The Karnataka government is providing work to people under the NREGA scheme.
As thousands of people in Karnataka abandon their rural homes during this year's parched summer in search of work to the cities, authorities hope to check the flow by providing work locally.
In Ballari district's Siriguppa taluk, around 1,000 people are earning about Rs 230 tool every day under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act - known as NREGA - promises work to those who need it.
The working day starts early at the work site in Siriguppa. The workers come in by 5 am and leave later in the morning before the heat becomes overwhelming.
Venkatappa, one of the workers, told NDTV, "We earn Rs 224. If this work was not there we would have to be at home or I would have to go to Bengaluru."
Parvathamma, who was working on the same site, said, "If this work was not there - there is no life, no water no shelter. We would have to take our children and go to Bengaluru."
The project in Siriguppa is aimed at conservation of soil and moisture - with fodder trees to be planted when the rains come.
Sameer Shukla, a district official, told NDTV, "From January till today, we have 46 per cent shortage of rainfall. So, yes there has been a problem of drinking water. However for Ballari we have been able to manage it by taking some various measures. It is not that the situation is completely out of the hand."