Walking through the fields of
Jamgaon village in Sinnar taluka (block) of Nasik district in Maharashtra, one
could never imagine that this was a water-deficit area. Even though the fields
were mostly bare, as the crops had been harvested and the next sowing yet to
start, the rich soil with a fair amount of moisture indicated there was enough
water. Speaking to the residents of the village it was revealed that this was
due to a series of water management measures for better irrigation and improved
agricultural practices.

The force behind this change
is an Integrated Watershed Management Project set up by the Hindustan Coca-Cola
Beverages Pvt Ltd (HCCB), the largest bottling partner of the Coca-Cola Company
in India. The project was started in March 2015 across three villages
(Khaprale, Chandrapur and Jamgaon) in Sinnar block, covering a geographical
area of 1624 ha. For this the company has tied up with Water Trust Organisation
(WOTR), Sanjeevani Institute of Empowerment and Development and the local
community. The initiative is in line with the Maharashtra government’s Jalyukta
Shivar, whose main objective is drought management across the state and
improving agriculture.

 The key objective of the project, informed
Kalyan Ranjan, Associate vice-president, Public Affairs and Communication,
HCCB, is to enhance agricultural productivity through watershed management.
“Water is the most important resource for all activities in a village, whether
agriculture or for drinking purposes,” Ranjan stressed. “Our mandate is to give
back to the community, especially since water is the main component of our products.”
The interventions are mainly in the form of irrigation development and
weather-specific advisories, which helped address the issues of water need for
agriculture, high soil erosion, land degradation, lack of knowledge on
agricultural production technology and also migration.

 With the company’s bottling plant located
around 30 km from Jamgaon village, a basic need assessment was done. As part of
the company’s CSR activities HCCB started the project in 2015, at a cost of Rs
2 crore, spread over five years. The first two years are devoted to
implementation and last three years for monitoring, evaluation, reporting and
impact assessment. At the end of five years the project will be handed over to
the villagers for its further execution, HCCB officials informed.

The villages have
traditionally grown millets (jowar and bajra), wheat and Bengal gram. They have
now added vegetables to their farms, including onion, tomato and potato. They
have increased the area under wheat cultivation and have also entered
floriculture.

Empowering women

Our first stop during the
visit to Jamgaon village was a meeting with the women. Since the launch of the
project, a total of 18 women self help groups (SHG) covering 236 women were
revived. This enabled the promoters to impart an understanding and awareness of
the project in view of the village needs and possible solutions. Regular
interactions were possible through the SHGs and Gram Sabhas.  “We are illiterate but are now learning
financial literacy,” said Anita Khobhle, a Gram Panchayat member. She
elaborated how the women had learnt accounting and book keeping. The women
visited some successful SHGs outside their village and were following some of
the best practices.

 Apart from the common pool of money held by
the SHGs, as part of the HCCB watershed project, banks (SBI, ICICI, Bank of
Maharashtra and Cooperative Bank) lend money at a nominal interest rate of two
per cent.

 But the main purpose of reviving the SHGs was
to educate them on water management and agriculture practices.  “Before 2015 we had a lot of water
problems,” said Laxman Tambat Tolape, from Chandrapur village. “But
now, that is solved.”

 Impressed by the change, Dana J Bolden, Group
Director, Public Affairs and Communications, of Coca-Cola company, said,
“We will continue to support the community in their efforts.”

Conserving water

A major intervention to
conserve water and increase irrigation potential was the construction and
repair of farm bunds. The bunds, built along gentle slopes, checks rainwater
run-off and replenish the ground water. Till date, a total of 46,041 metre farm
bunds have been constructed across three villages.  

 A check dam in Jamgaon, stretching back 500
metres, stores water collected during the monsoon months till February next
year. Apart from recharging ground water, it serves domestic use as well. As
part of social discipline, an official of WOTR explained, no one is allowed to
draw water directly from the dam. Two new check dams have been constructed, one
each in Khaprale and Chandrapur village.

 A percolation tank  has been repaired, resulting in an increase
in water storage capacity and also availability of water for a prolonged
period.

 An automated weather station has been
installed at Chandrapur, which is equidistant from Khaprale and Jamgaon
villages. The data available on wind speed, direction, humidity, rainfall and
temperature is sent to the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), which is
processed by WOTR and sent to the farmers through SMS on their mobile phones. A
total of 352 farmers have registered for these advisories, the official
informed.