In Jhansi’s dry villages, community water work becomes climate lifeline

By Bharat Dogra 

Water conservation is emerging as the strongest pillar of climate resilience for several villages in Jhansi district, where a combination of erratic rainfall and prolonged dry spells has made farming increasingly difficult. During a visit to Dakhneshwar village in Bamaur block, a long walk along farm bunds and a brief struggle through thorny undergrowth opened into the sight of a sturdy check dam—now a symbol of renewed hope for villagers recovering from this year’s adverse weather. Anguri and other women gathered there described how this structure has changed their prospects by securing water that had become increasingly scarce.

For months, water availability had been the main constraint for farmers. When SRIJAN, a voluntary organization, selected the village for water conservation work under a project supported by HDFC Bank, residents saw an opportunity to rebuild. Civil engineer Sazeed Khan from the SRIJAN team explained that the initiative was planned through extensive community participation, ensuring that technical interventions aligned with villagers’ knowledge of local terrain and needs. Team leader Pankaj Sharma said that in discussion after discussion—particularly with women—water emerged as the most urgent requirement for both development and survival.

Participatory planning highlighted the untapped potential of a natural water channel whose monsoon torrents had long rushed out of the village without benefiting either people or crops. The new check dam helped retain a substantial volume of this rainwater, and its impact was expanded by digging nearly 50 large ditches, or dohas, along the channel. Each ditch measures about 20 metres long, five metres wide, and 2.5 metres deep, and is sloped to allow animals to enter and exit safely while drinking water during dry months. After the check dam’s water is exhausted, these ditches retain enough water to support villagers and their livestock for a longer period.

Beyond immediate storage, the combined structures have begun to recharge groundwater, restoring wells and improving soil moisture. Farmers expect that around 150 acres of farmland may receive varying degrees of irrigation, allowing previously uncultivated plots to be brought back under production. Silt removed from the ditches has improved soil fertility, and other complementary steps—such as farm ponds, gabion structures, and field bunding—have added further resilience. These measures have arrived at a crucial time, as kharif crops had suffered significant damage earlier in the year.

In the nearby village of Kuretha, the urgency is even more acute. High levels of migration reflect the difficulty of sustaining livelihoods locally, and villagers repeatedly link this distress to water scarcity. Here too, recent interventions have shown promising results. An earthen dam has been constructed on a local water channel, and its impact has been amplified through an injection well designed to directly recharge the water table. An old village tank, neglected for decades, has been thoroughly desilted, restoring its capacity to store rainwater and making it a vital source for people and for neighbouring areas lacking similar facilities. The removed silt has enriched farmlands, contributing to broader ecological recovery.

Livestock—central to rural survival—have also benefited, as more perennial water points now support farm animals, stray cattle, and wildlife. This emphasis on shared water resources contrasts sharply with existing inequalities in groundwater access. In these rocky villages, deep borewells are prohibitively expensive for small farmers but accessible to larger landholders who often use water wastefully. Such extraction worsens scarcity for the poor, widening social and economic divides.

SRIJAN’s approach, built around community participation and focused attention to weaker sections, seeks to counter these inequities. Improved water availability is enabling households to diversify into vegetables and fruits, strengthening both nutrition and incomes. For many families still reeling from crop losses during the last monsoon, these efforts have provided a crucial chance to recover ahead of the upcoming rabi season.

The broader significance of these initiatives lies in their contribution to long-term climate resilience. As climate change brings increasingly erratic rainfall, prolonged dry spells, and sudden downpours, the ability to conserve water becomes central to reducing the impacts of both droughts and floods. While current efforts are helping extend water availability well into the dry months, the challenge remains to ensure supply during the peak summer period. Achieving this may require not just more structures, but also shifts in cropping patterns, irrigation practices, and community norms on water sharing and equality.

Even so, the work underway in these Jhansi villages points to a promising pathway: community-led water conservation that strengthens the landscape, supports livelihoods, and builds resilience in a warming, unpredictable climate.

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The writer is Honorary Convener, Campaign to Save Earth Now, and his recent books include Protecting Earth for Children, Planet in Peril, Man over Machine, A Day in 2071, and India’s Quest for Sustainable Farming and Healthy Food