ECOFRIENDLY DEVELOPMENT
SAMERTH CHARITABLE TRUST – District Kutch, Gujarat
Water Harvesting
IDRF has worked in collaboration
with Samerth Trust and two key
donors from the USA to provide
safe and sustainable water
resources and develop community
based assets for the poor and
marginalized communities in Rapar
Block, Dist. Kutch, Gujarat.
This is a huge benefit to areas like
Rapar, which are perennially water
scarce and depend heavily on
water bodies that are refilled each
year by undependable monsoons.
The region has rain‐fed agriculture
that is the backbone of the
economy. Due to lack of rainfall in
the monsoon season, families have
94% of villages assisted by our partner NGO had adequate water even
had to migrate with their
though the region had 50% less rainfall than average in 2014
belongings and cattle.
The Samerth team recognized the need for holistic water security plans as they developed micro plans to
address this issue. It also created the twin opportunity of not only creating sustainable water resources but also
arresting migration in the short run. A process was followed to ensure that, in addition to the administrative
and governance bodies, the villagers owned the plan and ensured its success.
IDRF provided $78,000 in grants over the two year duration of the water harvesting
project to construct 12 Earthen Che