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CARE TODAY: FIGHT
THE DROUGHT
 PROJECT:
KMVS was given Rs 4.25 lakh for building roofwater-harvesting tanks for
50 vulnerable households in the Pachham region of Gujarat's Kutch district
in March this year.
STATUS: The project is under way. Rs
2 lakh has already been utilised and the rest of the fund will soon be
disbursed.
IMPACT: The scheme is targeted at households
that are especially vulnerable to droughts. These include families in
which the adult members are widows, aged or disabled. The roofwater-harvesting
system will enable these families to meet a significant portion of their
water needs.
PROJECT: The Urmul Marusthali Bunkar
Vikas Samiti was granted Rs 5.43 lakh to build sand barriers for rainwater
flow in three villages in Jaisalmer district of Rajasthan in May-August,
2000.
STATUS: Barriers were built on 25 individual
fields and Rs 4.80 lakh of wages were distributed.
IMPACT: About 150 vulnerable families
received regular wages during the worst period of the drought. The agricultural
output of 25 poor families will improve substantially due to increased
moisture in the soil as a result of the barriers. If the rainfall is good,
they may even be able to harvest a winter crop.
 PROJECT:
CARE TODAY provided the Aga Khan Rural Support Programme Rs 1.8 lakh for
distribution of drinking water in eight villages of Sayla taluka in Gujarat's
Surendranagar district in May 2000.
STATUS: In May and June last year, 453
tankers were sent to these villages. In addition, community water storage
structures were set up in five of the villages.
IMPACT: All households in these villages
got water during the worst months of the drought. The tankers filled the
community water storage structures which had multiple outlets. The people
were, therefore, able to take their fill of water in an orderly fashion.
PROJECT: SURE (Rajasthan) was granted
Rs 1.54 lakh by CARE TODAY for building a lined pond in Kumharon ka Tibba
village in Barmer district of Rajasthan.
STATUS: A 100 ft wide, 120 ft long and
6 ft deep pond (right) has been constructed. The amount the villagers
earned as wages totalled Rs 76,000.
IMPACT: The pond is built in a natural
depression and has the capacity to store water that the 240 households
in the community in this remote border village can use for up to 10 months.
The amount of water collected, of course, will also depend on the quality
of the monsoon rains.
 PROJECT:
Rs 1.38 lakh was granted to the Urmul Marusthali Bunkar Vikas Samiti for
building cement waste weirs along sand barriers in three villages in Rajasthan's
Jaisalmer district in September and October last year.
STATUS: Eleven cement waste walls were
built.
IMPACT: Sand barriers are used to channel the
flow of rainwater to the fields. The weirs will increase the longevity
of these sand barriers considerably as they have been built along the
points of maximum pressure on such barriers. The cement walls will also
enable excess water to overflow without destroying the barriers.
PROJECT: CARE TODAY granted the Urmul
Setu Sansthan Rs 3.70 lakh for a series of drought-proofing activities
in Dhani Bhopalaram village in Bikaner district in Rajasthan.
STATUS: The project involved repairing
two traditional storage tanks as well as a ground-level reservoir (left).
Besides, the village pastureland was fenced and a grain bank set up.
IMPACT: The pasture has regenerated and
currently caters to 800 cows and 200 sheep. The tanks are functional and
are additional sources of water for the villagers. The grain bank, however,
was not a success because wheat prices fell.
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