Little wonder, Neemi has become a model village. Even though the African countries cannot copy the model due to cultural and institutional differences, they could certainly get ideas. For instance, in Andhra Pradesh people through their conventional wisdom designed a dam and then it was cross-checked by structural engineers to find out whether it was a perfect structure. According to Mr Anil Agarwal, chairperson of Centre for Science and Environment, community rainwater harvesting is as much important today as it was ever. It is unbelievable but true that the rainiest place in the world, Cherrapunji, which gets 11,000 mm annual rainfall, still suffers from serious drinking water shortage.
Rainwater harvesting can eradicate poverty.
If water harvesting watershed development programmes are handled well, the experience of villages like Sukhomajri and Relegan Sidhi has shown that rainwater harvesting is not just the starting point for meeting drinking water needs, but starting point of an effort to eradicate rural poverty itself, generate massive rural employment and reduce distress migration from rural to urban areas.