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Water Conservation | Sustainable living | India

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WATER CONSERVATION
WATER CONSERVATION
At this point, the company is involved in six major projects affecting over 180 villages in Madhya Pradesh, North Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Maharashtra. The projects are carried out in partnership with non-governmental organisations (NGOs), local community, and government agencies such as NABARD, or directly with state governments.

Our main objectives of projects are:

WATER CONSERVATION
- Revive traditional structures as well as create new infrastructure for water conservation - Increase the groundwater recharge in the watershed area - Increase water use efficiency in agriculture and domestic sectors by ensuring the adoption of water management techniques - Conserve fertile soil through soil and moisture conservation

ENHANCING LIVELIHOODS
- Improve landscape and agricultural productivity to enhance livelihoods - Raise the income of the poor (landless, small and marginal farmers) through agricultural and non-agricultural based interventions

OVERVIEW OF OUR PROJECTS

The projects in brief are explained as below: TANK CASCADES DEVELOPMENT FOR LIVELIHOOD SECURITY This project in Gundar Basin, Tamil Nadu is a partnership between HUL and DHAN Foundation. The project area covers 13 tank cascades with 250 tanks, serving a total population of 1,50,000 across almost 70 villages in Madurai, Ramanad, Sivagangai, and Virudhunagar districts. The project will create the capacity to conserve 11.3 billion litres of water in the project area, increase crop production and generate additional net income for the farmers. Started in 2010, the project aims to revive Tank Cascades (uses a traditional method of water storage). Tank cascades are communally owned, small reservoirs created by earthen bunds and arranged in a series across slopes to form a chain of water tanks. An important feature of this project is that local associations of farmers and landless families (many of them women), who have contributed 10% of the cost, implement the project for each tank. WATER HARVESTING AND UTILISATION HUL in partnership with BAIF started this project in Nasik and Ahmadnagar to build bunds, a check dam and structures to harvest spring water for domestic use. This initiative aims to improve water availability through run-off water harvesting measures and to conserve fertile soil through moisture conservation, thus improving production from the landscape and subsequently generating more employment opportunities for the local population. About 574 million litres of water will be harvested at the end of project. The project will bring an additional area of 287 acres under irrigation. Crop production is expected to rise by 50%. The project has made a significant improvement in the quality of life among the rural and tribal families that make up the local population. Its holistic programme approach, long-term planning and environmental conservation efforts will ensure that the district will

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Water Conservation | Sustainable living | India

experience an upward economic and social trajectory beyond the stipulated five years of the project. COMMUNITY LED SUSTAINABLE MANAGEMENT OF WATER RESOURCE FOR PROMOTION OF LIVELIHOODS AND SECURED NATURAL RESOURCE BASE The project has duration of five years from 2011 to 2016 and is one of the largest projects supported by HUL. It covers five districts in Karnataka Bidar, Gulbarga, Bellary, Chitradurga and Kolar. The project is being implemented by MYRADA and is co-funded by NABARD. Significant activities under this project include community mobilisation, soil and water conservation activities and a livelihood enhancement programme especially for small and marginal farmers. The project also aims to increase the ground water recharge in the watershed area and increase water use efficiency in agriculture and domestic sectors by adoption of water management techniques. The project covers 13 villages and will benefit over 4,00,000 people. The project aims to achieve 50% increase in the base line production of crops. More than 300 hectares of wasteland have been brought under cultivation. Agricultural and non-agricultural based interventions will also be made to raise the incomes of the poor (landless, small and marginal farmers). The total water conservation over five years will be over 30 billion litres. BIO-DIVERSITY CONSERVATION AND CAPABILITY BUILDING IN TAMIL NADU HUL's already wide-spread presence in Tamil Nadu has increased further with this a far-reaching project in partnership with Sustainable Watershed Development through Conservation, Harvest and Utilisation, a far reaching project in partnership with LEAD for a period of five years(2011 2016). With a mainly environmental thrust, the project is set out to address the overexploitation of high volume crop cultivation in intensive agriculture. It emphasizes the conservation of the bio-diversity and vital resources soil, flora and fauna, vegetation, etc. The project is poised to benefit 2,30,000 people. Drip and surge irrigation systems, sprinklers, mulching, skip furrows will all reduce water requirement by 30 to 40 per cent. The project aims at a 50% increase in base line production of crops. An estimated 11.4 billion litres of water will be conserved by the end of this project. INTEGRATED WATERSHED MANAGEMENT PROGRAMME The MoU between the state government and Hindustan Unilever Vitality Foundation (HUVF) was signed in October 2011. It follows the Public Private Partnership (PPP) model successfully established under the Rajiv Gandhi Mission for Watershed Management and will be implemented on the ground by the Society for Promotion of Eco Friendly Sustainable Development on behalf of HUVF. The project covers 24 villages of Baldeogarh Block in the Tikamgarh district approximately 10,317 hectares of land under watershed. Significant project activities include Net Planning, Participatory Rural Appraisal Participatory Rural Appraisal, the formation of Self Help Groups (SHG) and watershed committees, identification and implementation of entry-point activities and adoption of an overall cluster approach for the implementation of the above. INTEGRATED WATER RESOURCE MANAGEMENT AND CONJUNCTIVE USE OF WATER Another HUL project co-funded with NABARD is Promoting Integrated Water Resource Management and Conjunctive Use of Water in the most water scarce regions of North Gujarat. The project was initiated in 2011 by the Development Support Centre (DSC). It aims to propel sustainable livelihoods for rural communities, through soil, moisture and water conservation: improving agricultural productivity and the introduction of agricultural practices that optimize water use. The project covers 24 villages and over 45,000 people. The real challenge for this project is to develop a participatory plan for sustainable management of soil, moisture and water conservation at the village level for all 24 villages, spread over two districts. The methodology includes capacity building among the villagers, especially small and marginal farmers; management of the physical assets created for soil, moisture and water conservation after careful planning and implementation. It is expected that the above interventions will increase crop production by 15 to 20%. More than 7,900 hectares of land will be treated with soil and water conservation activities. The total water conservation commitment at the end of five years under this project is 28 billion litres of water. For detailed report on our water conservation initiatives please download our latest report on water: Story of Water ( 4.3MB )

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