Natural Resource Management
At Mahiti Trust, natural resource management is an integrated concept. One that involves work on agriculture, soil & water conservation, drinking water resources management, animal husbandry, grazing land development, social forestry etc all of which is undertaken with the communities.
Since its inception, Mahiti Trust has been working on rehabilitating and constructing natural resources with the help of watershed committees, water committees and user groups. In view of changing scenario of climatic changes, industrial development, demarcation of Special Economic Zones (SEZ), Special Investment Region (SIR), emergence of irrigation projects like Kalpasar, Mahiti Trust has geared up to further enhance its capacity and reach in undertaking programs on soil conservation and improvement, animal husbandry, drinking water resource management and sanitation through empowering communities via Gram Sabhas, trainings, exposures, linkages with Stakeholders. Following paragraphs describes the geographical condition of the region.
Majority of Bhal region is dry, saline, and alkaline with large deft on it. The variations in temperature are severe. Floods, droughts, high tide and earthquake – all the natural calamities strike the area frequently.
The seawater ingress in many coastal villages has severely affected soil productivity and salinity content is extremely high in the soil. The soil can no longer absorb fresh water. As a result, rains result in water logging causing daily life difficult to go through. Rivers like Sabarmati, Bhogavo, Sukhbhadar, Ghelo and Kalubhar flow through this region before meeting the sea – Gulf of Cambay. The rainfall here is 400 – 500 mm but the geographical condition of the soil can not absorb the water. Most of the water flows away. Due to such unfavorable climate and geographical conditions livelihood system here is quite weak.
Vegetation here is rare, almost nil. Proposis Juliflora and Salvadoara Percisa are the only vegetations growing here. About six decades back, there used to be mangrove vegetation in abundance in coastal areas but frequent grazing by camels from Kutchh has adversely affected the growth of this vegetation. There have been many geographical. Climate changes in this region, high tide ingress has increased, water logging also has increased. Due to depositing silt in the catchments area, the rivers change their course quite often; wide trenches have developed near the sea coast which has spread up to cultivable land.
Soil & Water Conservation
Activities under the Watershed Development Program encompass a range of interventions. Social Afforestration, grass land development, fodder, soil and water conservation, agriculture, drinking water supply, livelihoods, community development, farm pond, farm protection bunds, field boundaries protection bunds, salinity protection bunds around village, tidal regulatory, well recharging, hand pump repairing, pond inlet channel repairing, check dam, animal husbandry etc – all fall under the purview of watershed development. We are currently providing technical support to village level institutions such as watershed committees, watershed associations and users groups that are involved in watershed development.
Mahiti Trust has so far implemented Watershed Development Programs under Employment Assurance Scheme and Drought Prone Area Planning Scheme in Bhavnagar and Dhandhuka blocks in the past covering 15 coastal villages under the watershed. Presently, Mahiti Trust is also implementing Integrated Wasteland Development Program in 07 villages Dholka block of Ahmedabad district. Over the years, Mahiti Trust has treated more than 18000 hectares of land under the watershed development program.
Drinking Water Resource Management & Sanitation & Hygiene Promotion
Access to clean drinking water and a reliable water and sanitation system is a public health issue. Water contamination is the main cause of illness in the villages, especially during the summer & monsoon. The health of the agriculture, location and density of villages, livestock, and water management all has an impact on the quantity and quality of water for domestic use.
Mahiti Trust encourages the community to take care of their water resources by repairing existing sources, laying pipelines, building roof-top rainwater harvesting structures (tanks) and community water storage tanks, installing latrines and soak pits to prevent contamination of water sources. Along with latrines, we also encourage villagers to build a bathroom to provide some privacy for women. Up till now, Mahiti Trust encouraged more than 8500 families for construction of Individual Household Level Toilets (sanitation units) in the region. The Sanitation activity is ongoing activity of Mahiti Trust. Mahiti Trust and Women’s Savings and Credit Cooperatives jointly provide loan facilities for construction of toilets & bathrooms to the women members of the cooperatives with a minimum interest rate (10 % per annum).
Mahiti Trust now tests the water sources in villages that we work in. Along with the tests, we inform families about ways to purify water – such as boiling and using chlorine. There is a growing water crisis in the region. The natural growth in population, construction and the growing importance of the region as a industrial hub coupled with a decrease in rainfall and in particular winter precipitation have led to rivers drying up and the demand on existing sources of water increasing. Rather than focus merely on the distribution of water, Mahiti Trust is currently trying to enhance the rainwater harvesting structures and collection, storage of surface water in the region.
Right from Mahiti Trust’s inception, it has been working for finding and applying solutions for the drinking water problem in the Bhal region. In fact, it is one of the most critical issues of the area. As mentioned earlier Bhal region has saline soil and ground water also is saline. In such circumstances the only fresh water resources available here is rainwater flowing on the surface of the soil. Collection of this flowing rainwater is the only way which people can resort to get potable water. This area comes under Narmada Canal Water Supply Pipeline and water is being distributed to villages in the area but most of the villages do not get water throughout the year because they are far-flung and remote. Especially in summer months the quarrels for water often become violent. Till now, Mahiti Trust has constructed more than 8500 Roof-top Rainwater Harvesting Structures (RRWHS) which have been able to provide safe potable drinking water to more than 59500 people with financial help of various agencies such as Council for Advancement of People’s Actions and Rural Technology – CAPART, District Rural Development Agency – DRDA, Gujarat Water Supply and Sewerage Board – GWSSB, and Water & Sanitation Management Organization – WASMO, Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, Coastal Salinity Prevention Cell etc. Moreover, Mahiti Trust has also constructed 21 Rainwater Harvesting Plastic Lined Ponds with the coordinated efforts with Utthan and GWSSB to prevent the rainwater stored in it becoming saline. Till the date, a total of 126000 population has been impacted for drinking water security.
Mahiti Trust has been implementing this alternative since its beginning. After making presentations in this context to many levels we could convince government that collection of rainwater is the only alternative for mitigation of water scarcity in Bhal region. After discussing the issue with government through PRAVAH (a state level network of organizations and individuals working on drinking water issues) and other organizations at last Gujarat Water Supply and Sewerage Board (GWSSB) has accepted this scheme as a permanent scheme. At present this scheme is being implemented in all the districts of Gujarat state.
Moreover, Mahiti Trust has so far implemented Swajal Dhara – Sector Reform Scheme for decentralized drinking water systems in coastal villages as well as Coastal Area Development Program Phase I and Phase II for ensuring drinking water security and sanitation in 75 villages Ahmedabad and Bhavnagar districts supported by Water & Sanitation Management Organization and Coastal Salinity Prevention Cell. Mahiti Trust also implemented the Swajal Dhara Sector Reform Scheme in 30 villages of Dhandhuka and Dholka block of Ahmedabad district. This scheme is supported by State Government - Water & Sanitation Management Organization, Gandhinagar (WASMO). Under this scheme, various activities have been implemented such as strengthening of Water Committees, in village water distribution system, water resource management activities like hand pump and well repairing / recharging, construction of cattle trough, soak pits, and construction of community water storage tanks etc
Formation and Promotion of Farmers Producers Organizations
Since 2016, Mahiti Trust is partner of National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) for implementing project on Formation and Promotion of Farmers Producers’ Organizations. Since then, Mahiti Trust has successful to form, nurture and strengthen 4 farmer’s producer’s organizations in Dholera, Dhandhuka, Barwala and Bhavnagar block. Approximately more than 1700 small and marginal farmers have been mobilized into FPOs. Right now, these FPOs are in the phase of business expansion and increasing equity base.