Community participation helps a Maharashtra village become flood-free after years

The Konkan region, situated on the western coast of India, has about 22 tributary basins. The region accounts for 42 to 49 percent of the total rainfall in the state. Most rivers of Konkan are short in length, unlike those of the Eastern Ghats which flow for hundreds of kilometres.

With rainfall levels ranging between 2,000 mm and 6,000 mm, the rivers in Konkan flood heavily in the months of July and August. The turbulent water carries along silt, debris and stones in its wake. When the deluge recedes, the sediment gets deposited on the riverbeds, reducing the river’s depth.

However, most of the residents that this correspondent interacted with, recall the 2005 July floods as one of the most devastating disasters. With a downpour of about 900 mm in one day, the damages caused in the village were irreparable. This was the same year that heavy rain-induced floods brought Mumbai city to a standstill.

Forming a river conservation committee 

In 2019, the residents of Kondgaon-Sakharpa gathered enough support from the village panchayat and the trustees of Shree Dattatraya Temple. Together, they formed the Kajli River Conservation Committee (KRCC).

“Having acquired the permission from the district authorities for undertaking the river rejuvenation, we started raising funds from the village residents. The donation amount ranged from Rs. 50 to Rs. 5 lakhs. Some senior citizens contributed their savings for the cause too. However, within a couple of months, the pandemic set in and a lockdown was declared, forcing us to pause the work,” said Kabnoorkar, a third-generation Kondgaon-Sakharpa resident, who owns a grocery store and manages a secondary school.

Social media also helped in generating funds for the cause as even people who migrated to other cities and countries contributed money when they saw the posts on digital platforms. In total, the committee was able to raise Rs. 33 lakhs in donations.

The KRCC members then reached out to Naam Foundation, an NGO which has worked in water conservation projects across Maharashtra, by finding long-term remedies for drought.  Soon, water conservationist Ajit Gokhale, who has executed scores of projects involving sewage/effluent treatment, surface water replenishment, and rainwater harvesting projects, came on board to provide the technical inputs for Kajli’s restoration. Gokhale and his team are credited for making 200 drought-prone villages in Maharashtra self-reliant in drinking water.

For instance, to build the Konkan Railway Project, the rocky Sahyadri range was bored through. Viaducts were built through many valleys. Around 2,000 bridges were built and 91 tunnels were dug, according to a 2013 study. The debris from this project was dumped on the hill slopes. And when the rains came, the debris rolled down.

“The riverbed accumulating debris and stones further influenced the destruction of the aquatic life and, in the process, the livelihood of the fisher folk. By October, almost all rivers were dry. With the pools of water gone, the temperature of the river environs spiked,” said Gokhale.

Since May 2021, the inhabitants of Kondgaon-Sakharpa have lived through two monsoons with no occurrence of floods. Incidentally, the villages of Chanderai, a riverine port until the 1960s, and Harcheri, located 30 kilometres downstream, experienced flooding.

This restoration which is primarily a community-based conservation model to rejuvenate the Kajli river has enthused those living near other rivers in Konkan, that encounter regular flooding. In November 2021, Kondgaon-Sakharpa hosted a workshop titled “Nadi ki Pathshala” (School for the Rivers), led by Ramon Magsaysay Award winner and water conservationist Rajendra Singh. The brainchild of biodiversity expert Sumant Pande, the three-day residential workshop was attended by more than 80 individuals including students, teachers, members of NGOs and environment activists. Two more workshops were held subsequently in Pune.