Watershed schemes to quench Saurashtra's thirst

The watershed development programme has come as a boon to the parched Saurashtra region of Gujarat which faces water scarcity every year.

In Rajkot, the watershed development programme, under the central government's water resource development scheme, is progressing in various villages. Under the scheme, people are also encouraged to take up water harvesting with the help of voluntary organisations.

Under the water resources development programme, 80 per cent of the funds are directly given to watershed committees working at village levels, Kalpanaben Maheta, director, DRDA, Rajkot, said.

The project has been undertaken in 486 villages out of the 856 villages in the district. Of these, in 202 villages, the project has already been completed while in the remaining 284, the project is in progress. Maheta said as part of the development work, a number of check dams have been built in the district last year.

In Gujarat, 26 schemes have been approved at a total expenditure of Rs 1.24 crore after 1995. A total of 2.55 lakh hectares of wasteland has been developed in the drought-hit areas of the state within 67 blocks last year.

Due to heavy rainfall in Rajkot district, most of the check dams have overflowed, solving water scarcity, the official said. Under the watershed scheme, the central government and the state government will provide project assistance in the ratio 75:25. Till now, Rs 56.85 crore has been spent on watershed development project in the rural areas.

In the last eight years, 7,109 small check dams, 370 lakes, 207 causeway-cum-check dams, 1,704 other dams and 907 composite structures have been developed. As many as 619 farm ponds have been developed in the district, said Maheta.

The state government has introduced Sujalam Sufalam scheme for water harvesting, which will help raise water level. The government has set a target of developing more than one lakh farm pond across the state.