Pune: Villagers Come Together For Pre-Monsoon Work For Water Security In Velhe Taluka
Pune, 12th May 2022: Raintree Foundation, Pune, is working towards sustainable development in the nine villages of Velhe taluka. Nearly 70 kms away from Pune, Sakhar, Ghavar, Lavhi, Dadawadi, Merawane, Phanshi, Gunjawane, and Avli are the villages located in the heart of the Raigad fort.
The month of May is considered an important month for water security. In rural Maharashtra, this period is considered pre-monsoon in which, villagers and farmers do all the water-related works to make sure they secure lots of monsoon water for the rest of the year.
On 11th May, the Raintree Foundation with the help of farmers, locals, villagers, and Lavhi Gram Panchayat (taluka Velhe) organised a day-long Shramdaan (voluntary manual work) on the banks of Gunjawne river. The foundation had brought the entire village together showing them the importance of a community-led participatory approach.
In this Shramdaan the community removed silt from the banks of the Gunjawne river and created a pond to accumulate the rainwater. This would help them to have enough water for the rest of the year. Around 200 villagers including children, men, women, govt officials, college students, and teachers took part in the Shramdaan on Wednesday. Not just the youth, but even the elders of the village were seen working on the ground.
The villagers danced, sang, and ate together in the lively atmosphere during the Shramdaan.
Leena Dandekar, the Founder and CEO of the foundation said, “we are working in this area for the last 3 years. We have not adopted any village, rather we are committed to making a sustainably developed landscape with the help of the community. The development is not harmful to the environment. We believe that for any development community participation is very important. Here the villagers face a shortage of water for almost 3 months of the year. So after this Shramdaan, once the river is desilted, the village will have plenty of water post-monsoon and the community will benefit next year with no shortage of water.”
“Raintree Foundation’s mission-driven approach is to create a world that fosters sustainability and community stewardship of the environment. We aim to advance these goals through innovative, community-led programs that shift mindsets and lead to systemic change. We co-create these programs along with the community and governments. The Foundation partners with leading non-profit organisations, technical experts, and knowledge experts to develop new transformational value propositions. This comes under our Sustainable Landscape Management program,” she added.
“Lavhi is a small village, but today all the villagers including elderly people, women and kids participated in this Shramdaan because they know that this activity is for their good. This will help us to have plenty of water for the entire year”, said Lavhi resident Shankar Renuse.
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