Pani Panchayats (Water Council) (Maharashtra, India)

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overview:
sector:Water
stimulus:Drought
impacts:Agricultural production loss, Soil moisture reduction
Pani Panchayats are councils set up for management and distribution of water resources equitable in Maharashtra. They have been set up by Vilasrao Salunkhe and the Gram Gaurav Pratisthan Trust in order to address the issues of water scarcity in drought prone Maharashtra. Pani Panchayats have worked out technological and social innovations that help repair and restore degraded watersheds (thereby i [...]
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project classification:
project type: regulation / law
project status: implementation running
running time: 36 years
spatial scale: local
effect emergence: immediate
effect persistence: not specified
 
project costs:
total costs: not specified
initial investment: not specified
maintenance costs: not specified
problem solving capacity and reversibility:
problem solving coverage: high
reversibility: high
responsibilities:
initiating agent: Individual
executing agent: Individual and Gram Gourav Pratisthan Trust
funding source: State government line departments and other sources
additional information:
Several of the principles behind the organisation of the Pani Panchayat ought to be made part of public policy. First, the principle that people should have equal shares in common resources, if adopted, would revolutionise society in far-reaching ways. Today, a landless person in the village is seen as a person who has no right to resources just because he has no land. Because of this, he often also does not have political power since it is assumed he is poor and therefore his views need not be taken into account when decisions concerning his survival or that of the community are being made.
evaluative information:
success factors: guaranteeing water share to each farmer, soil conservation, water harvesting

limiting factors: social conflicts, subsidy, electricity supply, availability of land

synergies to mitigation: None

no regret / win-win option: win win: In both drought and non drought years assured irrigation and access to water help farmers to cope

project evaluation: Barren lands that had produced little or no food were gradually producing one good seasonal crop, which helped farmers survive the year with dignity. In some areas, as water availability increased, farmers could go on for two crops. The 50-odd schemes co-sponsored by the GGP eventually enabled 3,000 acres to be brought under protective irrigation, benefitting a population of some 10,000 people from 1,500 families. The availability of water made possible through conservation schemes and percolation tanks meant that drinking water for the village population was accessible and close at hand and villagers, women especially, did not have to trudge across long distances for water in the hot sun any longer.

Out of the 30 odd water councils set up in Maharshtra, few of them are still functioning and have expanded their work to lift irrigation in some tribal districts in Maharashtra.

contact information:
Vilasrao Salunkhe/Kalpanati Salunkhe
Khalad village, Saswad, Pune District, Maharashtra,
tel.: 020-26870285/26870858,9373306320
email: panipanchayat@vsnl.net
information source:
http://ssc.undp.org/uploads/media/panipachayat.pdf