The team, which surveyed 99 villages in three districts in October-November 2010, concluded that 85.60 % of the dams constructed in 2009 were either fully damaged or partially damaged.
Has the state government's bori bandh project under the NREGA helped the villages where they were constructed? A recent study by Dr Hemantkumar Shah of HK Arts College and Paulomee Mistry of NGO, DISHA, has revealed that most of the bori bandhs (tiny dams constructed with the help of sand bags) constructed in the state in 2009 have been a failure.
The team, which surveyed 99 villages in three districts in October-November 2010, concluded that 85.60 % of the dams constructed in 2009 were either fully damaged or partially damaged. "About 17% of the total bori bandhs were fully damaged. The data clearly and emphatically shows the futility of the construction of bori bandhs. The very core purpose of the Act — of creating permanent assets in the rural areas — was badly compromised. It also implies sheer wastage of money on the part of the state government," the study states.
In 2009, Gujarat government initiated construction of bori bandhs under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme in a big way. Bori bandh is a traditional method of water conservation. Normally, local people themselves construct this type of very small dams for rain water harvesting at places where the natural outflow of rain water exists. Bori bandhs are in fact tiny dams constructed on small rivulets and nullahs with sand bags to prevent the outflow of water outside the village area. The sand bags are arranged one upon another on the surface to create a barrier for the flow of water and thus the rain water is reserved and stored in the catchments area of the bori bandh.
As per the government data, the total number of bori bandhs constructed in Gujarat in 2009-10 is 2,64,652 in 14,826 villages. There are more than 18,500 villages in the state and thus, almost 80 % of the villages were covered for the construction of bori bandhs. In all, 6,41,217 workers received employment in the construction of bori bandhs and 92,53,040 person-days employment was generated. It is also claimed by the government of Gujarat that the capacity for water conservation due to these constructions has gone up by 2,99,21,616 cubic metres.
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