Wardha citizens dig deep to conserve rainwater

Nagpur: In preparation for the coming rainy season, some professionals from Wardha have dug up trenches along a hillock known as Hanuman Tekdi on the outskirts of the town.
Using the technique of continuous contour trenching, they are looking to recharge the groundwater table of the region.
Started a couple of months back with six doctors, more than 50 citizens are now pitching in to dig more trenches, speeding up the work and taking it towards completion before the rains arrive.The initiative was first taken up by NGO Vaidyakiya Janjagruti Manch (VJM) with the aim of improving the groundwater table. The activists were inspired by a similar project in Satara taken up by Dr Avinash Pol three years ago whose results were visible recently.
“With the permission of local tehsildar, our volunteers began digging the trenches along with educating the locals about the advantages of the endeavour. We have been working for the families of farmers who have fallen prey to the agrarian crisis among other issues,” said one of the volunteers Dr Anand Gadhavakar.
“The trenches will help save at least 50% rainwater received in this area. We are not using any machinery for digging the trenches, but working with hands and crude instruments. This helps the volunteers value their work and the conservation efforts more,” said founder president of the organization Dr Sachin Pawade. He rued the fact that human activities today tend to exploit the groundwater but nothing that helps to replenish it.
On the ground between trenches, the volunteers have planted some saplings. “This practice started when a sapling was planted on someone’s birthday. There are many sapling on the hillock now that are being taken care of by individuals who planted them to commemorate some occasion or the other,” informed joint secretary of VJM Dr Prashant Wadibhasme. He added that the plan is to plant 500-700 trees near the trenches to help arrest soil erosion which will, in turn, help hold more water in the ground beneath.
Dr Yashwant Hiwanch, secretary of VJM, informed that almost 107 trenches, which are 2 feet wide, 2 feet deep and 8 feet long, have been dug up in the past one-and-a-half-month. “The soil removed from the trenches is being used to fill spaces along the slope of the hillock. This will help decrease the velocity of the run-off water on the slope and increase percolation,” he said.