Rajkot to get 5,000 farm ponds under water harvesting scheme

The state government has set a target of digging 5,000 farm ponds in the state by June as part of its Sujalam Sufalam project for water harvesting.

To spread awareness among farmers about water harvesting under this scheme, the government has declared this month as Sujalam Sufalam Month.

The government has arranged meetings at the district and tehsil levels to guide farmers in water harvesting.

The government has set a target of digging more than one lakh farm ponds across the state under the scheme, said Gordhan Jadafia, chairman of the project implementation committee.

Work on more than 10,000 farm lakes has already been completed in the state so far, he said. Farmers who are interested in taking part in the project should dig ponds in their farms in the stipulated size.

The government will give 736 kgs of grain for wages to the workers digging the water harvesting pond.

The scheme will provide employment to several people in the rural areas, said Nagdanbhai Chavda, district chairman of this scheme.

Work on 1,500 such farm ponds has already been completed in the district so far, he said. In view of the scanty and unpredictable rainfall in the state, water harvesting is a must, he said.

Water harvesting can change the cultivation pattern drastically and this will help farmers, he said. The government has also initiated water shed development programme for drought-affected areas and wasteland development in desert areas.

In Gujarat, 26 such schemes have been approved at the total expenditure of Rs 124.31 lakh after 1995. A total of 2.55 lakh hectares of wasteland has been developed within 67 blocks of the state in the last year.

Good rainfall in the last season has filled most of the check dams in Rajkot, solving the problem of water scarcity.

Sujalam Sufalam scheme will help raise underground water level, officials said.

The District Rural Development Agency, Rajkot, is monitoring the development works.

The central government's water Resource Development programme is being implemented for the last eight years.

Water storage, agricultural work and forest and environment protection activities are undertaken as part of the programme. The government provides 80 per cent of the funds directly to water shed committees working at villages, Kalpanaben Maheta, director, DRDA, Rajkot, said. Maheta said a number of check dams were built in the district last year by self development groups.

Good rainfall had filled all these dams. Farmers are sharing water for irrigation and drinking. In the last seven years, 5,405 small check dams, 370 lakes, 207 causeway-cum-check dams, 1,704 other dams and 907 composite structures have been developed in Rajkot.