NEW DELHI: As part of its disaster relief, rehabilitation and response effort, the PwC India Foundation, through its partner NGO Savitribai Phule Mahila Ekatma Samaj Mandal, has restored defunct water structures and groundwater recharge for the farming community of Shelgaon village in Aurangabad.
“Our intervention has so far benefitted 1183 people and 43 wells in the region. Today, the structures have created a storage capacity of 212.87 lakh litres and created capacity of 900 lakh litres of groundwater.”, statement said.
Expressing his happiness at the positive response to this initiative, Jaivir Singh, PwC India Foundation Vice-Chairman said, “With inadequate rains till mid-July, the threat of another drought looms over the region but the project work is already proving to be vital for the farmer community, especially those whose lives revolve around agricultural based practices and/or small daily wage labour. Drought is never a wanted situation, but the reality is it exists. We hope these water conservation measures undertaken at Shelgaon provide much needed relief to those who need it the most.”
In addition to rebuilding these structures, awareness sessions through participatory approach with the aim to reduce the agricultural practice of growing water intensive crops and capacity building of farmers on cropping patterns, traditional practices, organic farming which is sustainable, climate resilient were also undertaken. The available water is being judiciously used to cover irrigation on rain fed land and for drinking purposes with strong governance systems in place led by water user groups.
Savitribai Phule Mahila Ekatma Samaj Mandal’s Head of Projects, Dr. Prasanna Patil said, “Not-for-profits, as their core is in grassroot work, generally tend to prefer field work over procedures and documentation. By partnering with PwC, we have learned the importance of proper documentation as the team has been deeply involved in understanding the scenario and also providing vital inputs in project implementation.”
Activities aiming at developing efficient water utilisation and agricultural systems (drip irrigation, shifting to less water consuming crops, enhancing animal husbandry based income, better linkages for inputs and sales) and improvement in social services are being presently addressed.
The UNDP’s Sustainable Development Goal 6 targets clean water and sanitation as a fundamental right for all mankind by 2030.
