17th Aug 2013, 17:00 hours, the National Conference on Panchayati Raj and Rural Development, came to an end. Umiyavadi, 45 km away from Mehsana district, was the lodging place for the delegates. All delegates had a warm welcome in Indian traditional method at Umiyavadi. The 32 delegates (out of 50, allotted to Mehsana and Surat district) from Rajasthan and DWDU, Mehsana staff had an informal introduction to start with. Around 19:00 hours, we had dinner together. The delegates were made comfortable to their respective rooms. The field visit was scheduled for the next day.
18th Aug 2013, after morning breakfast all delegates were requested to be sit in the common hall for general discussion. Meanwhile, local handicrafts crafted and designed by SHGs (DWDU, Mehsana and Mission Mangalam), were displayed outside the common hall, Umiyavadi. Most of the delegates appreciated the work. They had a brief discussion with the volunteers on stall about the cost-benefit analysis. Some of them found the work handy and decided to take similar kind of work in their respective districts. On seeing the smart use of coconut husk for crafting it into beautiful idol of Lord Ganesha, one of the delegate in his own words said, “kya h isme? Kuch bhi to nahe! Bus naariyal ka bachha hua use kar k bana diya. Jyada mehanga bhi nahe hoga. Mushkil se 4-5 rs lage hunge, aur bazaar main 20 rs tak ka bikega. Isme bahut munafa hoga. Apne yahan le lete h, acha chalega!”
Later 180 delegates from three states (under supervision of DDO, Mehsana) also joined the common hall. Officials from district Panchayat, TDO and others were also present on the occasion. DRDA Director, Shri P.B. Rathod, broke the silence by informal speech. He focused on the importance of Rural Development, Watershed, Mission Mangalam and Gujarat Tourism. Soon after, DDO, Mehsana, H.N. Thakkar, also joined the meeting. He too appreciated beautiful craftsmanship of local SHGs.
A short documentary film on Mission Mangalam and Watershed was shown to the delegates. Thereafter, the volunteers from Mission Mangalam and Watershed shared their experiences./p>
As scheduled at 11:00 hours, all 32 delegates were taken for field visit. The delegates were introduced and provided with handouts of all the works to be visited in the next few hours. They were also provided with pamphlets of the successful stories of all projects of DWDU, Mehsana.
Works such as Renovation of Cremation Ground, Afforestation and Water Tank were taken up for visit in Sapavada village. Sapavada, 10-15 km away from lodging place is under IWMP-2 (Becharaji) project. “Afforestation area, covered with vigorous grown local neem, ardusa and lush green vegetation, is a result of close workings with the villagers and DWDU staff. At GPS location N 23.33’0.5” and E 72.00’04.2”, the afforested local neem (Azadirachta indica) is spread over an area of 1 ha”, explained the DWDU team. The delegates were more interested in the successful maintenance of the afforested area. Our Project Director, K.N. Parekh, took an active lead and explained the whole process. “The fencing of the afforested area on panchayat land, timely silvi-cultural operations, aftercare and protection are the main factors governing its success”, explained PD, K.N. Parekh.
Later, works such as Earthen Bunds and Crop Demonstration Plot were taken up for visit in Suraj village. Suraj, 5-7 km away from Sapavada village is under IWMP-2 (Becharaji) project. “Earthen Bunds, taken under work phase, is a result of realization of waterlogged condition in the village. Every monsoon, the rain water used to flood the nearby village. After construction of earthen bund by DWDU, Mehsana, the condition was controlled and rain water was also conserved at the village. At GPS location N 23.33’03.5” and E 72.00’04.2”, the earthen bund has a water storage capacity of 50 lakh liters. A total of 25 beneficiaries has benefitted from the activity with a total irrigated area of around 15 ha”, explained DWDU team. The delegates appreciated the wits of the staff. Some of the delegates even urged, “bahut badiya kaam hai. Aese kaam hum bhi lena chahate hain, par hamare yahan barish bahut kam hoti h”.
As it was a hot day, we tried to keep their thirst in control by regularly providing them refreshments on the way. We also showed them our VWC office. On a cup of tea, we had a healthy discussion about the similarities and differences in working of two different states. We tried to have a two way learning experience by letting them interact with the Suraj VWC members.
Later, we took them to crop demonstration plot. “Crop Demonstration Plot (drip), taken under agricultural activities, is in order to encourage local farmers to take up the drip irrigation to minimize use of water in agricultural farms. As Mehsana is under dark zone, it is of utmost importance that farmers should use more and more of drip. The crop is on its 1st year, and is likely to attract farmers. The drip is installed over an area of 1 ha on cotton field”, explained DWDU team. One of the delegate asked the cost-benefit from such a large project. “We give mere Rs. 24000 to a single farmer for drip. The rest is covered under 60 per cent and 10 per cent subsidy from GGRC and RKVY respectively. The use of drip minimizes the weed growth on the farm, which is vigorous in case of flood irrigation. This ultimately reduces the extra input cost on labor for weeding. Also, before farmer used to irrigate the field for 7 hrs. (flooding) which is paid on per hour basis. Now, the irrigation time has reduced to 1 hr.; that is also on assured irrigation basis to plants, with practically no wastage or fear of water logging”, explained PD, K.N. Parekh. Also, a comparison between the cotton crop grown with and without drip, which showed clear morphological differences, were shown to delegates.
Some of the delegates also tried to talk with some of the villagers about the workings and co-operation of WDT and district staff.
During the long course of field visit, we tried to show and explain them with other watershed works which came along the way. This included protection wall, deepening of pond, new pond, under-ground recharge structure etc.
Since, most of the delegates requested to let them free by evening, around 14:30 hours, we started our journey back to Umiyavadi. On the way, we showed them the nearby famous, Baucharaji Temple. We reached to Umiyavadi for lunch, around 15:00 hours.
At the end of the field visit we decided to take feedback from the delegates in in order to know our sort-comings and improve them in future. The feedback was about the field visit, watershed works transportation, team co-operation, food, management. We received almost excellent remarks and a few feedback/comments as below
18th Aug 2013, 17:00 hours, we facilitated them to their respective drop-off points leading them back to their districts.
At last, both DWDU Mehsana and delegates from Rajasthan were left with nothing but some memories and a hope to learn more!
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