District Assessment of Water Safety (M-DAWS) programme was undertaken by Water and Sanitation Management Organisation (WASMO) with financial and technical support from UNICEF.

Guest Post: Text by Amitangshu Acharya, Photographs by Ayan Ghosh

Kachchh – a brilliant halfway between a turmeric yellow Rajasthan and the emerald green Sahyadris – offers an upside down version of life. It tells you that seeds of life and civilisation are often hidden beneath the sands of time in inhospitable terrains.

I am looking for local researchers / consultants in all districts of Saurashtra to work with me on a research project. The project will look at the agricultural growth in Saurashtra over the past 20 years (in terms of agri output, cropping intensity, cropping pattern, irrigation sources and intensity etc) and will try to identify the sources of growth.

This case study is about Samerth's efforts to achieve drinking water security, in participation with local village communities in Rapar, Kachchh (Gujarat). Arghyam has been collaborating with Samerth on this effort since 2007.

The Vand Women of Kachchh: Guest post by Keya Acharya

She gazes unflinchingly with direct eyes into the camera with a feminine mystique and physique that could, be gracing the front cover of a beauty magazine. Her red, mirror-worked blouse, in the traditional Kachchhi style worn by tribal women, is strapped at the back in stringed bows, greatly practical in the dry, wilting heat of that arid expanse of land in hinterland Gujarat called Kachchh. Her skirt is a colourful hue of printed green, and her ‘dupatta’ is a blazing red piece of cloth swept forward from her waist, partially covering her back, brought over her head and tucked back demurely into her waist again. Her name is Ammi.

This case study is about Samerth's efforts to achieve drinking water security, in participation with local village communities in Rapar, Kachchh (Gujarat). Arghyam has been collaborating with Samerth on this effort since 2007.

The Best Part of the Story: Guest post by Keya Acharya

The landscape is barren in parts with just high heat and sun-bleached sand, the hallmarks of wastelands; in other parts there is some semblance of agriculture, with jowar, bajra and sometimes castor growing in small patches of mild green, without the lushness that good watering provides.

And in the middle of this landscape there appears, like an oasis without the accompanying palms, the ‘Tinnavahd talab’, a drinking water pond constructed by the community at Rabarkar vand, near Lakhagarh village in Rapar taluk of Kutch district. Inside the pond there is a dugwell, constructed on the pond bed.

A document in Gujarati describing the situation of the Hamirsar Lake in Bhuj, Katch and the work being done by some community organisations towards improving the lake's condition.

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Sujala Scheme: The Byyraju Foundation's manual for setting up a locally managed, rural drinking water plant. The Foundation's drinking water initiative covers 154 villages across five districts of Andhra Pradesh via 31 village-level treatment plants.
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Byrraju Foundation website

This set of maps, give a picture of the groundwater situation in Abdasa taluka of Kutch District, Gujarat