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The Water Tank Initiative at Daman is now supplying water for drinking too

 Our Water Tank Initiative with Ms Ritu Singal and The Naman Foundation Is Proving Useful this Summer

Dr SS Grewal, Founder Director SPACE and leading soil scientist has worked extensively in the Morni Hills of Haryana and of course the Aravallis. Water is his focus - Storage, Recharge, Watershed Management, Springshed Development, I have associated with him off and on post retirement. We are both thankful to Mrs Ritu Singal and the Namah Foundation for investing CSR Funds in two water storage projects at Village Daman in the Morni Hills. Our concern was the acute shortage of water in the area in summer and the damage caused by deforestation. The objective was to store water coming from springs in large water tanks - with the supply being regulated by a committee. The planning, construction and accounting for construction  would stay vested with the Committee at the local level. Two large water tanks were constructed in inhospitable rocky strata over a year and in this summer they have proved their worth. Not only for agriculture but personal use as well. Agriculture of course and the facilitation of activities related to Agriculture were accorded priority.,
Dr SS Grewal visited village Dhaman yesterday., the Ghaggar River has gone largely dry, see the photo and drinking water supply bases upon the Ghagar River are severely disrupted.. This had created a drinking water crisis in Morni villages and Dhaman also. A Three member of the committee overseeing the supply of water from the two large tanks purchased a tulu pump and installed it on the second tank we got constructed and joined it with a rubber pipe and started  supplying drinking water to the whole village. There is No drinking water crisis in Dhaman. This they confidently asserted.
Both tanks are roughly 32 feet by 11 feet by 6 feet.  They are fed by springs through a channel. This is the success of small initiatives. In a region. With a community ownership vested in a committee. It’s heartwarming and gives satisfaction. As we discussed today. Agriculture related activities have in any case been facilitated immensely.,We aim to further such initiatives in the area as we go along. Agriculture remains the focus as water generates all around  the year production and the economic benefits generated incentivises the population to stay on rather than migrate.
We now have thought to desilt Johris - small ponds in the catchment of springs feeding the constructed tanks. Six such Johris when desilted would harvest rainwater and increase discharge of springs. Rs two lakh is sufficient. Of course with a pipeline to a village. At an additional cost.
#agriculture #water #tanks




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