A watershed is a community based programsthat is organized in a specifically earmarked geographical area with a defined time frame and focuses on a wide range of issues and activities for integrated development of the village. The main focus is laid on water, food and fodder security and employment generation.

Pre watershed and watershed activities

GRAVIS is focusing on organizing above activity in the remote desert villages with the support of CRS. In the beginning, the process of organizing pre watershed activities is undertaken. The objective behind taking up pre watershed activities first is to build the capacity of the rural communities of the concerned village, mobilize their support, and assess the feasibility of the planned activities for the specific village. As an important aspect of the activity, village level committees are formed and their involvement is ensured in the activities. Efforts are made to develop community ownership in order to ensure sustainability of the initiatives. In order to select appropriate villages for pre watershed activities, selection criteria have been developed. These criteria are given below.. After organizing pre watershed activities for a period of one to two years, the watershed activities are commenced in the village. Major activities of a watershed programme include construction of water harvesting structure, community capacity building and long term drought proofing. Since 2003-04, GRAVIS has implemented 13 pre watershed programmes and 8 watershed programmes in 21 villages covering a population of over 50,000 people.

Selection criteria for selecting a village for pre watershed activities

• Less than 10%area with post rainy season irrigation

• More than 75% house holds having agriculture occupation

• More than 70% households having less than 2 hectares of cultivable land

• More than 80% families belong to SC/ST/OBC

• Forest land less than 20%

Food for Work, employment generation

In order to provide employment to rural communities of Thar Desert and construct structures that will enable in long term drought proofing, GRAVIS has been organizing its food for work programs with the support of CRS. In the selected Desert villages, construction of naadis (ponds), khadins (bunds) and taankas (tanks) is being organized. The rural communities are provided with food commodities in return of the labour they provide. GRAVIS receives food commodities from CRS and stores it in its warehouse in Baap, Jodhpur. In a year, GRAVIS organizes nearly 300,000 workdays of employment through its watershed programme.