A witness to 11 droughts in the past two decades, the parched Bundelkhand has undergone a transformation through rainwater harvesting due to which the farmers can now grow cash crops in Jhansi.
District Magistrate of Jhansi, Andre Wamsi, said that water scarcity in fact accelerated ambitious water management initiatives in the region.
“We have built check dams leading to replenishment of groundwater. After this, the crop pattern changed and the farmers are now growing cash crops like vegetables due to availability of water,” he said.
The Minor Irrigation department has built four check dams under the Bundelkhand package and eight check dams under the district plan in different villages of Jhansi in the last three years.
“These not only improved groundwater aquifers but also provided water for irrigation at critical stages of crop growth. Availability of water is helping in increasing productivity, crop intensity and ensuring double cropping in rainfed areas,” the district magistrate said.
There is immense scope for rainwater harvesting by constructing check dams on natural streams and small rivers in Bundelkhand and the problems of the region can be solved by this. Experts believe that despite undulating topography and hard underground strata, there is an abundance of dams and natural reservoirs in the region.
While the Bundelkhand region comprising seven districts of Uttar Pradesh would be benefited, these check dams have the potential of irrigating 1,136 hectares of land benefiting 1,000 farmers of Jhansi alone.
Wamsi said that Bundelkhand was characterised by low soil fertility, crop productivity and profitability and high poverty leading to migration of people.
“Participatory integrated watershed management with focus on soil and water conservation, agroforestry, improved agro-techniques, forage and animal resource development and capacity building will contribute to all-inclusive growth of communities, especially the landless and the marginalised sections,” he said.
A farmer of Gurusarai block, Purushottam, said that check dams had changed the lives of hundreds of farmers and provided them opportunity to extend farming in their respective villages.
Jitendra of Itwa Khurd gram panchayat and Mahendra of Barai village said that they were now engaged in double cropping as against the earlier trend of growing Kharif crops only due to severe water crunch.