Jhabua: Jhabua is included in those districts of Madhya Pradesh, where people have to struggle with severe water shortage as availability of water is a perennial problem here. In such a backdrop, water conservation efforts had been started by a person named Mahesh Sharma (also known as Gandhi of Jhabua), who, in the last 12 years has ensured the construction of 73 ponds.
This has solved water scarcity and related problems that were rampant in 700 villages. Mahesh Sharma has also been awarded the Padma Shri in recognition of his efforts by the Government of India.
Mahesh Sharma initiated the "Halma'' campaign in the region which is an old tradition of tribal people. Halma is a Bheel dialect which means collective effort.
With the help of tribals, he started contour trenching on the hill of Hathipava, where 73 big and small ponds were built. Due to this, the thirst of the people of the surrounding districts including Jhabua is quenched. The groundwater level has also increased due to water conservation.
Mahesh dug big drains from the hill to the bottom and got the ponds built under the hill. While small drains were dug around the ponds with the help of contour trenching, trees were planted on both sides to prevent these drains from slipping, so that water is conserved.
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Rainwater on the hill flowed through drains and reached the ponds first. The same water reached the drains made from the side of ponds. This water started flowing through these drains, where due to the roots of trees planted on both sides of the drains, the water reached the ground, while the flowing water was preserved in the tanks built in the village, which the villagers use. In this way, water from each pond was also protected and started to be used.
Some of those who are or have been connected with Mahesh Sharma is completing construction of ponds or natural tanks, in areas from barren lands to lush forests to ensure that the ground absorbs and retains much water. This led to a general rise in the underground water table and helped the farmer grow different crops in different seasons of the same year.
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Before 2010 the indigenous farmers of Jhabua only managed to grow one crop, but with the construction of ponds in jungles, the water table rose. Laudable is the fact that within only 15-20 days of the lockdown, the tribal people completed construction of 5 large ponds, whose collective capacity is around 80 crore litres of water.
The areas of Jhabua and Alirajpur which are densely populated by tribals has 1,320 villages, out of which 700 villages have people who are or have been associated with Padma Shri award recipient Mahesh Sharma.
