4. In which ways is the initiative creative and innovative?
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GSWMA provides district wise GIS based priority maps to the DWDUs for district planning. The prioritized maps helps them in identifying watersheds which are most vulnerable or/and villages which are socio-economically the most backward in the district. GSWMA further provides the State Perspective and Strategic Plan (SPSP) to the DWDUs; the SPSP shows the target for each district for a certain year. It is the responsibility of the DWDU to verify the prioritized maps on field and chose watersheds/villages as projects on a cluster approach. One cluster may include a number of watershed/villages totalling around 5000 hectares of land. This cluster is called a project. The DWDU has to select a number of such projects according to target given in the SPSP. These projects then have to be made into reports called Preliminary Project Reports (PPRs) in the format as supplied by the DoLR, MoRD and submitted to the GSWMA. These projects are then submitted and presented by GSWMA to the DoLR for approval.
To operationalize the strategy, following step-wise activities are performed:
Preliminary Village Meeting: As part of the strategy implementation, the project starts with a preliminary village meeting in the concerned villages.
Baseline Surveys: Meetings are followed by baseline survey that requires baseline surveys for the assessment of existing situation, selection of sites and identification of beneficiaries. The data is gender-disaggregated to make a gender sensitive planning that duly recognizes and addresses the priorities of women. Three types of baseline surveys that are carried out:
- Household Survey
- Bio physical Survey
- Overall Village Survey
Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA): An extensive PRA exercises were conducted to develop rapport building and triangulate the information gathered through the surveys. Some major PRAs done were social mapping, resource mapping, focussed group discussion, transact walk, etc. Comprehensive PRA exercise is crucial for developing rapport with the community members, generating goodwill, collecting relevant information and validating the information gathered through other sources.
Problem Analysis and Participatory Net Planning: The information gathered through baseline surveys are compiled and analysed and problems are identified. Problem analysis is done in Gramsabha. It is followed by Participatory Net Planning (PNP) at village level to prepare the physical-financial plans. PNP is all about the interventions proposed in the project area with technical viability and details, financial estimation and beneficiary identification. Net planning is not bound by the budgetary constraints and is based on the need assessment. Additional funds are mobilised through convergence.
On the basis of above planning, the implementation is done by VWC. The day to day activities are performed by Executive Committee of the VWC. PIA and DWDU facilitates in the overall implementation at project and district level respectively.
Plans for capacity building were done at a macro basis. Total 33 institutional partners were identified and empanelled for the purpose. The livelihood opportunities were explored specific to the agro-climatic regions prevalent across the state . Moreover a suggestive action plan matrix was developed according to specific themes like agriculture, forest and wasteland by in-house domain experts in consultation with Agriculture universities, research and academic institutes.
Planning at District level
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5. Who implemented the initiative and what is the size of the population affected by this initiative?
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Following are the details of the stakeholders involved in the implementation of IWMP:
Primary stakeholders: Project area dwellers were the primary stakeholders for whome, the project was meant for
Secondary stakeholders: GSWMA is the implementing authority. All the staffs of GSWMA at all levels were involved in the project implementation. A consortium of 33 institutions were developed to fulfil the various requirements of IWMP project management. Capacity Building strategy was developed in consultation with these institutions. Convergence was made with various government departments and schemes for achieving the project objectives in their totality.
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6. How was the strategy implemented and what resources were mobilized?
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Resources utilized for the initiative can be categorised in four broader heads as follows:
1. Human resources: A quality human resource has been the major factor behind the successful implementation of GSWMA initiatives. At state, district and project level, human resources were involvedd to perform different project components and activities. Details of human resources employed at different level have been given below:
Institution No. of experts & staff actually engaged for projects
sanctioned during
Batch- I (2009-10 ) Batch-II (2010-11) Batch- III (2011-12 ) Batch-IV-(2012-13)
SLNA 18
WCDCs 362
WDTs 604 564 552 236
WCs 10651 10427 10935 3784
2. Financial resources: The financial resources came from the central government and state government in the ratio of 90:10. DoLR, Govt. of India allocates the budgetary outlay for the projects to GSWMA. Unit cost for watershed development of Rs. 6000 per hectare has been fixed at Rs.12,000/ha. in plains and Rs.15,000/ ha in difficult/hilly areas. To mobilise additional funds, convergence with the relevant departments and schemes was done. Details of the projects with funds approved has been provided below:
Sr.No Details 2009-10 (Batch- I) 2010-11 (Batch- II) 2011-12 (Batch- III) 2012-13 (Batch- IV) Total
1 No. of projects 151 141 138 59 489
2 Village 1070 1129 907 344 3450
4 Project Cost 930.11 917.77 921.84 408.68 3178.4
(Rs. in Crore)
5 Total Treatable Area 7.08 7.14 7.11 3.18 24.51
3. Technical resources: Right from the inception of the initiative, technology was utilized as and when required. Therefore, it was necessary to mobilise technical resources. It mainly came from Bhaskaracharya Institute of Space Applications and Geoinformatics (BISAG). BISAG is Gujarat state space applications and GIS Agency. The agency helped in planning and implementation of IWMP projects. For various tasks under IWMP, different technical tools were used as shown below:
Sr. No. Tasks Technical tools employed
1 Scientific Prioritization of Watersheds GIS maps, Satellite Imagery, Spatial & Non-
spatial data
2 Participatory Micro Planning Thematic Maps, GPS, Hydrological Modeling,
3 Monitoring & Evaluation Web-GIS system, Mobile embedded Tracking
system, eGram
4 Impact Assessment Multi-temporal Remote Sensing
4. Knowledge resources: Watershed, being a highly knowledge intensive programme, it is crucial to acquire and utilize right knowledge and knowhow. To achieve this, collaboration were developed with 33 organizations by making a consortium. These knowledge partners helped in various project component as given below:
Sr. No. Project Component Knowledge Partners
1 Scientific Prioritization of Watersheds Bhaskaracharya Institute for Space Applications & Geoinformatics (BISAG)
2 Participatory Micro Planning through Scientific Approach Central Ground Water Board (CGWB), Central Soil & Water Conservation Research
& Training Institute (CSWCRTI), BISAG, Agri. Universities & KVKs
3 Capacity Building 33 Institutions like IRMA, ICRISAT, NID, NIFT, CSWCRTI, Agri. Univs. KVKs etc.,
Reputed NGOs like AKRSP, Sadguru Foundation, DSC, BAIF etc.
4 Livelihood Promotion Agri. Univs, KVKs, NID, NIFT, NDDB, Regional Dairies like SUMUL, Vasudhara, Banas,
Government Departments/Schemes like MGNREGS, GGRC, NHM, Agriculture, Forest etc.
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7. Who were the stakeholders involved in the design of the initiative and in its implementation?
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Following are five main outputs achieved under the initiative:
a. Entry point activities: Entry point activities are performed to build the rapport with the community, strengthen and sustain it throughout the life of the program and beyond. To build a rapport between the PIA and the villagers before initiating the watershed programs. In a nut cell the purpose is as bellow:
• Rapport building
• Opportunity for creating awareness in the community regarding IWMP
• Elicit participation from communities in planning
• Increase Community participation.
Sr. No. Entry Point Activity Unit type Physical Financial (in Lakhs)
1 Animal camp No 736 243.13
2 Animal water trough (Havada) No 1157 569.87
3 Drinking water facility No 3389 1981.54
4 Rain water harvesting system No 942 351.66
5 Drainage/Sanitation No 1576 581.57
b. Soil and moisture conservation works: Soil and moisture conservation works are done in ridge line and other approate areas of a micro watershed to arrest soil erosion and maintain moisture in the soil. Following soil moisture works have been done under IWMP in Gujarat state:
Sr. No. Soil and moisture conservation works Unit type Physical Financial (in Lakhs)
1 Contour Trenches No 2620641.5 336.67
2 Waste-weir for field outlet No 3667 633.47
3 Land Levelling ha 8465.68 1180.32
4 Afforestation/Plantation ha 2756.362 533.34
5 Farm Bund rmt 1795822 800.06
6 Gully Plug no 5507 723.01
7 Nala Plug no 1004 367.84
8 Stone Bunding cmt 152018.03 363.91
9 Gabian Structure No 779 183.85
10 Protection Wall No 653 1081.11
c. Water harvesting works: To solve the acute problem of water scarcity in the project areas, following water harvesting activities have been taken across Gujarat state:
Sr. No. Water Harvesting Structures Unit type Physical Financial (in Lakhs)
1 Checkdam Repairing/ Desilting No 556 559.20
2 New Checkdam No 853 2219.83
3 Check Wall(Small Check Dam) no 1209 1000.84
4 Cause way Cum Checkdam No 574 1234.97
5 Waste-weir for Earthen Bund/Pond no 1053 404.15
6 Deepening of Pond no 1114 2377.87
7 Village Pond(Gam talavadi) no 312 683.56
8 Farm Pond(Khet talavadi) no 681 241.22
9 Earthen Bund no 6700 713.29
10 Percolation Tank no 379 511.22
d. Production system and microenterprise: To enhance the productivity of the project areas and materialise watershed plus approach, following activities have been carried out across Gujarat stae:
Sr. No. Product system and microenterprise Unit type Physical Financial (in Lakhs)
1 Agriculture Activities No 49171 1656.50
2 Diary Development Activities No 4594 425.98
e. Livelihood for assetless: Watershed works are mainly land based programme and therefore benefits are unequally distributed. Major chunk of benefit goes to landed stakeholders. To bring on equity in the programme, special livelihood activities are taken up for the landless. Following activities have been performed under this specific component:
Sr.No. Livelihood for Assetless Unit type Physical Financial (in Lakhs)
1 Livelihood Activities No 2354 263.94
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8. What were the most successful outputs and why was the initiative effective?
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A well- designed multidimensional monitoring system has been put in place for regular monitoring of the project. Both process and outcome monitoring is carried out. Different kinds of monitoring are performed as follows:
- Independent and External Monitoring by independent agencies: GSWMA involved Third Party Monitoring Agencies for the evaluation of the projects. These third party agencies have been chosen through a rigorous process and approved by DoLR, Govt. of India as well. The evaluation method included a mix of quantitative analysis, participatory methods and physical verification. The three main components of the evaluation were Procedural Appropriateness, Financial Appropriateness and Effectiveness of Activities / Impact Assessment.
- Internal Monitoring by project teams (PIA/WCDC): Regular internal monitoring is conducted by project team themselves to monitor the progress, check the appropriateness of the activities, find out the irregularities. It also promotes cross learning.
- Progress Monitoring: Progress monitoring is done through both third party agencies as well as internal SLNA and DWDU staffs.
- GIS/ Web Based On-Line Monitoring: The Web-based-GIS System has been made available in the public domain and can be accessed by a wide base of users including the project stakeholders.
The system primarily comprises of 2 parts viz., The GIS Interface which includes the spatial and non-spatial database in the GIS environment and the data required thereof which are a part of the central server at BISAG (Bhaskaracharya Institute of Space Applications & Geoinformatics). The Mobile based Work Tracking & Monitoring System which shall act as a tool for the field staff and monitoring personnel (both internal & third-party) to track the various assets created under various schemes or being created under IWMP on the field. Remote sensing is used for impact assessment. Below is given pre and after imageries of a watershed area where project was implemented which clearly shows the increase in vegetative areas- a positive result of watershed intervention:
- Social Audits: Social audits have been planned to empower the community members to do the self monitoring and bring transparency in each and every area of the project implementation.
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9. What were the main obstacles encountered and how were they overcome?
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While implementing the projects, there were many impediments encountered and deal with which have been listed below:
1. Existing power and political structure: Every community has its own power structures which created an unhealthy situation in some cases. There were individuals who tried to manipulate the benefits towards their personal gain. To deal with such bottlenecks, scientific prioritization using GIS and such inputs was adopted and proper care were taken during the identification of Entry Point Activities to ensure that such factors do not affect the process and the activities taken up ensure maximum benefit for the community.
2. Lack of awareness among community members: watershed Programme is a multipronged one which involves many dimensions. Understandably, community members took time to fully grasp initially. It took considerable time and efforts in their capacity building to make things understood and implement the project.
3. Highly technical nature of Watershed Programme: Watershed programme is considered to be highly technical in nature. In such scenario, it took more intensive capacity building of the involved stakeholders to implement the programme in a suitable manner.
4. Conflict within project area: In many project areas, conflicts of diverse nature among various groups of people emerged due to clash of interests. In such scenario, it was difficult to implement the programme. Proper measures to ensure participation and ensure equity were taken to avoid such clashes.
5. Lack of availability of trained staff and high attrition rate: Project area in the first batch of the programme fell in remote areas of Gujarat which are inaccessible and backward. Therefore, it was hard to come by employees who could stay and work for the project. This was solved by extending additional benefits to employees like remote area allowances and need based capacity building of the employees.
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