A request for guidance on water management: NGO in West Bengal
Our queries are regarding a Social Welfare Organisation for Tribals and Backward Communities that we are members of. The name is "Vanalakshmi Unmesh Samiti". It is a rural development project which has been functioning from 1964 and is registered under the Societies’ Act since 1983. We are located in Birbhum, West Bengal, 10 kms from Santiniketan. Our Founder (my husband Gautam's maternal uncle), Lt Niranjan Sanyal (1929 – 2001), had planned a project of Sustainable Development and Rural Uplift.
Please go through attachments Founder, Location, Vision & Mission and Current Activities.
Currently, there are 17 members in the Society and our main activities include Agriculture (paddy, wheat, maize, mustard, potatoes and other vegetables), Fruit growing, Food processing, Retailing of farm produce and local village handicrafts and Eco-tourism through a modest Eatery. Villagers from the nearby localities are employed for all the activities in our farm.
Our orchards and paddy fields cover about 35 acres with 3 water bodies included. The acreage is spread over 3 locations close to each other.
We are facing a major problem with water as our rainfall is restricted to only 3 months of the year. Water is drained off because our land is at a higher elevation than the neighbouring areas. In the recent years, several resorts have come up in the area. There is rampant misuse of water. They use deep borewells to extract water to constantly feed artificial waterbodies for beautification resulting in the ground water table going even lower.
In this situation, we desperately require expert advice and guidance on :
· Water harvesting
· Ground water recharging
· Used water recycling
· Drip irrigation system for the orchard
Looking forward to your response,
Yours faithfully
Sushweta Chakraborty
Member & Project Coordinator
Vanalakshmi Unmesh Samiti
Dwaranda, via Sriniketan
Birbhum - 731236
Cell - 09431702975
My husban Gautam Mukerjee can also be contacted - Cell : 09431112636
Attachments
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vision-mission
location1
current-activities
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Comments
1. Dear Sushweta, My heartiest
Dear Sushweta,
My heartiest congratulations to you for your work.
Please visit our website www.virajenvirozing.com
if you find we can assist your noble cause then please contact us.
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Director
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21 Radhakrishna, Near SBI
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2. Madam Sushweta, I am from
Madam Sushweta,
I am from Chennai, Tamil Nadu and I will be able to share my thoughts and experiences on rainwater harvesting, groundwater recharge and waste water reuse.
In case you are interested, please do send me a mail.
Best wishes,
Sekhar Raghavan, Director, Rain Centre, Chennai
3. Dear Sushweta, Based on what
Dear Sushweta,
Based on what you described and my past experience, I would like to make the following comments.
1. Your area being located at a higher ground level, any attempt to increase groundwater storage by artificial recharge is not likely to be beneficial.
2. You have to catch and harvest all the rainwater that falls in your area of 10 ha or so. This is the total water available to you within which you have to manage your needs.
3. Roof water harvesting for storage and direct use for domestic use will be priority number one.
4. The surface run-off should be stored in the existing 3 water bodies after making them infiltration/seepage proof by using clay lining or plastic sheets at the bottom.
5. Use of drip irrigation for the orchards is definitely useful/essential.
6. A lot of soil moisture management and agronomical practices can be done for growing wheat and pulses with lesser water depending on the texture of the soil (I believe, the soil there will be clayey/lateritic).
7. Reuse of the domestic water for agriculture in another imperative.
To provide any site specific solution, you shall require spealist's advices who have to visit the site. You may contact AFPRO (pd@afpro.org) which has a field unit in Ranchi and are capable of providing such services. This service is chargeable. You may also contact PRADAN (soumenbiswas@pradan.net) which has a field office in Purulia and find out to what extent can they be of service.
In case of any difficultues in contacting these organizations and other wise you may also contact me for further advices.
Best wishes.
Dr. Mihir Maitra
Soil and water conservation specialist (Retd.)
09868175757
mihirmaitra77@rediffmail.com
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