Sullia: With deficit rainfall ruling across south interior Karnataka including all catchment areas of major dams, days are not far from tussles over sharing water. The little differences over sharing water which starts near a small water hole will spread like a fire where even start fighting for their rights. The snowball affect brings normal life to a halt which was witnessed when Karnataka experienced droughts in the past.
Most times complex problems have simple solutions and a farmer in Sullia is a role model in providing solution to the ever-growing water scarcity issue in a simple way. He has constructed many bunds similar to check dams in his coconut and areca plantation for water harvesting.
Simple method yields rich dividends
Everyone knows water flows from a higher altitude and runs down and gets wasted if no measures are taken to utilize the same. Check dam concept is age old phenomena where water is stored in small dams and used for minor irrigation and drinking purposes. Thumbay dam on the outskirts of Mangaluru city is the best example of a check dam which takes care of drinking water requirement of the entire city. The water stored being insufficient for the fast growing educational and industrial hub , the dam height being raised to ensure the city is free from water woes in future.
Farmer B.Rajagopal Bhat of border village Kallapally near Sullia (On the Karnataka-Kasaragod border) used the same concept to meet the water needs of his four acre plantation area which has many coconut and areca trees. At regular intervals he has constructed bunds using granite stones lying in the farm, packing gaps with mud to prevent leakage and has made provision to guide water to desired locations. The rain water that flows downhill is blocked at multiple locations to ensure it does not get wasted. Like in check dams, sand and soil gets deposited when the water runs down on a continuous basis. To counter that he either increases the height of the bund by one layer of stones to block the free flowing water or removes the soil deposited. His efforts have yielded good results over the years and the entire plantation remains wet and green throughout the year as the ground water levels do not deplete in the plantation area. This not only increased the ground water level in the area but has prevented soil erosion. He digs circular pits around large coconut trees in addition to few large pits to ensure that the excess water is not wasted during heavy rainfall.
Farmer’s formula
He feels if the right measures are not taken the rainwater will get wasted as it reaches the sea and summer water woes will remain the same. According to him, resorting to water harvesting by constructing bunds in cultivation areas and plantations the water scarcity can be countered. He says, by adopting the simple method not only ground water levels are increased, the productivity in terms of farm and agricultural produce too is increased benefiting all stake holders. Domesticated animals will have enough food and one need not have differences with the neighbour over water during summer, when wells dry up.
In a nutshell, if fruit bearing plants are looking like wedding brides in Rajgopal Bhat’s plantation, it is simply due to water harvesting!
