Recent Initiatives on Water Conservation of DS Group

The Group CSR vision is, “To build sustainable communities by leveraging resources and network”.

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is an intrinsic part of the DS Group’s ethos. Guided by a strong social conscience, the Group works on projects with focus on critical areas such as Water Conservation, Livelihood Enhancement, Education, Health Care and other relevant programs. With a core purpose of long term and sustainable impact, the CSR initiatives are aimed to bring about a positive change in the communities.

‘Water’ is the key focus area. The Group has been working on a wide range of Water Conservation programs to address the shortage of water and improve the water security in areas, which have been identified as critical due to water scarcity. The projects have been designed to conserve water through construction of suitable water harvesting & recharge structures and renovation of existing damaged structures.

The programs work towards creating water sustainable regions through involvement of the community in rain water harvesting, using & reviving traditional methods of water conservation and empowering the communities by educating them on the importance of conserving water.

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ON GOING PROJECTS

Creation of Water Economic Zones through Integrated Watershed Development, Udaipur

The Water Economic zone, an integrated watershed development project is spread over an area of around 11,000 hectares in Alsigarh and Kurabad, Udaipur and reaches out to more than 23,000 people of 26 villages.

The project focuses on enhancing natural resources, particularly water and soil, which would increase the productivity of land. The project works towards improving the quality of life of tribal and rural community by developing possible water resource, subsequently leading to livelihood enhancement through value addition in on-farm and off-farm activities.

The DS Group has constructed 263 soil and water conservation structures such as Anicuts or Check Dams, Mini Percolation Tanks or Earthen Dams apart from other soil conservation measures like Continuous Contour Trenches, Gabion, Gully Plugs, Recharge Pits, etc. These water harvesting structures have storage and recharge capacity of about 17,57,309 Cubic Meter.

Around 81,267 cubic meter of Continuous Contour trenches have been constructed, which can recharge additional 3,71,858 cubic meter of water in an average monsoon. These soil conservation measures also reduces the soil erosion, which improves the life of harvesting structures.

Providing safer drinking water to marginalized communities by household and community level water harvesting initiatives, Kutch, Gujarat
Khadir, an island in Gujarat, comprising of 7 islands has semi-arid conditions. The availability of water is the biggest challenge in the Bhachau block of Khadir region, which gets only 150-200 mm average annual rainfall.

7 villages and 10 hamlets will be covered under the project reaching out to more than more than 500 households belonging to the low income groups of the community. 27 ponds, 4 wells, 225 RRWHSs at household level and 1 RRWHS (roof rain water harvesting system) in school will be constructed.

Drought Mitigation through Harvesting Rains in Thar Desert, Rajasthan

The project aims to mitigate the impact of droughts in the Thar region by improving the availability of water for drinking and agricultural needs. The 110 Rainwater harvesting structures (60taankas, 40khadins and 10 Beries) will be constructed that would benefit the impoverished communities in 5 remote villages of the Thar Desert.

Spring Recharge and Rejuvenation in Uttarakhand & Himachal Pradesh

The project being implemented in Uttrakhand and Himachal Pradesh regions will revive 65 springs in Dhari block of Nainital district in Uttarakhand and 13 streams in Kullu district of Himachal Pradesh. The revival of these water structures will provide water to the rural households of the region, whose main source of water are the springs.

Restoring livelihood through Construction of Rain Water Harvesting Structures, Karauli, Rajasthan

Further to the existing 13 Pagaras and 25 Pokhars in the Daang region of Karauli district, 37 more structures will be constructed to increase the availability of water for the low income groups of the community in the region.

Water Conservation and Harvesting Structures, Udaipur (Rajasthan)

10 Earthen Nadis will be constructed in Udaipur in Rajasthan, in addition to the 9 existing in the region. Earthen Nadis are traditional and community managed low cost water harvesting structures popular in the region.

Further, the DS group has partnered with various organizations in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh & Uttar Pradesh for the construction of multiple water harvesting structures. These structures will be able to store & recharge more than 9 Lakh cubic meter of water and enable irrigation of of around 700 hectare of area. These interventions will also generate employment opportunities as around 30% of the total investment made for the structures will be paid to the local communities as labour wages.

THE OTHER PROJECTS COMPLETED SO FAR

Construction of Water Harvesting Structures, Sikar, Rajasthan

A total of 21 water conservation structures were constructed and 2 ponds were revived to conserve approximately 4,11,587 litres of water. The project encompasses Deepawas & Mokalwas Gram Panchayat in Neem Ka Thana Block and Triveni Dham Panchayat in Hathoda Shree Madhopur Block, which are predominantly drought prone areas with less than 400 mm average annual rainfall.

Traditional water harvesting structures in Karauli, Rajasthan

The DS Group has constructed 13 Pagaras and 25 Pokhars in Daang region, in Karauli district of Rajasthan. A community pond in Bamoda village was also revived.

Water harvesting structures in Dungarpur, Rajasthan

The DS Group supported Jan Shiksha Evam Vikas Sangathan to construct and repair water harvesting structures in Surata Gram Panchayat, Dungarpur district of Rajasthan.

Water Conservation initiative in Bundelkhand, Uttar Pradesh

The DS Group undertook water conservation activities in the drought affected areas of Bundlekhand, Uttar Pradesh. As a part of the project four community ponds were revived through de-siltation and Bund improvement. This created an increase of additional, 77000 cubic meter of water storage approximately, which impacted around more than 6000 people in the region.

Additionally, the Group worked closely with the Soil Conservation Department to facilitate the construction of Farm Ponds by the Farmers. Under the project, around 195 farmers constructed their Farm ponds creating a cumulative storage capacity of more than 4, 00,000 cubic meter. These Farm Ponds help irrigate around 127 hectare of land.