Ripples of Sukhomajri
Channel: IndiaWater Portal
Date: 25/07/2014

Sukhomajri village has long been a reminder of people's participation in ecological preservation and inturn greater economic good. Today it is an evidence of how our priorities have changed and the obsession for development is separating man from his environment.

The small village in Panchkula district of Haryana changed its fortunes when it entered into a joint forest management with help of the Chandigarh-based Central Soil and Water Conservation Research and Training Institute in late 1970s. The then head of the institute, P R Mishra, motivated farmers from extensive grazing in forests to irrigated farming through protection of trees and rainwater harvesting.

The village shot to fame in 1980s as a model for watershed management which had hitherto been implemented by government departments without involving the people. The rise in revenue through better crop yields, sale of forest produce, introduction of green fodder and expansion of dairy pulled the village out of poverty and also preserved the denuded Shivalik hills from soil erosion. Today, the watershed management being taken up in the country follows the Sukhomajri model of inclusive development.

However, the village itself has now discovered new meaning of development. With development of industrial townships nearby, the farm land of the area has been acquired for construction of a road. Villagers have now started buying at other places and are not much concerned about rainwater harvesting. As the connection between man and nature breaks down again at Sukhomajri, it remains to be seen how long the other aspects of this model, like forests and earthen dams, will persist.This video traces the past and present of Sukhomajri.