I am basically from a "major rice producing area" in Bhandara District, Maharashtra, region name is "Chauras". We used to take 2 crops yearly of rice, So you can understand the amount of water we were having. Our major water source was ground water & water pumps used for irrigation.
The last 2 years have shown a decline in water levels. Which has hit production with farmers revising their cultivation from 8 to 5 acres now due to reduced water availability. Running a pump overnight used to supply three acres, while at present the practice does not even support one acre. This is to outline the severity of the issue at hand.
So what should we do now? Actually I live away from my home. I am in Pune. So I can't go regularly there and can explain the farmers about the issues and what we should do. My plan was to build "BANDARAS" on the small "nala"(smaller than river). So that we can do rain water harvesting.
Can you suggest any other methods that would be apt to the situation or provide the contact information of some organization who will be able to help the farmers by providing information & assistance?