For a Better Tommorow

At 44, Anil Dikhale has made rehabilitating young ones his mission. From being a leprosy patient to getting trained at VTC Nashik and finally becoming a teacher there, his journey is an inspiration. His parents died while he was a small child and he lived with his paternal grandmother. She was diagnosed with leprosy and sent to the mission in Poladpur. “The panchayat also sent me with her. I didn’t have it earlier but then I also got it. I hid it for sometime. Eventually in 1982, my hands became clawed and I was also treated at Amravati district hospital. There a doctor suggested I get trained. And I reached Nashik, got trained and the principal offered me a teaching job here,” he says. Dikhale got a scholarship in the fourth standard, topping in district Poladpur. He was good at sports too and still plays volleyball and cricket.

The centre runs like any educational institution with four houses, a library, cultural programmes, games and alumni who motivate the newbies. And the placement is 100 per cent. Dhammadas Shivadas Jamnik is now a diesel mechanic.

Mayur Ajamoddin Pinjari did a welding course and works with a multinational car manufacturing company in Jalgaon. S. Subhashish is employed with an automotive manufacturing company. Arvind is a superintendent; Amar Suresh Muttalkar is a mediclaim policy assistant. Almost 700 students are trained in these institutions. The Leprosy Mission also runs community-based training related to tailoring, a beautician course, etc.

Seeing the green world around Kolar region in Karnataka, it’s difficult to understand that water is a rare commodity here. With ground water level going to 1,600-2,000 ft, most people are dependent on bore wells (which also deplete water) and women have a tough time coping with household needs. But it’s the efforts under this project to harvest rain water in many ways and increase ground water levels that keep the farmers here thriving. Elucidating on the work, the implementing partners say that the region has seen an upsurge in income and better quality of life with the construction of farm ponds, tank rehabilitation, mini percolation tanks, check dams, vermi-compost pits and individual roof water harvesting units.

Farmers are now involved in dairy and fishery. They now grow fruits such as mangoes and pomegranates, even mulberry. Silk production has gone up with sericulture. The region is also popular for horticulture and fields of marigold and roses are common. Vegetables such as tomatoes, potatoes and cauliflower are also grown.

With his new farm pond, Amar Nath Singh’s two acres in Jadipur village, Malur Block in Kolar, Karnataka, get ample water. This farmer is now able to grow three to four crops as there is water the year through. His fields are always green with ragi, rice and jawar.

And 32-year-old Srinivas is equally happy as he able to grow more marigolds and roses now, thanks to the pond and the vermi-compost pit that he was helped with. Chaitra studies in standard IX and along with her friend Sriknaya, she uses the village pond near Bettagerahalli for washing clothes. The bund was revived and three villages use this water now.

And this is just one drop in the ocean for Project Boond, which has been implemented in Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh as well. The journey of this project began with four villages in Maharashtra which fell in the rain shadow region behind the Western Ghats and along BPCL’s product line. Despite receiving ample rainfall during the monsoon (average annual rainfall is 2100 mm), by February/ March they were all dry. To help with drinking water during the scarce months, rain water harvesting was done through indigenous structures such as construction of underground bunds, KT weir dams and gabions with village participation. Repairs and deepening of wells by desilting was also undertaken.

A survey was conducted to study regions with low ground water levels, where droughts were common, agriculture was suffering and there was lack of drinking water facilities. With the concept of ‘shramdan’ by the community, the project has converted more than 230 villages from ‘water scarce’ to ‘water positive’. This community participation ensures sustainability. The villagers are involved from the planning stage and contribute 25 per cent of the expenses. Small and marginal farmers are the major beneficiaries.