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Rainwater harvesting projects for four Sangrur villages
The newly-constructed ponds will bank rainwater from the surrounding areas, which will in turn replenish the groundwater.
Four villages in the Bhawanigarh sub-division of Sangrur have created rainwater harvesting ponds in the region. Sangrur MLA Vijay Inder Singla and deputy commissioner APS Virk will inaugurate the project on February 27.
This is to improve the ‘access to water,’ by using rainwater through these ponds, which have been built after a survey was conducted in 66 villages of the area with the help of Alternative Development initiatives, a local NGO.
The panchayats of Panwa, Masani, Phumanwal and Bhaktari villages have started the project as part of sustainable water resource development and management project, in association with the World Bank.
The newly-constructed ponds will bank rainwater from the surrounding areas, which will in turn replenish the groundwater. The recharge potential of these ponds is 100 million litre and is expected to benefit a total agricultural area of over 350 acre land.
Vaishakh Palasodkar, a representative of ADI, said that they will monitor the groundwater level of the land here and the surrounding tubewells from time to time.
Meanwhile, a separate wastewater management system has also been set up in these villages, to manage the locally generated waste.
“A regular monitoring will be done by measuring rainfall through the rain gauges installed. Additionally, the water level indicators will be monitored throughout the year to evaluate the impact of groundwater recharging,” he added.
The people of these villages are getting training from the agriculture centres, to develop community engagement model in the area.
“We have given around four acre panchayat land to ADI for the project and a park to be built in the area. The main aim is to recharge groundwater,” said Hardeep Kaur, sarpanch of Mansani village.
Kesar Singh, a resident of Panwal village, said, “Rain often becomes problematic and results in old ponds in our village getting flooded. We hope that the new system will help in managing rainwater and recharging groundwater.”
