WATERSHED DEVELOPMENT: A CASE STUDY OF DROUGHT PRONE VILLAGE DAREWADI

A watershed can be defined as the drainage basin or catchment area of a particular stream or river. Simply put, it refers to the area from where the water to a particular drainage system, like a river or stream, comes from. People and their environment are interdependent. Any change in the surrounding environment directly affects the people living therein. A degraded environment results in a degraded quality of life of the people. Thus efforts to reduce poverty and improve the standard of living of the people must aim at improving the environment they live in. The environment does not recognize people determined administrative boundaries. A watershed provides a natural environmental unit for planning a developmental initiative. The present study was carried out at Darewadi village of Ahmednagar District of Maharashtra to find out the impact of watershed management in rural area. A research design used for the study was 'Before-After with Control' and data was collected through 'Personal Interview' and 'Secondary Sources'. The present study revealed that, watershed management achieved great success particularly in the drought prone areas. Due to watershed management; today ensured water availability is the biggest asset in the village. Agriculture and allied field has been revitalized. Villagers have turned toward the commercial cropping system. Today nearly 80 percent of villagers are engaged in dairy farming, cash crops, and horticulture as a subsidiary occupation. The overall impact of Watershed management can be summarized in terms of economic development, as earlier (Before 1996) and 2010 it was noted cultivated area and per capita income increased significantly. The findings of present study have revealed that, this approach is very much successful in achieving the set objectives and can further be replicated to other villages also.