This case study of Kheriya Pada, Sonariya & Wadli pada village is very inspiring for the society which reflects an example of teamwork, and conflict management through effective communication and shows that there is always strength in Equality leading behind all discrimination.
Kheriya Pada, Sonariya & Wadli pada villages are situated at Roopgardh G.P. of Kushalgarh Block in Banswara Dist. There was a pond that touches the boundaries of all three villages. The water of this pond is used by all three villages for various purposes. For irrigation purposes also the villagers are dependent on the water of this pond. Being the single pond in all the 3 villages, the villagers get involved in a race to utilize the maximum water of the pond in their villages. Such a personal benefit mindset of villagers affects the water level of the pond and by the end of January month in every year the water gets finished in the pond. Further, all the villagers need to wait for the rainy season so that the ponds again get filled up to a sufficient level for their use.
This situation leads to other problems which affect the villagers in different ways. Due to less availability of water in pond, the water availability for cattle and other animals becomes a problem in all three villages. For its solution, the villagers need to hire water tankers to fulfill the water availability for different purposes. Also, the water in nearby drains and wells also dries up, which becomes an issue for the families of these villages. This situation occurs almost every year for the last many years and villagers are worried about this situation as they are not able to find any solution to deal with it.
Vaagdhara continuously works in the Banswara district for the development of the tribal community & for their self-sustainability they formed various community institutions that are supporting our community awareness activities and working in a lead role for the development of the tribal community. In the above-mentioned context, one of the members of such community institution (Janjatiye Swaraj Samooh) Mr. Hukum Chand Bhagora, vice president of JSS, had a meeting with the VDCRC (Village Development & Child Protection Committee) members of all three villages. They had a detailed discussion on this problem and finally came to a common solution with the acceptance of all the members of the VDCRC of all three villages. They formed a committee of 5 villager members, identified from each village, and came to an agreement that this year instead of leaving the canal, it has been decided to supply water to the surrounding area through a water pump and motor and to supply water to the area below the pond through wells and a ban was imposed to leave the canal completely.
This decision really resulted in a very affected solution to the problem of water availability for all three villages. This year, there was no reduction in the sowing of the crop, like in earlier years. Leaving only the water in the canal, the water that got wasted due to filling in the drains was stopped through the support of community institution members. In the current scenario, the water availability is sufficient as there will be no shortage of water till the rainy season and a sufficient quantity of water is also available in the nearby drains and wells. This year only 20% of the water of the pond has been utilized by all three villages and the water level of the wells in the lower gardens of the pond is filled more than in earlier years.
It is a great achievement for all the villagers and they are very happy and satisfied with such a decision. On the occasion of Republic day, 2023 at the Government Higher Secondary School, Kheria Pada, the members of the organization were also honored at the Gram Panchayat level for this noble program.