Satyadev Gautam, who has an MBA degree, became the sarpanch of Bhiduki village in Palwal district, Haryana, when he waged a campaign to save rainwater in the village and today the village saves 25 lakh litres of rainwater every year. Learn how the villagers did this amazing thing.
Water is one of the most important needs of life. But given the way the water crisis is increasing in the country, every citizen should try to save water at their own level. In many areas, the groundwater level has gone down drastically. In such a situation, there is a great need to save rainwater and water sources. Rainwater harvesting is a process by which water scarcity can be overcome.
This method is necessary not only for the drought-prone areas but also for the areas where there is a good amount of rain. Because if rainwater in every corner of the country will be conserved, then every area will get the benefit. Realizing the importance of rainwater harvesting, the ‘Bhiduki Gram Panchayat’ of Haryana has created ‘Rain Water Harvesting Systems’ at not one but four different places. In this village with a population of about 18 thousand, now there is neither water-filling nor water problem for the farmers.
Till a few years ago, people used to face a lot of trouble during the rainy season in Bhiduki village of Palwal district. Due to no drainage of water in the village, waterlogging took place at various places. Especially in the government school in the village, where teachers and students had to face a lot of trouble during the rainy season. Satyadev Gautam, a 32-year-old sarpanch of the village, says, “Frankly, the idea of building a ‘rainwater harvesting system’ in the village came from the school itself. One day while visiting the school, the teachers talked to me about this problem and said that the gram panchayat should do something on this subject. ”
The school building is quite old and it was not possible for the panchayat to make any changes to it. Gautam, who has done B.Tech and MBA, says that earlier he used to work in a company in Gurugram. There was also a problem of waterlogging, to solve this, a ‘Rain Water Harvesting System’ was built in the company. He went on to say, “I understand that we can solve the problem in this way, but, to understand the technique a little more, I once again went to that company and went there and understood about it.” After that, we started the work of rainwater harvesting system in the school. ”
The school principal Hari Singh said, “The school is very old. The rest of the time is fine but, in the rainy season, the problem used to increase greatly. The entire school was flooded but, it is not happening now. The creation of this system has facilitated a lot. The gram panchayat is very active about the problems of the village. ”
The problem of waterlogging has gone away:
First, pipes were collected to collect water from the roof of the school. Subsequently, the rest of the waterlogged places of the road and school were connected to each other through drains. Three underground tanks of about eight feet in width and ten feet in length were built in one part of the school. These three tanks are connected to each other. The first two tanks have a rainwater filter. At the same time, a borewell, 120 meters deep, has been built in the third tank. Through this borewell, the entire water is sent into the ground.
After the rainwater harvesting system was installed in the school, the problem of waterlogging was completely over. Gautam says that he got very good results in school. Here, they are able to save more than 11 lakh litres of rainwater throughout the year. Therefore, he began to see in other parts of the village also the areas where there is the problem of waterlogging. He explains, “There are 40 houses in the village’s Valmiki Basti and the people living here told the Gram Panchayat that due to the rain filling the water in front of their houses, they also have a lot of difficulty in moving. Therefore, we built a rainwater harvesting system through the same process there as well. However, the depth of the borewell is different everywhere. ”
Apart from Valmiki Basti, rainwater harvesting systems have also been built in the village’s sub-health centre and sports complex. Also, filters have been installed in each system so that there is no inaccuracy in the water going into the ground. This will reduce the salinity of the groundwater and the water will be sweeter. With these four rainwater harvesting systems, Bhiduki village is contributing to increasing the groundwater level by saving about 25 lakh litres of rainwater annually.
Fields added to the village johad:
First, the Gram Panchayat has redeemed the land allotted for the Johad (water source) in the village from illegal occupation and then cleaned it and got the pond dug. During the rainy season, this pond is filled with water and is very useful for the villagers. Also, this pond has been connected to the farms through a sewerage line. This allows farmers to get water for irrigation of their fields through a sewerage line when needed. Gautam explains, “In the village fields, pits of six feet width and ten feet length have been constructed every 200 to 300 meters for about two kilometres. Johar’s sewerage pipe is connected to these pits. In such a situation, whenever the farmers need water, farmers put pipes in these pits and irrigate the fields. ”
Although the canal water comes for irrigation in Bhiduki village, even if there is a delay in getting this water, farmers do not have to wait for planting the crop. Says Gautam, “Rainwater harvesting is an effective way to reduce the water level in cities and villages and save water to a great extent. But, there is a need to adopt this campaign on a large scale. ”
And finally, he says, “Rainwater harvesting system is a way that is not only solving the problem of our village today but also working for the future. Now at least we are sure that we have done something for our future generation. ”
This initiative of Bhiduki Gram Panchayat has been praised by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his program ‘Mann Ki Baat’. Apart from rainwater harvesting, in many other initiatives, Bhiduki village is setting the example of being a better village. It is expected that rainwater harvesting should be done in other villages of the country so that the water crisis of the country can be reduced to a great extent.