Varavoor in Thrissur district has become the first grama panchayat in the State to have a net plan. Net plan is a watershed management initiative with people’s participation for implementing land use practices and water management practices to protect and improve quality of water and other natural resources in a comprehensive manner.
With the implementation of a watershed plan, each family can become part of panchayat’s development, said K. Radhakrishnan, Minister for Welfare of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and Backward Classes, who launched the plan. Net planning utilises Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) even in the private land for watershed management. The grama panchayat aims at implementing the project at a cost of ₹67 crore in three years.
Under the project, separate plans will be prepared for plots of each person with land details like survey number, location, measurement, slop of the land, nature of soil, kinds of trees, and possibility for panting more trees. Each person will have an idea about possible actions to be taken in his land’s development in future. Development of local partnership can also lead to greater awareness and support from the general public, said Planning Board Stat-level Recourse Group member Anoop Kishore.
Climate change
“In the backdrop of climate change, watershed management plays a crucial role in mitigating weather induced risks, building resilience and strengthening adaptive capacities. Thus, the watershed management helps reduce negative impacts of extreme climate events,” noted Mr. Kishore.
The panchayat also aims to address many other issues such as waste management and water recharging though the net plan.
Varavoor panchayat has prepared watershed plans for 7,900 families. The net plan has mapped 14,000 jackfruit trees in the panchayat. There are many fruiting trees and vegetables, such as mango, papaya, muringa, curry leaves and pumpkins. Though there may be surplus production, in the absence of a proper system to connect producers and buyers, most of these produce go waste. It should be noted that most of these fruits and vegetable are produced organically without using any fertilizers or pesticides. Therefore, they can fetch a higher price. However, it is difficult to find market for the produce from fragmented lands.
As all such trees and plants are mapped under the net plan, a system can be worked out to connect producers with buyers using modern technology, Mr. Kishore noted. The model can be replicated in other panchayats too, he added.
