Dhangharwadi, a small village in Yavatmal district of Maharashtra (India) has set a fine example of self-empowerment by reviving their water channels and boosting their agricultural produce. The district known to be a drought–prone area had reported highest number of farmer’s suicide owning to perpetual lack of rains. One of the villages here, Dhangharwadi is now lush green once again thanks to the initiatives taken by the farmer’s along with the efforts of Dilasa- a local NGO. Earlier the villagers could hardly produce agricultural yield enough to feed their own families. Today, they are enjoying the fruits of a bumper crop. Two years ago, villagers in association with Dilasa had built two check dams with the objective of harvesting water from a near-by percolation tank (useless since 1972). While Yavatmal district has no dearth of tanks meant for storing rain water, their underutilization, poor maintenance by the authorities and lack of water transport structures has contributed to the drought conditions. Determined to change their situation, the villagers along with the support of NGO, built two check dams and resurrected the practice of local lift irrigation. Further, to facilitate transport of water to the interiors of village, a network of shallow canals called fuds was created. Such a network flows along the contours of land and checks soil erosion by slowing down the speed of water. It also helps in percolation of water during rainy season.
Improvement in agricultural situation has positively affected other spheres of these villagers, who belong to sheep-rearing nomadic community. Thus, one step taken towards self – empowerment has brought happiness in the lives of these people. Dhangharwadi’s example, is just one of many such instances where, the poor farmers and villagers have come out of their shells and taken the matter into their hands. Thus, giving out a strong message to lazy officials that, given guidance and resources, villagers can become effective perpetrators of the participatory development approach.

Via DownToEarth