Committees that could run the scheme
Watershed committee and user group members across 20 watersheds in nine blocks of Virudhunagar trained over ten days on participation, programme administration, fund utilisation and accounts.
Western Ghats development programme
A government watershed programme in the Western Ghats foothills of Virudhunagar — Coodu Trust trained the watershed committees and user groups, and later organised and coordinated check dam construction under its water resource creation component.
20
Watersheds trained, 2007–2008
9
Blocks of Virudhunagar district
21
Check dams coordinated, 2013–2014
918
Farmers benefited in 76 villages
The project
Protecting a biodiversity hotspot through data and partnership
Project mission
Equip the watershed committees and user groups of Virudhunagar’s Western Ghats foothills to plan and run their own land and water development — and build the structures that hold the rain where it falls.
The Western Ghats Development Programme is a government scheme for the protection and sustainable development of the Western Ghats — a UNESCO World Heritage Site with exceptional levels of endemism. Coodu Trust’s role in it was training. In March 2008 the Trust ran a ten-day user group training programme across 20 watersheds in nine blocks of Virudhunagar district — Srivilliputtur and Rajapalayam, and Ayydarmam, Kottaiyur, Vathrap, Maharajapuram, Kariselikulam, Vellapottal, Samathanapuram, Pillaiyarnatham and Vallikulam in the Vathrap union.
The curriculum was deliberately practical: the importance of the watershed and of people’s participation; how user groups work and what distinguishes the Western Ghats programme from other government watershed schemes; identifying what a user group needs; and the administrative set-up, the roles and responsibilities of watershed committees, fund utilisation and the keeping of accounts. Technical sessions covered land development, forest development, fishery and livestock units, vermicompost preparation, strengthening ponds and streams, orchards and mushroom cultivation.
In 2013–14 Coodu Trust organised and coordinated the construction of 21 check dams in Virudhunagar, Tirunelveli and Dindigul districts, supported by the WGDP water resource creation programmes and with a 10% contribution from the beneficiaries themselves. The structures recharged wells for 918 farmers and anchored drinking water availability in 76 villages.
- User group training
- Biodiversity conservation
- Water resource creation
- Watershed integration
Why this work matters
The challenge on the ground — and our answer
The challenge
Committees asked to run a scheme they had never been taught
Watershed committees and user groups in the Ghats foothills were handed budgets and responsibilities without ever being shown how the programme differed from other government watershed schemes, or how to keep its accounts.
Our response
Ten days of training in 20 watersheds
Watershed committee members and user group members trained across nine blocks of Virudhunagar on participation, group work, programme administration, fund utilisation and the maintenance of accounts.
The challenge
Wells falling, drinking water uncertain
Recurrent drought, irregular rainfall and over-extraction of groundwater had left wells failing and drinking water unreliable across the villages below the Ghats.
Our response
21 check dams, built with the villages that need them
Check dam construction organised and coordinated across Virudhunagar, Tirunelveli and Dindigul with a 10% beneficiary contribution — recharging wells for 918 farmers and securing drinking water in 76 villages.
At a glance
The essentials
- Scheme
- WGDPWestern Ghats Development Programme — a government watershed and eco-development scheme
- Period
- 2001–2014Documentation in 2001–02, user group training in 2007–08, water resource creation in 2013–14
- Coverage
- 20 watershedsNine blocks of Virudhunagar district — Srivilliputtur, Rajapalayam and the Vathrap union villages. Check dam work extended into Tirunelveli and Dindigul.
- Our role
- Training partnerThe 2007–08 report records Coodu Trust’s involvement as training only; in 2013–14 the Trust organised and coordinated check dam construction rather than implementing it directly
- Water resource creation
- 21 check damsBuilt with a 10% beneficiary contribution; 918 farmers benefited through well recharge and drinking water secured in 76 villages
- Related work in the district
- 421 village maps digitisedA separate GIS documentation assignment for the Agricultural Engineering Department, Virudhunagar — preceded in 2007–08 by the digitisation of 274 villages across the Aruppukottai, Virudhunagar and Kariyappatti taluks, covering 1,405 sq km in 100 days
Outcomes
What the project changed
Water back in the wells
21 check dams organised and coordinated across Virudhunagar, Tirunelveli and Dindigul, recharging wells for 918 farmers and anchoring drinking water availability in 76 villages.
The district mapped
In separate assignments for the Agricultural Engineering Department, Virudhunagar, Coodu Trust digitised 274 village cadastral maps across three taluks — 1,405 sq km in 100 days — and later documented 421 village maps with GIS.
Get involved
Help protect the Western Ghats
Join us in conserving one of the world's great biodiversity hotspots — through training that puts villages in charge of their own watersheds, and structures that hold the rain where it falls.