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This international project involves de-silting of an existing percolation pond. The pond accumulates rain water during the monsoon season for and recharges the local aquifer that supplies wells in the region. The reservoir and percolation will help to increase ground water table. The local village governmental body with the help of India government approved engineers has done survey and studied the technological aspects of the project.
This project is in rural area called the Varkute Village, located in the Taluka Indapur District near Pune, India. There area approximately 20,000 beneficiaries which includes the villagers and local farmers. The local community uses the well water for drinking, cattle feeding and agricultural purposes.
Due to the drought conditions and silting in of the reservoir, the wells have reached low levels and the recharging of the aquifer through percolation from the reservoir is minimal. Removal of the silt from the reservoir will improve water storage and subsequent percolation in to the water table. Because of these conditions, the villagers and local farmers receive water from tanker trucks during summer. This is expensive and requires the villagers to wait in long lines just to receive their ration of water. The implementation of project will result in availability of water throughout the year which will result in overall improvement in hygiene, economic conditions and standard of living.
The Government hydrological study and water quality report has been taken in to consideration while designing the project. The project has strong local community support and involvement.
A local Rotary club will execute and manage the project with the help of local village labor (Grampanchyat)
Addendum to Project Description (added after the project was signed)
Due to what has been described as a political situation, the original Rainwater Harvesting Project in Varkute has been put on hold. Dr. Meena, our Rotarian contact in Pune, India, has provided a similar project to replace the Varkute project. This project involves the construction of a submerged dam to provide water for the Gundalwadi village near Pune, India. The complete project description has been attached as a separate doucmnt. this documement, entitled Gundalwadi Dam Proposal includes a project description, project budget, maps including a hydrology map, dam construction drawings and letters of approval.
A summary of the project is as follows:
A submerged dam will be constructed in the water stream coming from Gundalwadi Village, located in the catchment area of Chas-Kaman Dam . This dam, once constructed, will be submerged under water during the rainy season when the level of Chas-Kaman Dam is full. Once the level goes down when the water in the Chas-Kaman Dam is released to the canals, the submerged dam wall will be visible, acting as its own reservoir of water.
Community Issues.
1. The area receives plenty of rainfall but typically after February there is a scarcity of drinking water for domestic use in the Gundalwadi Village and also in the nearby tribal Thakar community.
2. Typically the wells in the village also draw down in the month of March, making availability of drinking water a problem. This situation also impacts the availability of water for cattle.
3. Agricultural yield is also impacted due to the shortage of water and irrigation purposes.
Solution: Submerged Dam design and construction.
With more than 3,500 villagers, including about 1,500 in a nearby tribal community (Cast- Thakar), the drinking water problem will be resolved permanently. The cattle will also have access to drinking water.
Because of the submerged dam, the percolation of water to the nearby wells will improve, making more drinking water available from area wells.
The stored and percolated water also can be used for the irrigation of nearly 2,000 acres of land in the area due to the percolation of water to the nearby wells.
This will boost the village economy as people can grow crops even in the summer season. The crop valuation in summer for about 2,000 acres is estimated to be 5,000 India Rupees per acre or a total of about 10,000,000 India Rupees. This equates to about $130,000 in U. S. Dollars or about $66 per acre. (Updated at current exchange rate.)
The original budget called for a Rotary After Work contribution of $7,000 and an additional $2,000 from a District 5440 Grant. The amount from the After Work club has been revised to $5,000 for a total of $7,000 including the District Grant.
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