Students submit report on ways of dealing with water scarcity and improving agriculture in villages.
Residents of Dandi, Matwad, Samapore and Onjal believe that most of the ideas suggested by students of Centre for Environmental Planning and Technology (Cept) to deal with water scarcity can be easily adopted. The students of the faculty of Environment and Climate Change Studies at Cept had submitted a project giving suggestions on how to restore agriculture and bring back migratory birds to creeks, rivers and other water bodies.
Jayanti Sarpanch, resident of Matwad village, appreciated the students' efforts towards ideating sustainable ecosystems for these villages. He said, "It was nice of them to come here and study our villages and the problems faced by us. Most of the ideas presented during the final presentation are workable and we wish institutions and government bodies implement them as soon as possible."
Supported by Gujarat Ecology Commission (GEC), 18 students had worked in two phases. In the first stage, students visited these villages and documented the prevailing issues and available opportunities. In the second phase, they formulated various strategies with detailed plan of action for the development of these villages so as to make them self-sustainable.
Having spent nearly four months in these villages from November last year to February 2011, students presented their suggestions to a jury panel, among whom was E Balaguruswamy, IFS, member secretary, GEC.
Commenting on the students' ideas for overall development of these villages especially regarding water, Balaguruswamy said,
"Data collection done by students is outstanding as it is detailed and properly listed. However, since they have done this merely as an academic project, I have suggested to faculty and students to integrate all the problems and solutions and then give GEC a final presentation. There was too much information to currently decide on which and how their idea could be practically implemented."
According to the dean of the faculty of Environmental and Climate Change Studies at Cept, Shrawan Kumar Acharya, "While this was part of the students' academic project, there are a few of them who are interested to take it up as their PhD work at a later stage. Now they will move on to the next project."
Despite having inland water bodies or being surrounded by them, villages have been facing water scarcity thereby affecting agriculture badly. This, as per students, has forced many people to leave their villages to earn their daily bread outside.
"Many villagers migrate after gaining basic technical education. These very people turn into NRIs and later provide funds for development of their village. Certain amenities such as streetlights, water tanks and a couple of schools in Samapore have been funded by NRIs," said a student involved in the project.
What Cept suggested
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Conserve coast and coastal resources
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Plant salt tolerant plants
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Combine aquaculture and agriculture farming by incorporating rainwater harvesting ponds utilising 10% of the land
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Practice Gei Wai (shrimp culture) in mangrove areas
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Practice solid waste management through vermicompost, fixed dome biogas method, and compost toilets
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Train the villagers to cultivate home-based and khadi industries to provide employment
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Develop eco-tourism by preserving traditional style houses that are seen in large numbers
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Install water tanks with purification systems in place
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