How a village broke mindsets to win unique water challenge

Indian Express

2 days ago

'Paani ka problem aisa hai ki aadmi ko ek din mein pata nahi chalta; dhire-dhire pata chalta hai toh time nikal jata hai. (The problem with water crisis is that a person doesn't realise it immediately. We become aware of it gradually and, by then, it is too late),' says Sunil Namdev Garad, the sarpanch of Khed village in Dharashiv.
Khed, like the other villages of Dharashiv, falls in the rain shadow area of Maharashtra. The graphs for groundwater and rain here are worryingly low. In the past few years, however, Khed has increased its groundwater level, wells that would dry up in November or December now have water till April or May and the farmers, who used to grow only soyabean and chana, have now ventured into sugarcane.
The turnaround has thrust Khed into the limelight, thanks to a unique village-level Dharashiv Water Competition 2025. It is a water management competition organised by the Water Supply and Sanitation Department of the Government of Maharashtra, Dharashiv Zila Parishad, the District Agriculture Department, the Water Supply Department, Jal Jeevan Mission, Water Conservation, Health and Sanitation (Swachh Bharat Mission), District level Groundwater Survey and Development Agency, India Climate Collaborative, IndusInd Bank Ltd, and Pune-based Watershed Organisation Trust (WOTR), which is involved in solving problems of rural poverty and the ecosystems. Khed won the first prize, trumping 254 other villages of Dharashiv.
Each participating village in the competition was graded on 100 marks on parameters mentioned in the Water Governance Standard and Certification System, which is 'a set of predefined criteria that puts forward good governance practices, relevant for local water governance in agrarian communities. These include how a village panchayat implements water budgeting, make rules for the cultivation of low water required crops, and control groundwater extraction. There was also a look into ecosystems that are crucial in the villages – if the village has taken into account water for livestock or for women's needs in the water distribution. The villages were judged on past efforts and initiatives, ie work that has been going on for the last 5-10 years, rather than those starting now motivated by the competition.
'The purpose of the competition at district level was to motivate water management at and appreciate the villages that were performing well in water management. The competition is not limited to the awards. All villages that have participated into the competition will be provided with an action plan to improve their water management. This will be based on the assessments of the strengths and weaknesses of each village. Some villages are very good in building the structures for water harvesting and maintaining them, so they got high scores on these points, but scores low in water use efficiency, water budgeting or micro irrigation,' says Dr Eshwer Kale, who specialises in water governance at WOTR Centre for Resilience Studies, a research centre of WOTR.
'This framework is applicable and relevant at the national level, and I believe Maharashtra is the first state to adopt and promote such an important initiative to motivate and inspire villagers to adopt better water management practices,' Sanjay Khandare, Principal Secretary of the state Water Supply and Sanitation Department, said at the ceremony.
Khed won because they showed all-around achievements. The village had worked with the local administration to create structures, such as drains and embankments, to hold the rainwater. Drip irrigation and sprinkler systems were used in the fields. 'Where we needed 10 litres of water, we could make do with only three litres now. The village worked with the government to build 30-35 ponds. This way, we not only stored water but also saved it. If we had not worked according to the guidelines given to us, the water would have drained away and been lost,' says Garad. The yield in the fields increased from 10 quintal per hectare to 13-14 quintal per hectare. 'We were taken by surprise when our name was announced as the winner of the competition. Bahut khushi hui,' says Garad.
He adds that the biggest problem was changing the mindsets of many of the 1,500 farmers of the village. 'Farmers find it difficult to accept any new practice. They prefer to work according to experience and tradition. We had to explain to them that water harvesting would not damage their fields, on the contrary, it would benefit them,' says Garad. 'Ek do jagah kaam karke dikhaya toh phir woh maan leta hai (Once, we demonstrated the results in a couple or places, the famers were convinced),' he adds.
According to Dr Kale, the competition has made available 'a huge data set on water management of 255 villages' for the district administration to strategically plan interventions. He adds that the competition in Dharashiv was a part of a larger picture. With the success in Dharashiv, the competition will now be implemented at state levels. 'WOTR had signed an MOU with the Water Supply and Sanitation Department of the Government of Maharashtra. The initial idea was to have a competition at the state level to test different government schemes and programmes related to water. The Secretary and the Department suggested that we first hold a competition at the district level, at Dharashiv, and, after gaining experience and learning, adopt it at the state level,' he says.
Dipanita Nath is interested in the climate crisis and sustainability. She has written extensively on social trends, heritage, theatre and startups. She has worked with major news organizations such as Hindustan Times, The Times of India and Mint. ... Read More