Ramnad district in Tamil Nadu is a drought-prone area and almost every year, whole or part of the population is faced with severe drought and acute drinking water problems.  80% of the population is engaged in land-based occupations, particularly agriculture. In recent years, due to frequent failure of monsoon rain, the agricultural depended on population struggle to eke out their livelihood.

Sivagangai Multipurpose Social Service Society (SMSSS) with the support of Caritas India is implementing THULIR  ( Land and Water Protection ) programme in 10 villages of Thumbadaikkan Kottai panchayat in R.S. Mangalam Union in Ramnad district. Iruvanpacheri village with 420 families is one among them with 60% population belonging to the Dalit  community and the rest to other backward communities. This village has been drastically reeling under severe water scarcity. Most of the  Dalit families faced hardships to fetch water. They traveled 2 – 3 kilometers to fetch water for washing, bathing, feeding the cattle and drinking.

The R.S Mangalam big tank located near the panchayat is the second largest water reservoir in Tamil Nadu. When the tank reaches its optimum capacity, it could fulfill the water requirements of the people living in 48 surrounding villages. There will not be a problem for irrigation, bathing, washing, cleaning cattle, etc. However, the region has not received adequate rains for the past seven years leaving the tank in parched condition.  The failure of monsoon rain and the aridness of the R.S. Mangalam big tank have caused the agrarian depended on families to seek other manual works in other unorganised sectors leading to distress migration.

SMSSS facilitated stakeholder analysis brought out  failure of monsoon rain, small and marginal landholdings, cultivation pattern, lack of water resources, sucking of water by Proposis Juliflora –  wild trees vastly grown in Ramnad district for charcoal purpose, sinking borewells, lack of rainwater harvesting measures, failure to  desilt ponds, diminishing indigenous practices, loss of  traditional seeds, livestock and other agricultural biodiversity, loss of  organic links between farming, animal husbandry and  forests are the factors found to be undermining the sustainability of this rural economy.

This situation has led to drought wherein the community was facing declined employment opportunities, deprivation of economy of the local populace, male earning members migrating to other regions in search of employment,  children dropping out of their school education and restricted use of water for bathing and washing resulting in health and hygienic related problems.

SMSSS mobilized and organized the key leaders, village volunteers, and PRI representatives in order to raise critical consciousness about the need for protection of common land and water and engage them collectively respond to the deteriorating situation. After a series of discussions, the local people, particularly the Dalit families gave their collective consensus for digging a pond in the common land. Besides, the PRI representatives also gave their consent to engage the individuals under the 100-day MGNREG Scheme to dig the pond.

‘We gave our full support to the good work led by SMSSS Project Manager Mr.Arockiaraj’ says Mr.Kalidas, the PRI leader. ‘We have been in constant interactions with the communities encouraging them to develop water structures with utmost sincerity. We frequently monitored the village volunteers and in turn, the volunteers provided the essential support for follow-up activities of Land and Water committees’ observed the enthusiastic Ms.Aruljothi, the volunteer leader.

As a collective, the local people within 2 months have raised a pond of 200 ft length, 60 feet breadth and 12 feet depth (9 feet depth along with the peripherals). Both men and women engaged in the work. During the 2018 North East monsoon showers, the pond was recharged. Currently, around 120 Dalit families are utilising the raised pond for washing, bathing and feeding the cattle. It is a positive beacon that the adjacent villagers also utilising the water. 12 farmers are effectively utilizing the trenches and bunds for improving agricultural productivity. Moreover, 4 Dalit families are using water for charcoal production.

The raised pond is one of the effective models in the panchayat that emphasizes the unity of the local communities and inspiration to neighboring villages to take up such communitarian activities. During the interaction with the community members, they attributed the success of this effort to SMSSS and Caritas India. They were also tracing the trajectory of development orientations given by Caritas India through the constant accompaniment of Dr.John Arokiaraj, Caritas Manager, in charge of Tamil Nadu operations.