Village Exposure Program

Introduction & Purpose:

Around 70% of India’s population resides in rural areas and almost all of them are heavily dependent on agricultural produce. Due to lack of proper water conservation methods most of rural India is able to fetch harvest only once in a year i.e. during monsoon season.

In rural areas of India, floodwater quickly flows to the rivers, which then dry up soon after the rains stop. If this water can be held back, it can seep into the ground and recharge the groundwater supply. It is essential to stop the decline in groundwater levels, arrest sea-water ingress, i.e. prevent sea-water from moving landward, and conserve surface water run-off during the rainy season.

Conservation of water in the agricultural sector is essential since water is necessary for the growth of plants and crops. A depleting waters table and a rise in salinity due to overuse of chemical fertilizers and pesticides has made matters serious.

Heavy dependence on rainfall increases the risk of crop failure due to unpredictability of monsoons in India. Also rural India lacks the information and expertise required for conservation of rain water which makes the problem even worse.

To study the present water scarcity and conservation scenario in the villages of Jharkhand, we visited village Burudi. Purpose of visit to Burudi and subsequent submission of this report is to analyse, discuss and & then recommend a solution to the ever pervasive problem of water scarcity in this village.

Demographics:

Burudi is a sleepy little village in the serene locales of Ghatshila near Jamshedpur. The only dwellers of the village are a group of 15 families, led by their leader, the Gram Pradhan. The Pradhan not only looks after the requirements of the villagers but also commands respect. The villagers live together as one unit, bound by a common thread of caste, economic condition, financial position and an inherent hope of a better life.

The villagers are mostly indulged in farming of paddy. Here-in lies a problem- they are fully dependent on the monsoon, resulting in their loss of livelihood in non-monsoon seasons. As an alternate means, most of the villagers work as daily labourers in the nearby areas including Jamshedpur. Moreover, the villagers make their own farming equipment, thereby not remaining dependent upon any outsider. This practice saves them their cash which they sometimes use for fulfilling their small materialistic desires such as mobile phones.

The sources of water in the village are a small pond and 3 wells. The pond, situated around 1 kilometre away, is where the villagers go for taking bath. Other facilities include a primary school. Their major festivals include Holi, Deewali, Dussehra and some local ones like Sarhul etc.

The staple food of the villagers is rice. They don’t eat chapattis as their diet is a heavy one, so it would require a lot of chapattis to be cooked, something which would not be feasible on a daily basis.

One of the most fascinating features of the village is its cleanliness. All the mud-houses are well kept, the lanes are clean and the fields look beautiful. The village does leave a message for all the city dwellers such as us- cleanliness is a habit, not a privilege. At times the most underprivileged ones are the cleanest of all.

Field Survey:

We reached to the village by car with the volunteers and were astounded by the cleanliness of the village and the beautiful architecture of huts made by villagers. There was so many green trees and bushes, it was difficult to imagine that this area is affected by serious water crisis. We reached to the Mukhiya’s (the head of village’s) house and gave our introduction, interacted with him and his family, stated the purpose of meeting and invited him and the whole village for the meeting next day. We requested him to make sure that everyone from the village is present in the meeting and he assured us his cooperation for the same. Then we took volunteers and 2 villagers along with us and took a round of village to be familiar with the situation. We observed that there was 1 hand pump, 2 wells and one big pond in the village, consisting of around 15 households. The wells had very low level of water and the water was quite impure.

The next day we reached on time and interacted with the villagers and found out that 3 of the young guys were 12th passed and one even got 65% marks in 12th class in state board exam. We tried to motivate them for further studies and inquired whether they need any coaching or guidance assistance. We informed them that government and banks provide education loans quite easily if they clear the entrance exam. Then we discussed with other villagers about their problem of water, farming, education and electricity. We interacted with female members of the household too and they complained about the lack of Angan Vaadi schools for children and the condition of dusty roads as in rainy seasons due to mud children are unable to go to the school in the next village to study.

Our meeting with the villagers went well and we noted down the issues and problems stated by the villagers and did the brainstorming among ourselves for the possible solutions.

Problems identified:

Irrigation problems

Most of the farming in India is monsoon dependent – if monsoons are good, the entire economy (and not just the agricultural sector) is upbeat and when the monsoon fails, everyone everywhere takes a hit to some extent. The problem was same in Burudi village. The whole village economy is monsoon dependant. People were waiting for the good monsoon for months. These villages also lack the irrigation facilities. They are totally dependent on a pond which is not very deep and dry up after some months. Even after a good monsoon the condition is same because of lack of knowledge about the rain water harvesting methods.

Over dependence on traditional crops like rice

People in Burudi mainly eat rice and they grow it on substantial basis. Only small amount of crop is brought to market. But when the rice crop is over, they leave their farm lands fallow till the next rice crop season because of lack of irrigation facility. They are not fully aware about the crops which are drought resistant and can be cropped with small amount of water.

Sustainability problems

This village people use obsolete farming technology which makes their farming productivity less. They still use hand-made equipments for ploughing and harvesting. That’s why their crops are used for their consumption