wells

On World Water Day, Gazala Paul, founder of Ahmedabad-based NGO Samerth, talks about how she helped 97 villages in Kutch fight a massive water crisis through a community-led initiative.

"When digging for borewells, you strike right at the heart of the earth, leading to a complete drain out of the groundwater. The Suranga system is not like that, it requires the digger to be aligned with nature."

Today Kadbanwadi has 100 farm ponds, 3 percolation tanks, 27 cement bunds and 110 earthen bunds.

The initiative, undertaken by the Pookkottukavu grama panchayat, is funded under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS).

The 1,561 water bodies likely to be revived are completely or partly dried up, and most of them are no longer in use.