Member Profile: Gram Vikas Mandal, Dethali


Member Type
IMPLEMENTOR
Referred By
Indians for Collective Action (ICA) | Status: approved
Summary
Also shown on map.

Gram Vikas Mandal Dethali (Taluka Becharaji, Gujarat), India is an NGO committed to uplift Dethali and surrounding area towards scientific, carbon neutral and sustainable growth. Established in 2000, the organization, promoted by progressive minded people of village, has taken up development of village focusing on water, sanitation, education and income improvement programs.

Date Founded 2000-02-11
Primary Focus Climate Change Adaptation
Secondary Focus Groundwater Recharge
History of Water Projects
Related work not on PWX.

Dethali (Ta.Bechraji) in north Gujarat, India is about 100 kms away from Ahmedabad city. It is located at 23.6degree Latitude & 72degree Longitude and is under semi arid climatic conditions. Average rain fall of last ten years is 350 mm only. Low rain fall is unevenly distributed. Irrigation facilities are only by surface wells. Natural calamities like famine floods etc. are almost regular occurrence, destroying crops. The texture of soil is sandy loam to sandy clay loam. It is poor in fertility and productivity. The pH of the soil is about 8 to 8.5.Nature of the soil is towards alkalinity. Soils are poorly drained. Under ground water is saline. Unemployment and underemployment are chronic diseases. Remote location of village is great hindrance for job hunters. Agriculture and live stock management are main occupations. The population is around 1300 people and around 45% people live below poverty line.

Easy access of potable drinking water was a perennial problem in Dethali. Moonsoon water would last up to 5 or 6 months. Ladies had to walk almost 4 kms to bring portable water so first work was to assure hygienic drinking water round the year. Dethali main Pond (Talav) is spread in about 30 acres (12 hectares). Over the years, siltation and sand deposition made it quite shallow leading to reduced Storage capacity. Hard pan formation on surface of the tank reduced percolation of water. Side bunds of tank were terribly eroded. Shortage of drinking water made life miserable .It was a great nightmare to get good quality and quantity of drinking water in summer, as a result surface wells were drying fast.

So Gram vikas mandal (GVM) first job was to dig, deepen and develop main tank so that access to surface water is managed. The water was used for drinking as well as daily use. The one-off effort would not sustain the momentum. The idea was to anticipate climate change challenges and create more sustainable water bodies around various places to further augment water resources for village. ICA’s help both moral, material and importantly as guidance came in extremely handy. A large work expanding to 12 Small-medium Ponds (Talavdis) were dug. The places for digging were chosen after careful deliberation and taking whole village’s collective wisdom coupled with geographical topography of village into consideration. After all the hard work, we are happy to share that today water storage In talav last about 18 months.

However climate change challenges are hitting us hard than ever. On one hand due to extreme abuse of groundwater the tables have lowered considerably, on the other erratic rain patterns are making it worse to conserve water as planned. Every year instead of even rains, we are observing that it rains heavily during few hours or days and then there is no rain for remaining period. To convert this challenge into opportunity, GVM wants to take up an ambitious project of using this excess water to recharge the ground water.

Organization Background

Few forward looking and progressive minded people decided to form gram vikas mandal before 10 years. Every year they decide about development project in Villagers Meeting (Gram Sabha). Once the projects to be done are indentified, resource management gets discussed. Funds are allocated or sought out from worthy donors and as per the availability of resources, work gets done.

Development work like talav, roads, computers in school, formation of organic milk co operatives and formation of ladies micro-finance initiatives were taken up and are running smoothly.

The volunteer nature of all the office bearers, selflessly contributing to village welfare has encouraged all the villagers to participate. The small initiative has now become inclusive and holistic movement. To maintain transparency in accounts, it is mandatory audited every year. Audited account uptill March-2010 are available for inspection. Cash donations are first deposited in bank and then withdrawn as per requirements. To maintain balance among various communities, villagers choose most able officers whose honesty and integrity are trusted by all.

We get very valuable guidance from our patrons-in chief
Mr. Chunibhai VAIDYA - NOTED GANDHIAN WORKER
Mr. Pravin SHETH -INTERNATIONALLY KNOWN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR AND SOCIAL WORKER
Mr. Joitaram CHOKSI - NOTED SOCIAL WORKER

Website
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Bank Info
Gram Vikas Mandal Dethali STATE BANK OF INDIA, ELLISBRIDGE BRANCH, AHMEDABAD 380 006, GUJARAT,INDIA A/C NO 30367417649 MICR NO 380002014 SWIFT NO SBIN BB 204 IFSC CODE SBIN 000104

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Last Updated: 12 Jul, 2019 (over 5 years ago)

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