Villagers unite to get rid of water woes

Nashik: When the sarpanch of Majalechincholi, a remote village in Ahmednagar, explained the concept of Jal Jagruti Abhiyan to the residents of the arid village, the latter were more than willing to come forward and contribute in every way possible for getting water back into the village.
United in their endeavour to make Majalechincholi green again, the villagers revived a check dam, dug channels, deepened and widened ponds and the river and extracted silt from the water bodies through the Jal Jagruti Abhiyan.the project was jointly conducted by the first woman sarpanch of the village Geetanjali Avhad, the Art of Living and Ashoka Buildcon, with the help of the state government. The village today can see some ray of hope through this initiative.
"This is the first gram panchayat in the state to have its own logo. We conducted meetings with the villagers, who were introduced to the work related in this project through elaborate presentation by Avinash Avhad, Vijayji Hakey ( Art Of Living), Chinmay Udgirkar (Marathi actor) and I. We appealed for full cooperation," said Geetanjali.
Geetanjali, who is D Pharmcy, MA in Politics, and Jyotish Shastra decided to undertake the project this year so that the water problem is resolved in the near future. With 293 families, Majalechincholi has population of around 1,600 people.
The village consists of an area of around 1,300 hectares, which includes huge agricultural land. Being in the rain shadow region, Majalechincholi perennially faces drought. The main source of income is agriculture. This village has two brand ambassadors: Marathi actor Chinmay Udgirkar and sculptor Pramod Kamble.
Virbhadra Mandir Trust donated Rs5,26,000 for this project from its donation box; Dhangar Samaj that collected Rs 2,00,000 for the construction of the temple within the region also donated the whole amount. the village youth created social media links for awareness and to appeal for donations from others.
"Reports of the project have been sent to all concerned government authorities in government-prescribed formats. This project was possible only due to the unity and contribution shown by all villagers with positive thought for development," said Geetanjali.
"Total Rs 4.5 lakh was contributed by people that had been saved for renovation works of religious structures. The village has water for six months and for the remaining year, tankers have to be pressed into service. For th past three years, the village has been receiving scantly rainfall. So we decided to take up this project this year," said the sarpanch.
A people's committee has also been formed that monitors the work. Some water got accumulated in the channels, weirs, nullahs and ponds built by the villagers due to little rain ten days back, which has raised people's hopes.
"Once the monsoon arrives, we will have sufficient water for all our needs," said a senior villager of Majalechincholi.