From here and there
A remarkable turnaround
Fifteen years ago, this was barren land. Because this land was near a hill, rainwater trickled down in to this plot, but not even a drop of water was saved. This has changed for the better now. Today, this plot is like a forest. Bushes, creepers and many varieties of fruit-bearing trees adorn this land. We are talking about ‘Sumana Sangama’, a farm near Daddi Kamalapur village in Dharwad district. This turnaround is thanks to the rainwater harvesting measures taken up by Sanjeev Kulkarni, a well-known gynaecologist.
He has dug a series of ponds to hold run-off rain water. ‘Sumana Sangama’ has five ponds namely ‘Maina honda’, ‘Raghu teertha’, ‘Sampige honda’, ‘Kavali kola’ and ‘Bodhi kere’. These are interlinked water bodies meant to conserve water. Dharwad receives around 750 mm of rain per year.
“Just imagine the kind of loss my land would have experienced if all this water had not been conserved!” exclaims Dr Kulkarni, pointing out that his 17 acres of land has the capacity to harvest 28 lakh litres of water. Each pond has the capacity to save lakhs of litres of water and thus the underground water level has shot up around the region. From barren land to a lush forest, ‘Sumana Sangama’ is a model farm, worthy of emulation.
