Chirula Checkdam
Investing in the future

People zooming along the Jhansi – Gwalior road rarely notice the small village of Chirula, which lies off the principal highway in the Datia district of Madhya Pradesh (MP). Nor do the travelers pay much attention to the small nallah that flows nearby which separates MP from Uttar Pradesh. Yet Chirula is the setting for one of our favourite stories about the effects our checkdams have had on the livelihoods of the people in the Bundelkhand.

By 1990, we had already constructed two checkdams in the vicinity of Chirula village. Both were successful: well levels within 300 m of the structures increased by almost 2 m and the nearby farmers benefited from improved access to irrigation. The yield of the Rabi wheat crop increased dramatically with a consequent augmentation in family income, and for the first time, a sense of optimism hung over the village.

The following year, our field office received funding to construct two additional checkdams in the village, and in short time, the location for the new structures was chosen. Word soon spread throughout the surrounding area that more checkdams were planned and the residents began to get excited.

Upon hearing the news, one local farmer did an unusual thing: little by little, he began selling off his family possessions. First he sold his wife’s jewelry, then his tractor. Eventually, he sold his house and his farmland. The other villagers though he was crazy when, with the money he had collected from the sale of his things, he bought a parcel of land some kilometers downstream from the village. That the land was worth far less than his own property only reinforced the villager’s opinion.

The logic behind his actions was soon revealed when we began construction of the new checkdams. As it turned out, the farmer’s newly acquired land lay in the recharge zone of the fourth checkdam and would eventually benefit fully from the water captured by the structure after the monsoon. The productivity of the land would more than double and as a consequence, so would its value - ensuring an incredible return on the farmer’s initial investment. The improved revenue from this land allowed him to replace his wife’s jewelry and his tractor, and even permitted him to enjoy a few extra luxuries.

It was an incredible gamble, but one that paid off for that one enterprising farmer in Chirula village. It also demonstrates the excellent reputation our checkdams have garnered among the local farmers and their proven ability to improve livelihoods.