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FEATURES
OF THE AREA
The project area is located just above the village Rel
Majra of Tehsil Balachur District Nawanshahar(
Latitude 310N
Longitude 760 20'E) and 280 m above mean
sea level. The watershed area spread over 627 ha,
drains into river Satluj through six seasonal streams
locally known as choes.The entire region was facing
degradation due to over exploitation of hill
vegetation by humans and animals, leading to
denudation of forests and expanding net work of choes
(seasonal streams) which were continually getting
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deeper
and wider with large scale movement of silt along with runoff
causing water erosion. An integrated watershed
development project was initiated by CSWCRI, Chandigarh
at Relmajra – a typically hilly village situated in
foothills of Shivalik belt of Punjab for erosion control and
water management.
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Soil
and Climate
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The soil
of the area is coarse textured loamy sand with moderate to
good water holding capacity. The region receives 1000 mm of
annual rainfall on an average, about 80% of which is received
during the monsoon season (July to September).
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Pre-project
Scenario
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Out of thirty two hectares of land in the village with
undulating topography, only 2-3 ha was being
cultivated as rainfed with very low yields.
Rainwater from hills in Relmajra drained
through the village in the form of flash floods
transporting sand and silt down stream.
The same got deposited on the agricultural
lands making them unproductive and also affected the
transport and communication systems.
The problem was,
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therefore,
addressed through participatory watershed management programme.
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COMPONENTS
OF THE PROJECT - Technical
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The
major components were:
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Hilly
catchment area (59 ha) was treated with soil and water
conservation measures alongwith planting of trees and
grasses.
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Contour
trenches on hills were dug to promote in-situ moisture
conservation and to act as traps for the detached soil and
to induce reduction in velocity of flow of runoff water.
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Harvesting
the excess rainwater was taken up by of construction of a
14 m high earthern dam with storage capacity of 13 ha m
runoff water in 3 ha spread area.
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A
network of under ground pipelines (3 km) were laid to
supply harvested water through gravity flow to the farm
lands (32 ha) down below the dam.
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Soil
conservation measures were adopted to make land cultivable
and enhance the efficiency of irrigation water and other
inputs for crop production.
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Alternate
land use systems were developed on degraded community
land.
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Improved
technologies for animal husbandry, horticulture and,
pasture development were introduced for augmenting the
income of the local community.
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| Sociological
Innovations |
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A
Water Users’ Association (WUA) was constituted and duly
registered under the societies Act of 1960.
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The
responsibility of protection of the hilly catchment areas
against illicit cutting of trees and grazing was entrusted
to WUA, thus developing a concept of social fencing.
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WUA
assumed responsibility for management of the
irrigation water from the dam including volumetric
control of water and collection of irrigation
charges from the farmers.
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Income
from water charges and community land is being
utilized for maintenance of dam and village
welfare activities.
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Sociological
Innovations
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The farmers in the area leveled 20.45 ha
land with their own efforts after clearing the fields. The
availability of harvested water in the dam was the main
catalyzing force behind the activity. Since the implementation
of the project there has been a constant rise in the area
cultivated during Kharif and Rabi crops. Wheat crop occupies
the major area (88%) during the Rabi season with a yield of
35-40 q/ha. It was not possible to take wheat crop earlier due
to non availability of irrigation water and undeveloped
agriculture area. Similarly, area under maize which was taken
earlier as fodder crop a marginal area has now increased
considerably and the yield obtained is around 20 q/ha with
improved agriculture technology. Availability of more fodder
from the cropped and the catchment areas, has led to increase
in number of bullocks and milch cattle. Apart from the
achievements at individual level, the WUA has also
generated funds for social purposes. The village has a
community centre which serves as meeting place for planning
activities for village development.
A small intervention of technology in integrated watershed
development has transformed the economy and ecology of hill
region while conserving the natural resources through
people’s participation.
(Source: Dr. Y. Agnihotri & Dr. R.K. Aggarwal,Central Soil
and Water conservation Research & training
Institute,Chandigarh
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