ગુજરાતી
English
2 November 2024
A river is seen in the northwestern part of Lathi town on National Highway 351-F from Lathi town to Amreli town.
Dhari taluka of Amreli district receives an average rainfall of 25 inches annually, which is the lowest among the 11 talukas of the district. Dhari is followed by Lathi which receives an average rainfall of 26 inches annually.
The coastal area of Gagdia river flowing through the eastern and southern borders of Dudhala is called Kharopaat, because here Gormatti (a type of sticky soil which was used to build walls of houses in olden times) and Sunthia type of soil is found, which does not allow the water to dry quickly, but due to the fluoride content in it, the salt content in the water is high, due to which the river, drain and groundwater becomes saline, turbid or soft. Irrigating crops with such water can have a negative impact on the fertility of the soil in the long run. Moreover, the soil of Gormatti and Sunthia is not fertile and hence not productive.
But the people of Dudhala, with hard work, planning and deep understanding, have found a way to overcome this natural anomaly by arranging for maximum storage of rainwater with the support of industrialists and the government.
In Gujarat, usually fields and fields are surrounded by canals or ditches and through such ditches or trenches the rainwater flows from the fields to the river. But such ordinary canals or trenches are not visible in Dudhala.
Here, fifteen to twenty feet deep trenches have been dug throughout the village and check dams have been built in them at regular intervals.
Local farmers call such trenches as canals and the check dams built in them as bandharas. Cart pavements have been built along these canals to reach the fields. It is no wonder that outsiders fear driving on such roads because of the depth of the canals.
A check dam called Bharatmata Sarovar, built at Dudhala village, four kilometres from Lathi, was inaugurated.
There is a check dam called Bharatmata Sarovar on the Gagdia river flowing near Dudhala village.
The well is full to the brim with water.
There will be a yield of more than twenty maunds of cotton per hectare. Ever since Nehru dug the well, water has become a boon and farming is going well. Now more dams have been built and more benefits have been derived.
The boreholes and wells have sufficient water till winter.
Earlier, only jowar crop was sown in the entire strip of Gagadia Kantha, as the ground water did not stay or was too saline. But eight years ago, Naran Sarovar (a large check dam) was built on the Gagdia river, which reduced the salinity of the water and raised the groundwater level. As the water became sweeter, cotton sowing also increased, because due to sweet water there was no fear of land getting spoiled due to irrigation and the soil also started improving.
Due to the geographical structure of the province being inverted saucer shape, rain water goes into the sea. Therefore, the problem of drinking water and irrigation water is permanent. Despite having fertile soil, agriculture has not been able to develop as expected due to lack of irrigation water.
The rulers before and after independence built big dams like Shetrunji, Bhadar, Machhu-2.
There are 141 small and medium sized dams for irrigation in 11 districts of Saurashtra. But since Saurashtra is a plateau region, the capacity of these dams has been limited.
Therefore, in the 1990s, the state government and others, including diamond industry pioneer Mathur Savani, through the Saurashtra Jaldhara Trust founded by Mathur Savani, built check dams across streams, springs and small rivers in villages and recharged groundwater sources by collecting rainwater in them. The aim was to keep the water of the fields in the fields, the water of the borders in the borders and the water of the villages in the villages, thereby increasing the groundwater level.
The groundwater level was continuously going deeper. Borewells as deep as 2000 feet were being dug in North Gujarat. This was a ghat where money could be withdrawn without depositing it in the bank. To improve this situation, 200 check dams and 10 lakes were built in Khopala (Gadda taluka, Botad district) village in 1998. Money was collected from farmers at the rate of Rs 300 per bigha and the remaining amount was given by industrialists associated with the diamond industry. The experiment done in Khopla was successful and the then Chief Minister of Gujarat Keshubhai Patel sought support for building such check dams and ponds and on getting the support, Jal Abhiyan was started to build check dams in every village for water revolution. For this, we appeal to the industrialists and leaders living in Surat, Mumbai and other cities and abroad to repay the debt of their motherland by cooperating in the work of water conservation in their villages.
Govind Dholakia, founder and chairman of Shri Ramakrishna Exports Private Limited and his nephew Savji Dholakia (founder and chairman of Hare Krishna Group), who are natives of Dudhala and pioneers of the diamond industry of Surat, also joined this campaign. In the year 2001, they laid a network of about 45 km long canals and about 75 dams in it for storing rainwater in Dudhala.
In 2001, due to sporadic rainfall and drought in Saurashtra region of Gujarat, farmers started leaving their livestock and parched lands and migrating to the industrial areas of South Gujarat. At that time, Govind Dholakia through Saurashtra Jaldhara Trust launched a massive campaign to build check dams across Saurashtra. People’s Link
With hard work, 100 check dams were built in a short time and the groundwater level rose.
In 2007, he presented a concrete example of his idea by building five big check dams on the Gagdio river in Dudhala.
The results of these five ponds were seen for 10 years. At that time, the village did not even have an income of five lakhs from farming. Now, the income has started to be five crores. Seeing these good results, he started this work of Gagdio in 2017.
Gagadio River, Chamardi in Babra taluka of Amreli
This river originates from the village and is 55 kilometers long.
Flowing from north to south, it passes through Babra and Lathi talukas and joins the Shetrunji River at Krakach village in Liliya taluka.
In 2017, with the support of the state government, the construction of more check dams and widening and deepening of the river began. Since then, the Dholakia Foundation has been deepening and widening the river in a 29-km stretch of the Gagdio river from Harsurpur village north of Lathi to Krakach village in Liliya taluka under various schemes of the state government.
At a total cost of Rs 35 crore, five new check dams have been constructed on the river, five existing check dams have been repaired, and earthen embankments have been built on the river banks.
More than 30 check dams have been constructed on this river.
Due to the revival of the Gagdio river, the groundwater level, which was 400 feet, has come down to 200 feet.
The width of the river, which earlier used to be 60 to 70 metres on an average, has increased to 100 to 120 metres. The river has also been deepened by one and a half to three metres. However, due to the low elevation, water cannot be supplied for irrigation through canals from the Gagdio river. But its benefits have been felt in an area of at least one kilometre on both sides of the river.
As per the agreement signed in September 2022 between the state government and Dholakia Foundation for water management works of Gagdiyo river, Dholakia Foundation will be responsible for constructing check dams, repairing existing check dams, widening and deepening the river, building embankments on the river banks, digging ponds and making canals for them, etc.
The government will spend Rs 16 crore and Dholakia Foundation Rs 4 crore on this project, which will last for three years. As per the agreement, if any land has to be acquired for this work, then the responsibility of that will also be of Dholakia Foundation.
Since soil was being excavated on a large scale, where to dispose of this excavated soil, which was of Gormathi and Sunthia variety, was a big challenge, as the farmers around were not ready to take such soil. Therefore, they bought hundreds of bighas of land along the river.
Forest land, grazing land, government land and private land of many people.
Dudabhai Bagda of Dudhala, his five brothers and five-six cousins had to sell their 100 bigha land three years ago.
The Dholakia family has sold about 200 bigha land around Bharat Mata Sarovar and built artificial hills, gardens etc. on it.
A big house named ‘Hetni Haveli’ has also been built and Savjibhai’s son Dravya’s marriage ceremony took place in this haveli.
When needed, farmers of the village join the labour with spades and buckets.
Due to water harvesting, 4,000 bigha land of Dudhala village gets enough irrigation water for at least two crops.
The farmers and women of Akala village, situated across the Gagdio river opposite Dudhala, are also happy, as there has been no shortage of drinking and irrigation water since 2017.
Earlier, the TDS (total dissolved solids) of the groundwater of the village was 1750 ppm (parts per million). The water was very soft and not drinkable. But after 2017, due to the formation of a lake in Gagdio, the TDS has decreased to 450 ppm. Today, the water of the wells and borewells of the village is drinkable.
Due to fluoride in the water, people used to complain of bone and joint pain. But now there is water in the borewells of the houses even in summer and it remains drinkable all year round. There is no need for Narmada water.
For the last few years, the movement of Asiatic lions has been seen along the banks of the Gagdio river. Apart from this, a protected forest is also located on the eastern bank of the Gagdio river.
Local forest department officials told the BBC that this forest falls within the boundary of Gir (East) Wildlife Division and is proving to be ideal for the lions to inhabit.
From here, the lions are expanding their range towards Gariadhar in Bhavnagar. Some locals, on the condition of anonymity, say that if the Gagdio river remains flooded all year round, the expansion of lions towards the eastern part of Bhavnagar district will stop.
Asiatic lions are seen swimming in the deep and crocodile-infested waters of the Rawal Dam. Similarly, there is evidence of lions swimming to the island of the Shetrunji Dam. Therefore, it can be assumed that the Asiatic lions living in and around Gir can swim well in water and hence, even if the Gagdio river remains flooded, prima facie it does not seem that there will be any adverse effect on the movement of lions. (Google translation from Gujarati)
