Son
of the soil, Sumatichandra Mehta gives back a little of himself
to the land of his birth. The octagenerian’s energy and vision are
legendary.
He relates about his efforts to revitalise Kutch.
From
rags to riches and then back to nature - that is the story of Sumatichandra
Mehta, founder and chairman of Safari Industries. After spending
25 years of his life building the Rs 80 crore company and the Safari
brand of luggage from scratch, the octogenarian decided to pack
up his bags and return to his native village in Kutch leaving his
sons to carry on his work. But he carried his ‘Midas touch’ with
him to bring prosperity to several other villages in the district
that were severely affected by drought. He has been a moving force
behind the watershed development in the Kutch since 1986. Rural
Agro Research & Development Society set up by him in 1988 is
one of the leading implementation agencies for several rural development
programmes. Mehta spoke to TAJ about watershed development in Kutch
and his Society.
Could
you tell us something about Rural Agro Research & Development
Society?
The
Society was established in 1988. The main aim of the society is
to uplift the social life of the rural poor through implementing
the programmes of improved agriculture technology, animal husbandry,
employment generation and water harvesting. The Indian Council of
Agricultural Research has sanctioned a Krishi Vigyan Kendra for
administration by the Society. We have undertaken activities, which
include a tissue culture laboratory, a dairy development unit, a
greenhouse and nursery unit, a biogas and compost unit, a soil testing
laboratory, etc. The Society is the Project Implement Agency for
the watershed programme in 18 villages of which seven have been
completed.
How
bad is the water resource problem in Kutch?
Centuries
back, the river Sindhu flowed through Kutch. It had some of the
richest pastoral lands in India, immense cattle wealth and the dairy
industry flourished. But nature has time and again wrecked havoc
on Kutch. After an earthquake in 1850, the Sindhu river, which was
perennial changed course and now flows through Pakistan, into the
Arabian Sea. Since then, there is no perennial river flowing through
this vast district that covers an area of 45 612 sq kms and forms
about one-fourth of the total area of Gujarat. Man has compounded
the problem by destroying forests. The ecosystem suffered due to
a history of droughts, cyclones and famines. In the last 100 years
the average rainfall recorded is 12inches with one year of floods
is followed by a year of drought and the third year has normal rain.
How
did you decide to tackle the problem?
We
realised that if we want to change the situation we must harvest
the rain that is flowing into the sea. Whenever there is a flood
it erodes the soil too. As industrialists we thought of a long-term
programme. The only hope in our area was to consider the 12 inches
of rainfall as the only blessing. We were searching for someone
to solve the problem scientifically and Dr K C V Raju, retired director
of Ground Water Department of the government of India, advised us.
First
of all, we started making check dams. The river water tends to flow
through natural river beds. The upper level water gets accumulated
in certain low-lying areas. We excavated the soil to create a natural
type of storage called check dams. One idea was to create sub surface
dykes. Water is recharged at 150-200 feet below the earth through
bore wells to allow water to flow onto the soil. Barriers are built
around the dam.
At
around 20-30 feet air ventilators are created along with pipelines.
The air resists water flowing down, so it is trapped and released
through the ventilators. On the surface we create a filter bed of
20 feet, which has a base of pebbles and large grained sand. Water
passes through the filter before seeping into the soil. At that
level earth has its own natural passages foe the water to move towards
the well within a 2-3 kms area. Water levels in these wells came
up by 50 feet approximately.
What
were the other benefits of the project?
Salinity
of the water reduced considerable too. The water in Kutch is usually
unfit for animal consumption. The required salinity is around 1500
tdp and the salinity in Kutch is around 3000 tdp. Recharging reduced
salinity by 23-30 per cent.
What
was the cost of the entire operation?
Our
first experiment was at Rayan. The total and cost was Rs 25 lakh
over 5 years.
Was
there any resistance from the local people?
There
was a lot of resistance and politics in the beginning. But the people
of Kutch, over the last 8-9 years, have realised that rainwater
harvesting is the only natural course to survival and to prevent
further damage. Now people are chasing us to do something for their
village.
How
was the project financed?
My
industry background gave me experience in project management and
financing. At that time CAPART, under the rural development ministry
had the finances. We put up a project proposal before CAPART and
they agreed to give us 75 per cent of the required funds.
What
about the remaining 25 per cent?
There
are 900 surviving villages in Kutch. There are at least a couple
of multi-millionaires in Mumbai from each. We decided to encourage
people’s participation. We started explaining this project to them
and asked them to contribute towards the 25 per cent. You see, such
people would like to do something for their village. We convinced
them that there was no sense in building temples or schools with
no students. Marketing good thoughts was also one of our activities.
How
many watershed projects have been implemented so far?
Thereafter
400 water-harvesting projects have been implemented. The programme
was started in 1995. At that time the Shri Vivekanand Research &
Training Institute, a 25-year-old organisation with which I was
working and I am still the executive vice president, undertook the
projects. The government has been implementing the water development
programmes in Kutch through various NGOs working as Project Implementation
Agencies.
Jaya
Mahale
