Transformation: From Silted Wasteland to Sweet Water Source.

Imagine - this pond has been used by the Halikeri Community for three generations. But in the past five years or so, the condition of the pond has deteriorated so badly that no one could drink the water any more. It was used as a rubbish dump, and was silted up and filled with random vegetation. No one seemed to care any more about the sweet water that used to fill this pond. It was all just too hard to take any responsibility for the condition of the area.

But one man's vision spread and inspired others to consider what might be done. He dreamed of his small NGO being the proud owners of a JCB - an excavator. He dreamed that if he could get this excavator then much could be done. He imagined lots of farms ponds being dug. He thought about creating bunds on the small farmers land to prevent erosion. He dreamed of digging feeder ponds to serve the recharge systems that his organisation did on defunct bore wells. and he dreamed big.. he saw the state of most of the huge community ponds and lakes and he dreamed them back into fresh sweet sources of water.

Dreams do come true if you have enough persistence, patience and vision to keep going. Lots of people told him to forget it.. it was too much money, the excavator might break down then what would he do.. maintenance was SO expensive. The village people wouldn't want to consider the work - so many arguments. But he continued to dream and he began to write .. he wrote proposals, with bullet points and budgets and all the figures and benefits and who would benefit and most of the environment would thrive .. all with the use of a JCB!

Now two year later his dreaming is giving fruit - well actually water - a lot of it. The pond that you see in the heading photo is filling with the rains - and the locals are so happy. Once again their generational water supply is sweet and abundant. The old man we met there said most people are using this water to drink. They don't like the flat tasting RO water from the filter in the village and prefer to bring their pots here to take the water home for drinking. He told us that once this pond is full, it will last almost three years for the whole village to use for drinking. Even if there is a drought - the water will be there.

Only seven years back during drought this same visionary man ran the local Jaladhare Project supported by Infosys- and provided 3,68,000 litres of drinking water by tanker delivery to 51 villages in this very same area during a terrible drought.

Drought may come again - there is no guarantee on that - but this water is here - it continues to fill while the rains are falling - and the villagers know now that for the next three years whatever happens they will feel safe because their water supply is secured.

That dreamer is Sikandar Meeranaik - Ending Water Scarcity in India of the Sankalpa Rural Development Society - a man who since his early childhood has held the dream of saving water for a better tomorrow and providing enough water for all. This is a part of his story - his dream continues and grows and flowers.

For the JCB and the 20 community ponds that have been renovated and brought back to life to give life in this remote rural area of Mundargi Taluk we thank the SBI Foundation for their most valuable support and for assisting Sikandar to realise his dream.