What problem did thevillagers in Hardas village face? What did they do to solve thisproblem?

Thevillagers in Hardas village faced the problem of acute watershortage. The hand pump water had gone well below the point up towhich the ground had been drilled. They hardly got water in the taps.Women had to travel 3 km to the Suru River to get water.

The GramSabha got together to discuss the problem. Many people came up withshort-term and long-term suggestions for dealing with the problem athand, e.g., piping water from the Suru and making an overhead tank,deepening the hand pumps and cleaning the wells, conserving andrecharging water through watershed development.

Afterthe discussion in the Gram Sabha, the Gram Panchayat discussed thesuggestions and decided that the money it had received for themaintenance of handpumps could be utilised for deepening two handpumps and cleaning one well, so that the village would not go withoutwater. The Panchayat members also discussed options for a long-termsolution. At the end, they decided to approach the Block DevelopmentOfficer and get more information about the watershed programme.