Rainwater harvesting structures

In Kalaburagi, people have constructed rainwater harvesting structures under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) under the able leadership of Kalaburagi taluk panchayat.

The work started in Bheemalli, Bhopal Tegnoor, Dongargaon, Harasoora, Kavalaga (B), Maragutti, Melakunda (B), Nagoora, Okali, Pattana, Sannoora, Taj Sultanpur and Hatagunda villages in March 2017. The trenches and percolation ponds have been dug in all these villages near the lakes, on the catchment area.

Around 200 to 300 percolation ponds have been dug on each tank bund and as many as 49,000
humandays were used on this project. The size of each pond is 10x8x1 feet. All these structures are filled with water now. According to estimates, these structures have a capacity to store over 500 lakh litres of water. The villagers are confident that this work will improve the water availability in the region.

“It will increase the water levels in the surrounding area,” says Chandrakanta Jeevanagi, executive officer of Kalaburagi taluk panchayat. Interestingly, local people got jobs in the process, and stopped migrating to other places for employment in summer.