Experiments with 'community wells'

10 Sep, 2014 . 2 mins read

Mobilized farmers in Dhule, Maharashtra, show how communities can use groundwater as a common resource in an organised and collective manner.

Community wells: A shared groundwater resource

Rapid increase in the use of groundwater and its declining availability has threatened the existence of this important resource. A community experiment by Desh Bandhu and Manju Gupta Foundation (DBMG), which involves implementing water resource development and mobilising farmers to use groundwater as a common resource through group wells, is showing good results.

What are the characteristics of ‘community wells’?

Groundwater to be treated as a community resource and not as private
Groundwater to be used equitably by all the community members and not be monopolized by a few resource-rich farmers.
Control the rampant increase in number of wells and groundwater use

What did the Dhule initiative include?

Implementation of community wells programme in two districts
Activities to include watershed development, group well and water harvesting structures construction
Expenses shared equally between farmers & DBMG foundation
Successful sharing of water initiated

How is water sharing carried out?

Formal and legal agreement signed between group members
Water shared by the whole group
All members cultivate equal amounts of land
All follow same cropping pattern
All contribute equally
Well belongs to the whole group and not a single individual

Salient features of the initiative

Formal agreements between farmers
Nothing is given as free to farmers to develop a sense of ownership
Provision of easy loans to farmers through DBMG
Forward linkage in terms of better varieties of seeds, better agricultural practices provided
Only for resource poor farmers who do not have wells

Areas of improvement