Tata Capital, the financial services arm of the Tata Group, has launched JalAadhar, a watershed development project in rural Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra. The initiative aims to provide water for irrigation, as well as clean and potable water by increasing groundwater resources, increase efficiency in water use and improve farmer income.
The initiative has helped 22 villages in these states in restoring the water levels by rejuvenating and reviving its waterbodies and recharging zones leading to a 1-to-2-meter increase in groundwater levels. Water crisis in these areas are now in control as villagers have adopted a sustainable farming system leading to prolonged access to water. Through this initiative, JalAadhar plans to restore an additional 6000 hectares of land in the next 3 years.
JalAdhar project is to ensure community ownership and project sustainability, a watershed committee has been set-up. The implementation partner trained villagers in watershed management practices and sought involvement through sweat equity, part payment contribution and a 50:50 sustainability fund for post project maintenance managed by the committee and continuously overseen by the NGO. since 2016-17 JalAdhar Project impacted across Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra. Through this project 6000 ha area is treated, 22 villages covered & 15,000+ farmers impacted, 4100 Lakh Litres of water harvesting capacity created and Rs. 19,000/crop average increase in farmer income due to crop diversification.
Speaking about Tata Capital’s CSR initiatives, Sridhar Sarathy - SVP, CSR, Tata Capital said, “We at Tata Capital are proud of the results JalAadhar program has given over the years. It is in line with our Sustainable Development Goals and focuses on integrated water resource management and water-use efficiency. Our commitment to impact the local communities will continue with a larger goal of water conservation as we have seen the difference it created on the entire ecosystem.”
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