No longer barren
the barren lands in the Bundelkhand region of Madhya Pradesh are slowly becoming green. Thanks to efforts by the women who have struggled to regenerate the region. "Three years ago not even a single blade of grass grew there,' said Sita Bai, pointing towards the lush green fields and hillocks. She is the chairperson of the All-women Watershed management Committee of Gauraiya village. "Parents dreaded marrying their daughters to men from a village that had no source of water,' she said. Now, each of the 110 households in the village have an assured water supply. The wells and ponds that used to dry up soon after the monsoons are always full of water.
Within two years of the project launched by the Rajiv Gandhi Watershed Management Mission, the area under cultivation has doubled and the average farm produce trebled. However, the sarpanch is not very optimistic. "No doubt things have changed for the better. But I am not sure if the prosperity will last when project officials leave after two years,' he said. But for the women, there is no going back. Women self-help groups now protect the 5.5 lakh newly-planted trees zealously.