Dhaturiya Village, Dewas:
Ramsharan Patel is a miracle man for the farmers in Dhaturiya, a village in Madhya Pradesh's Dewas district. The 70-year-old helped the entire village hold on to their livelihoods, when he literally dug them out of the state's acute water crisis.
It was a pond dug by Patel four years ago that changed the face of the village.
The 20-feet-deep and two acres wide pond helped the village get out if the grave situation, which saw several fights over water almost every day in the summer.
Dheeraj has just bought his 10th Jersey cow, a breed most commonplace in Dhaturiya's farms. These farms earlier grew only soybean, but now cultivate wheat and gram in rotation.
Every home has a tractor and every other mud house is being rebuilt in concrete
From bankruptcy to prosperity, from scarcity to abundance, Dhaturiya Village is like an oasis in the drought-hit Dewas district.
Till 2004, Dhaturiya's landscape was barren. Three long years of drought had not only killed the crops, but also the soil.
While every field was thirsting for water, his land gave him two crops.
"To dig a pond was the only way to survive," Patel said.
Ramsharan Patel had started a mini irrigation revolution and by next year, six more villagers followed his example.
"We have stopped using tube wells. The ponds in our farms help us grow two crops every year. We all now have tractors and good houses," said Prakash Jalotiya, Sarpanch, Dhaturiya Village.
These ponds have fed the groundwater and helped solve the drinking water crisis. So, while the rest of the region still witnesses riots over water, Dhaturiya is at peace.
"Earlier we had to trek two to three kilometres to get water. But because of these ponds, we now have abundant water in our wells," said Shyamu Bai, a resident of Dhaturiya Village.
The village has been nominated for the President's Award for Water Conservation, but the real reward is flowing in its fields.
It was a pond dug by Patel four years ago that changed the face of the village.
The 20-feet-deep and two acres wide pond helped the village get out if the grave situation, which saw several fights over water almost every day in the summer.
Dheeraj has just bought his 10th Jersey cow, a breed most commonplace in Dhaturiya's farms. These farms earlier grew only soybean, but now cultivate wheat and gram in rotation.
Every home has a tractor and every other mud house is being rebuilt in concrete
From bankruptcy to prosperity, from scarcity to abundance, Dhaturiya Village is like an oasis in the drought-hit Dewas district.
Till 2004, Dhaturiya's landscape was barren. Three long years of drought had not only killed the crops, but also the soil.
While every field was thirsting for water, his land gave him two crops.
"To dig a pond was the only way to survive," Patel said.
Ramsharan Patel had started a mini irrigation revolution and by next year, six more villagers followed his example.
"We have stopped using tube wells. The ponds in our farms help us grow two crops every year. We all now have tractors and good houses," said Prakash Jalotiya, Sarpanch, Dhaturiya Village.
These ponds have fed the groundwater and helped solve the drinking water crisis. So, while the rest of the region still witnesses riots over water, Dhaturiya is at peace.
"Earlier we had to trek two to three kilometres to get water. But because of these ponds, we now have abundant water in our wells," said Shyamu Bai, a resident of Dhaturiya Village.
The village has been nominated for the President's Award for Water Conservation, but the real reward is flowing in its fields.
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