Chicholi Village, Betul District, March 27, 2015
• Large Integrated Water Resource Management project aims to improve availability of water to farmers for agriculture throughout the year and increase productivity
• Initiative to positively impact 5200 families from across 38 villages of Chicholi and Shahpur block, Betul District
• Improved access to safe drinking water to over 3700 families
• Action for Social Advancement to implement the project
Hindustan
As mark of World Water Day celebration, ground breaking ceremony was organized at Chuna Hujuri village is Shahpur block to commence the work on this project in the presence of a large number of villagers, elected representatives of Panchayat, officials from District Administration, officials from Hindustan
Speaking on the collaboration, Mr. Kalyan Ranjan, Associate Vice President – PAC, Hindustan
Mr. Ashis Mondal, Director – ASA said, “We have been working in this area and extremely happy that Hindustan
The main objective of the project is to promote integrated and community based natural resources development for enhancing livelihoods of the people of the area with special emphasis on sustainable water management and sustainable agriculture. The project is spread over 38 villages of Chicholi and Shahpur block of Betul district of M.P. Approximately 5200 families or over 30000 populations belonging to the tribal community (over 75%, & rest from the other marginalized groups) shall benefit from the project and overall the ecosystem of the area will be rejuvenated.
The primary occupation of the locals is agriculture but the production of food crops for subsistence dominates agriculture. The average annual rainfall for Betul District is sufficient for agriculture (1083.9 mm), however, it is extremely erratic and the district is prone to the incidence of consecutive years of drought. Only 27% of the net cropped area has irrigation facility mainly due to low public and private investment on water resources development.
The initiatives will focus on land and water resources development; promotion of good agriculture practices such as sustainable cropping, improved water conservation and ground water recharge amongst the farmers; and organization and development of Community Based Organizations (CBOs) including farmer producer companies for market linkages and other services. The project will follow the strategy of participatory development and thus the community shall be involved right from the planning, implementation and post project management. Village level planning of natural resources, development of SHGs and Users’ Groups for water and other resource management (viz. Forest conservation), linkages with the Gram Panchayat for the convergence of MGNREGS1 fund, and linkage with the line departments of the Government for convergence of their schemes shall be the key strategies to achieve the objectives of the project.
The impact of the project will be seen in improved ground water condition and community management systems around water both demand and supply, increased income from agriculture, improved Human Development indices like health, education, housing, etc. and finally, capable community institutions managing local affairs related to natural resources of the area particularly water management. The project is also designed to improve access to safe drinking water for 3700 families.
About Hindustan
Hindustan
For further details please contact:
Akash Batra
abatra@perfectrelations.com
+91 9999786118
Sushant Mahajan
shirendramahajan@coca-cola.in
+91 9011370019
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1 Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, a universal scheme to guarantee 100 days of wage employment per family per year for rural infrastructure development including land and water resources development.
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