C ASE 1

Integrated Watershed Management

Programme, Gujarat
Rita Teaotia, Ram Kumar, and Mani Kant Giri

The present article deals with the innovative use of technology in the watershed programme,
bringing about tangible transformation in terms of quality of service, pace of implementation,
ownership by community members, monitoring, impact assessment, and more such areas.
The initiative originated from the learning of past experiences in watershed management
programmes and is catalysed by the proven success of ICT and other high science tools in
this area.

 Project Background
Exploring a way out from developmental wilderness has been a major preoccupation of
the change agents from the entire public welfare arena, and more so in the ever-changing
scenario of shifting paradigms, moving goalposts, and elusive outcomes. It assumes
greater complexity in rural areas where, paradoxically, abundance of natural resources
corresponds to that of extreme poverty and disheartening backwardness. Natural
resource management through watershed development programme has been successful
towards mitigating the distress of rural masses in many parts of India. Gujarat, being
a water-scarce state, has naturally taken up exemplary watershed initiatives since the
inception of the programme when there were three separate area-based programmes,
viz. Drought Prone Area Programme (DPAP), Desert Development Programme (DDP),
and Integrated Wasteland Development Programme (IWDP). Lately in 2008, Common
 Integrated Watershed Management Programme, Gujarat  23
Guidelines, 2008 has brought together various watershed development programmes
to form one comprehensive programme, namely, Integrated Watershed Management
Programme (IWMP).
The Gujarat State Watershed Management Agency (GSWMA) serves as a State
Level Nodal Agency (SLNA) to undertake IWMP in the state. GSWMA is a registered
non-profit organisation managed by its board of governors, which consists of Principal
Secretary, Rural Development as the Chairperson, along with the senior officers from the
government of Gujarat and Central Government. District Watershed Development Units
(DWDUs) have been formed in all the 26 districts of Gujarat to implement the IWMP
at the district level. GSWMA is implementing IWMP across Gujarat. In 2009, GSWMA
looked at the past performance of the watershed development programmes in the state
and tried to identify lessons for the future. Some of the shortcomings of the earlier
programmes were listed. Realising the shortcomings, it was decided to reinvigorate the
programme under IWMP by making modifications in the processes and introducing
certain process innovations.

 Objectives and Scope of the Project

Participatory Scientific Watershed Management Programme in Gujarat is under
implementation from 2009. It aims at achieving the objectives of watershed programme
through a participatory approach, with ample application of scientific tools to ensure
objectivity, quality, equity, transparency, and timeliness. The main objectives of the
initiatives of the watershed development programmes are as follows:
i. Restore the ecological balance by harnessing, conserving, and developing degraded
natural resources, such as soil, vegetative cover, and water, in a holistic and
sustainable manner.
ii. Demand-driven and need-based watershed planning with active participation of
community members.
iii. Prevention of soil run-off and regeneration of natural vegetation with low-cost
technological solution complemented by indigenous knowledge.
iv Rainwater harvesting and recharging of the groundwater table along with inculcating
a sense of conservation among the community members.
v Enabling multi-cropping and the introduction of diverse agro-based activities, which
help to provide sustainable livelihoods to the people residing in the project area.
vi Promoting eco-friendly and locally suitable activities with the required capacity
building of the stakeholders.
24  Driving Process Change: Innovative e-Government Practices from India

 Planning Process
Accurate and long-term efficient planning is a crucial component of any project. Therefore,
from the inception of the project, i.e., planning phase, scientific tools have been used to
ensure accuracy and efficiency. At the same time, community participation has been
made an intrinsic part of the whole process by putting various in place provisions such
as participatory net planning, conducting Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) exercise,
executing activities of the projects through a committee chosen by Gram Sabha, etc.
Community mobilisation and participation have led to ownership of the project by the
project area dwellers, resulting in acceptability and smooth implementation.
The approach followed for planning involves: (i) creation, development, and
management of geo-spatial database depicting present conditions of land, water, and
vegetation with respect to watershed under different ownerships at village level;
(ii) compatible socio-economic aspects and their analysis; (iii) historical perspective of
the land-water treatment of the area. A simple watershed planning process through GIS
is illustrated in Figure 1.

Figure 11: U
Fi Use off GIS ffor watershed
t h d planning.
l i
 Integrated Watershed Management Programme, Gujarat  25
During the pre-IWMP programmes, project selection and developing a scientific
action plan were major concerns. GIS has helped in solving these concerns. The strategy
is divided into two phases: (i) prioritisation of watersheds according to set criteria
mentioned in the National Guideline and (ii) preparation of the development plan
(action plan).
While prioritising the projects, different parameters are categorised reflecting the
natural resource base (including the historical data) of the area and the socio-economic
aspects. Some of the important data sets and images include: Geo-morphology, Soil,
Slope, Erosion, Aspects, Drainage, Contour, Geo-hydrology, concentration of BPL and
SC/ST population, etc. The satellite image on the same parameters are collected in
different sheets and then superimposed to get a composite picture of the priority areas.
This process is followed for all the watersheds, starting from the micro-level to the
macro-level. The micro-watershed wise prioritisation culminated in prioritising the
watersheds for the districts and the whole of the state. It has helped in the following
ways:
i. The projects could be equitably distributed among all the districts.
ii. The most needy watershed areas could be identified.
iii. The planning for convergence of IWMP with other developmental schemes of
various government departments is prepared on the basis of the GIS-based maps.
iv. The state was able to plan for the next 18 years; the GIS-based plan for the 18 years
is given in Figure 2.
Plans for capacity building were done at a macro basis. As many as 33 institutional
partners were identified and empanelled for the purpose.
GSWMA provides district-wise GIS-based priority maps to the DWDUs for district
planning. The prioritised maps help them in identifying watersheds that are most
vulnerable or/and villages that are socio-economically the most backward in the district.
GSWMA further provides the State Perspective and Strategic Plan (SPSP) to the DWDUs;
the SPSP shows the target for each district for a certain year. It is the responsibility of
the DWDU to verify the prioritised maps on field and choose watersheds/villages as
projects on a cluster approach. One cluster may include a number of watershed/villages
totalling around 5,000 hectares of land. This cluster is called a project. The DWDU has
to select a number of such projects according to the target given in the SPSP. These
projects then have to be made into reports called Preliminary Project Reports (PPRs) and
submitted to the GSWMA. These projects are then submitted and presented by GSWMA
to the DoLR for approval.

Planning at Project Level: DPR Preparation

The overall responsibility for the preparation of a technically sound and high quality
Detailed Project Report (DPR) lies with the Project Implementing Agency (PIA). The DPR
is prepared by the Watershed Development Team (WDT) for integrated development of
26  Driving Process Change: Innovative e-Government Practices from India

Figure 2: GIS-based map for the next 18 years for the entire state.

the watershed area with active participation of the Watershed Committee (WC). Technical
inputs such as resource maps and cadastral maps can be found at the local level, and
project-specific GIS maps and indicative Action Plan generated by GSWMA is made
available at the state level. The format for the DPR has been developed at state level and
should be followed for the preparation of the same.
DPR requires baseline surveys for the assessment of the existing situation, selection
of sites, and identification of beneficiaries. The data is gender-disaggregated to conduct
gender-sensitive planning that duly recognises and addresses the priorities of women.
Three types of baseline surveys carried out are:
i. Household survey
ii. Bio-physical survey
iii. Overall village survey
 Integrated Watershed Management Programme, Gujarat  27

Figure 3:
Fi 3 Vill
Village survey with
ith application
li ti off GPS
GPS.

Comprehensive PRA exercise is crucial for developing rapport with the community
members, generating goodwill, collecting relevant information, and validating the
information gathered through other sources.

Figure 4: Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) exercise in full swing in a project village.
28  Driving Process Change: Innovative e-Government Practices from India
Some of the necessary PRA exercises that are undertaken include the following:
i. Historical Transect/Time Line
ii. Resource Mapping
iii. Social Mapping
iv. Seasonal Diagram+ Daily Activity Schedule
v. Venn Diagram/Chappati Diagram
vi. Livelihood Analysis- Focus Group Discussions
vii. Tree Matrix
viii. Wealth Ranking
ix. Transect Walk

 Use of ICT for Integrated Service Delivery

Table 1 gives the activities and the scientific tools used for the purpose of planning at
the grass root level.

Table 1: Use of ICT in the watershed management programme

To enhance the efficiency, transparency, accountability and effectiveness of IWMP,

the systems and procedures have been automated to the extent possible. For impact
assessment, satellite imagery is used. An illustration of the same has been given in
Figure 5 which displays increased vegetative cover post project implementation.

The difference between the new and the old approaches is given in Figure 6 where
one can see that the new approach focuses more upon participatory planning with proper
application of scientific tools like GIS and remote sensing as and when required.
i. Centrality of community participation and democratic processes right from the
commencement of the project was ensured by holding village meetings through
 Integrated Watershed Management Programme, Gujarat  29

Figure 5: Use of satellite imagery for impact assessment.

Fi
Figure 66: P
Process ffollowed
ll d ffor W
Watershed
t h d M Managementt P
Programme (C(Colour
l
code: Peach: New approach; Blue: New aspects; Green: Traditional approach).
30  Driving Process Change: Innovative e-Government Practices from India
Gram Sabhas, participatory rural appraisal exercises, and execution of work through
a democratically constituted Watershed Committee in the village.
ii. Building of Institutions: Dedicated state, district, project, and village-level institutions
have been developed. To support these institutions in general and the projects in
particular, a consortium of 33 Partner Institutions has been made.
iii. Need-based holistic planning of each micro watershed was done with following
components:
 Participatory net planning
 Mandatory provision for convergence
 Inclusion of the asset-less, marginalised, and women

iv. Standardisation of processes: Processes have been standardised and to that effect,
various manuals have been prepared. Operational Guidelines have also been issued
to address the state specific concerns. To ensure transparency and get feedback across
the board, the planning output, i.e., DPR has been put in public domain. Vernacular
hard copies have also been provided to VWCs.
v. Continuous Capacity Building has been ensured at all the levels with special
emphasis on the Watershed Committee for ensuring quality implementation and
sustainability of the project.

 Implementation Processes
Implementation of the initiative required a strong institutional preparedness at state,
district, project, and village level. Accordingly, a strong institutional set-up was put in
place at every level, as shown in Figure 7.

Figure 77: IInstitutional

Fi tit ti l set-up
t att diff
differentt llevels.
l
 Integrated Watershed Management Programme, Gujarat  31
Skilled project teams were engaged to ensure smooth and hassle-free operationalisation
of the project. A need-based effective capacity building planning was done for the
team members. Processes were automated to the extent possible. Regular review and
monitoring are now done to keep the pace of the progress at an optimal level. A web-
based GIS monitoring system has been put in place, as shown in Figure 8.

MIS

Mobile Device Generation of

transmittem the data Hierarchical
through the ms Reports

Bridging the Websites by

linking village census code Access to public
domain

GSM Moderm Central Server at state

Data Center, Gandhinagar

Figure 8: W
Fi Web
b GIS
GIS-based
b d monitoring
i i and d work
k tracking.
ki

Implementation of the initiative has resulted in the following physical output till
September 2012 across Gujarat.

Table 2: Progress till September, 2012

S.No Details Unit Type Total

1. Checkdam Repairing/Desilting no 124
2. New Check Dam no 214
3. Check Wall (Small Check Dam) no 280
4. Causeway Cum Check Dam no 95
5. Waste-weir for Earthen Bund/Pond no 339
6. Deepening of Pond no 258
(Contd.)
32  Driving Process Change: Innovative e-Government Practices from India
Table 2: (Contd.)
7. Village Pond no 65
8. Farm Pond no 148
9. Earthen Bund no 509
10. Percolation Tank no 65
11. Staggered Contour Trench rmt 18,10,387
12. Gabian Structure no 5
13. Gully Plug no 718
14. Continuous Contour Trench rmt 73095
15. Waste-weir for Field Outlet no 2034
16. Dairy Development (Cattle Trough, Cattle Health Camps) no 904
17. Harnessing Non-conventional Energy Sources (Solar, Wind no 164
Energy)
18. Agriculture Productivity (Crop Demonstration, Grassland ha. 51
Development)

Some of the watershed interventions have been illustrated in Figure 9.

Activity: Check wall

Project: IWMP–2 Murdad,
Village: Pandavkhadak,
Taluka: Dharampur
Estimated Cost: 0.25 Lakh
GPS: N 20° 31 51.3
E 73° 24 20.3,
Survey No. 232
Deneficiaries: 8*

Use Group
1 Bhansubhai Kasibhai Karnadi
2 Malhar Marnji Kamadi
3 Lallu Chaudhari
4 Ghajanan Ramu Kamadi
5 Rarnale Jiva Kamdi
6 Chandu Evaji raut
7 janu chiman Raut
8 Mangal Kevaji Raut

Figure
i 9: Watershed
h d iinterventions
i across the
h state.
 Integrated Watershed Management Programme, Gujarat  33

Name of Activity: Micro

Spring-cum-Well
Project: IWMP–4 Virkshetra
Village: Virkshetra
Taluka: Kaprada
Estimated Cost: ` 0.07 million
Survery No. 665
GPS: N 20° 14 25.28
E 73° 22 32.07
Beneficiaries: 4
Use Group
1 Devram Rama mahala
2 Raju Laxman
3 Raman Mevaji
4 Radhobhai Chhotubhai

Figure 10: Conserving water in wells.

 Constraints and Challenges Faced and Overcome

Challenges inspire innovation. Watershed initiative, too, met many challenges but the
skill of the project team and cooperation of the community members helped to confront
them. Some of the challenges are as follows:
i. Lack of updated database: Though many departments regularly conduct various
developmental activities at the village level, these details are not updated regularly
leading to lack of relevant information base, which is crucial for the planning and
implementation process.
ii. Connectivity and network problem at remote villages: Internet connectivity was
sometimes absent due to the geographical location of the project villages. Though
it was solved by establishing cluster-level offices with all infrastructure including
computers, printers, and data cards. Since majority of the villages were remote,
mobile network availability was a major problem while implementing mobile
embedded work tracking system. This was solved by saving the messages and later
sending them when the mobile enters into a network connection range.
34  Driving Process Change: Innovative e-Government Practices from India

 Impact of the Project

Effective management of natural resources through participatory scientific watershed
programme in Gujarat has yielded tangible results and transformed the rural landscape
in a remarkable way. Following are the major impacts realised after the initiative of
GSWMA:
i. Technically appropriate selection of project area and location of physical
interventions.
ii. Identification and prioritisation of most needy and critical areas throughout the
state.
Figure 11 gives the illustration of the priority map of the Dangs district of Gujarat state
where project clusters have been shown and the clusters are located in one of the most
backward regions in terms of socio-economic status and natural resources parameters.

Figure 11: Prioritisation of micro watershed: Scientific prioritisation has resulted in

selection of remotest and needy area in tribal district of Dangs, which is one of the
hundred most backward districts as per Planning Commission.

Approximately 98,000 interventions were planned using village composite maps and
hydrologic modelling (as and when required) in 2009–10, 2010–11, and 2011–12 projects.
3,292 action plan maps were generated in 2009–10, 2010–11, and 2011–12 projects.

Ownership by community
Improved community participation and ownership of the project are ensured where the
developmental schemes are suggested and executed by the community itself. Figure 12
shows an entry point activity identified by the villagers themselves.
 Integrated Watershed Management Programme, Gujarat  35

Figure 12: Annual action plan in a village.

Figure 13: Animal trough for drinking water under IWMP in Banaskanthai
District of Gujarat state.
36  Driving Process Change: Innovative e-Government Practices from India
4,252 EPAs have been identified for 2009–10, scientifically located and executed for
the project of 2009–10 in 1,048 villages.

Cost and time efficient

The centralised MIS and GIS-based monitoring system helps in taking quick decisions
and corrective measures, thus saving a lot of time and money.

Scientific impact assessment

The satellite imagery based impact assessment provides us with absolute proof of the
good returns of the public investment in the projects.

Transparency across the board

Last but not the least, the online banking operations help establish transparency throughout
the different levels and guarantees accountability. A comparative demonstration of the
state of affairs before the implementation of the initiative and after the implementation
of the initiative has been provided in the table below:

Table 3: A comparative demonstrations of the state of affairs before

and after the implementation of the initiative

Sr. Result Areas Before the implementation
No. of the initiative
1 Project area selection Subjective and unscientific,
selection made on the basis
of instinct of the district
authorities and externally
influenced
2 Location of the Inconsistencies in site
intervention selection for construction of
physical structures
3 Planning process Short-term, haphazard
and less participatory;
Preparation of Detailed
Project Report (DPR) was a
formality; no convergence
After the implementation of the
initiative
Enabled the identification of most
needy areas in the initial years;
generation of trust, confidence
and ownership among people;
excluding external influence in
project selection
Technically appropriate selection
and location of physical
interventions; use of village
composite maps and hydrologic
modelling (as and when required)
for interventions (approx.
35,000); feeding co-ordinates of
interventions with GPS, generating
1,048 action plan maps for 2009–10
projects itself
State Perspective and Strategic Plan
prepared for 18 years; Participatory
Rural Appraisal (PRA) and
Participatory
(Contd.)
 Integrated Watershed Management Programme, Gujarat 
(Contd.)
4 Inclusion of women
and assetless
5 Transparency and
awareness
6 Standardisation of
processes
7 Institutional
structure
8 Capacity building
9 Monitoring and
evaluation
10 Impact assessment
37
Net Planning (PNP) made
compulsory; PNP using thematic
maps (1:3000–17000) for 0.23 million
land parcels (survey number-wise)
for 2009–10 projects; convergence
with schemes made mandatory
Minimal Institutionalised with mandatory
inclusion of women members,
landless and assetless in the
committee; 10 per cent of livelihood
fund for assetless
Lack of transparency and Transparency across board; DPR
communication gap available online and given to
Village Watershed Committees
in vernacular; Web based GIS
integrated; Online financial
transactions; well designed IEC
activities
Negligible State specific Technical, Capacity
Building and Human Resource
Manuals and Operational
Guidelines issued and enforced
Weak; no dedicated Establishment of fully dedicated
institution at state and and professionally strong
district levels institutions at all levels: state-
district-project-village
Haphazard and irregular Standardised, phase wise and
continuous with regular follow up
Minimal and subjective Concurrent monitoring, third party
evaluation, provision for social
audit, additionally generation of
dynamic maps integrated with
mobile software to monitor the
progress; quick and near-real time
corrective measures
Empirical and subjective Scientific assessment with input
application of remote sensing

 Lessons Learnt and Experiences

The implementation of the project has provided many lessons which can be summed up
as follows:
i. It has been observed that without a strong institutional base, no project can take off,
let alone realise desired outcome.
38  Driving Process Change: Innovative e-Government Practices from India
ii. External undue influence can be minimised if one operates with transparency and
integrity backed by use of scientific tools.
iii. Community mobilisation is the key for success of any initiative. Once primary
stakeholders are taken into confidence, no constraints remain undefeated.
iv. Devolution of power to the village level leads to speedier and quality
implementation.
v. There has to be no complacency on the part of the implementers to ensure that the
project does not meet its unnatural death.
In a time when conservation of environment has become a rallying point, watershed
management programme is the way to face and shape the future. However, for this it
is necessary that the programme itself keeps its momentum and direction by becoming
more participatory.