Rural Development Department Sri Chaitanya Seva Trust

Rural Development Department

Sri Chaitanya Seva Trust

Annual Report (Apr 2017-Mar 2018)

2018

Sri Chaitanya Seva Trust

Govardhan Ecovillage, Galtare

About The Organization

The Rural Development Program of Sri Chaitanya Seva Trust was started in April 2009 by Govardhan

Ecovillage in the Wada block of Palghar district. It aims to reduce farmer distress and rural-urban

migration by empowering them with various sustainable livelihood options in their villages.

Govardhan Ecovillage (GEV), a 90-acre sustainable farming community is situated at the foothills of

the Sahyadri Mountains, 108km north of Mumbai, India. GEV is a successful fusion between ancient

Vedic wisdom and modern science where the focus is on ‘living in harmony with the environment’ and

developing a ‘spiritual ecology’ that can bring about tangible, positive changes in humanity. Despite

its humble beginnings in 2003, GEV is now a multi award-winning eco community where the

technology of modern science combines with Vedic wisdom. It provides a sustainable solution to the

ecological crises we are now facing throughout the world.

GEV focuses on an eco-centric model of creation where there is natural interrelationship between

humans, animals, birds, insects, trees, rivers, mountains and all the other elements of nature and which

is based on time tested Symbiotic Development Model. By blending the wisdom from traditional

practices and the practicality of modern science, GEV showcases a range of activities which form the

model for sustainable and eco-friendly development. For more details, please visit

www.ecovillage.org.in

Awards and Accolades

Govardhan Ecovillage has been consistently recognized at numerous international and national

conferences and environment forums. It has received many awards, citations, and best paper

presentations at prestigious forums such as Green Apple Foundation, UK, SKOCH, Asian

Sustainability Leadership Awards, CII, FICCI etc. Govardhan Ecovillage is in complete harmony with

nature and ecology and recently won the UN award for the top Eco Village retreat facilities in all of

Asia, the most prestigious award in the field. Find out more at https://ecovillage.org.in/awards/

Our rural development department is truly humbled to receive the 8th Annual Spirit of Humanity

Award. We are very grateful for acknowledgement of our efforts and the inspiration that we gain

through this. With this honor we have increased our sense of responsibility and commitment to serve.

Rural Outreach

Govardhan Ecovillage (GEV) has been

developed in a place called Wada in

Maharashtra. Where we had 55%

population below poverty line, landless,

60% school drop outs with rampant

illiteracy, 50% households had

practically no running water - acute

water shortage, it's place where there

was poverty all around and one of the

biggest challenge was hunger amongst

children. Govardhan Ecovillage was

developed with a sustainable develo-

pment model. India has 700 thousand

villages and we decided that we would

adopt around 30 villages and create a

model of sustainable tourism right in

the middle of rural area and inspire

people to come there, interact with

people and get inspired to contribute.

Our core principles are harmony with

self, harmony with environment and

harmony with divine.

Contributing to overall development

of about 30 villages in Wada and

Vikramgadh blocks

More than 2100 tribal families

benefitting from Rural Development

initiatives of Sri Chaitanya Seva Trust

Vision - Making a Difference

We thank you for showing interest in Govardhan Ecovillage (GEV)

and its activities. Years ago I met the erstwhile environmental

minister of India and was questioned what good the mantras of

sadhus were doing for the environment. I replied that these mantras

clean the heart. If you clean the rivers but not the hearts then people

will just pollute the rivers again. You have to clean the rivers and

we have to also educate people how to find satisfaction in the

simple divine gifts that God has given us. GEV is a humble attempt

to highlight the importance of living in harmony with nature and

using the gifts that nature and God have bestowed upon us and to

serve the society by setting up a model farm community. Our aim is

to develop farm communities,

as they present the sustainable

way of leading a life which is

physically, mentally, socially,

economically, spiritually and

environmentally friendly.

Our real success will be when

more and more people adopt

these simple techniques and

create a win-win situation not

only for themselves but also

for the future generations to

come.

With much gratitude

Radhanath Swami

Visionary and Guide, GEV

Author | The Journey Home

Journey Within

Chairman's Message

Govardhan Ecovillage (GEV) is a

sustainable farm community and retreat centre on

the journey to self-sufficiency and holistic living.

This 70 acre Ecovillage, surrounded by the Sahyadri

Mountains, is located in Palghar district, which is

about 100 kms from the bustling city of Mumbai.

Some of GEVs initiatives include sustainable

farming practices, animal care and protection, green

buildings, ayurvedic wellness centre, water

conservation, waste management, rural

empowerment and education, and encouragement of

local arts and handicrafts.

"The soul of India lives in its villages"

declared Mahatma Gandhi. Adopting this principle,

we endeavour to bring about transformative change

in the lives of the village residents by enabling them

to develop in a holistic manner with economic,

environmental and social development-the key

elements of sustainable development.

We have started by implementing a rural development program in villages in Palghar district

that have been classified by the government as the Below Poverty Line(BPL). We aim to reach out to at

least 500 villages in Maharashtra in the next five years.

Specifically GEV has identified and started work on five thrust areas Symbiotically Enhanced

Wadi Agriculture Programme for Farmer Welfare, Water Resource Development - Drinking Water and

Irrigation facilities, Skill Enhancement/Empowerment of Women, Rural Education/Overall

Development and Healthcare/Medical Facility -under the Rural Development programme. We are

proud to inform that we have benefitted more than 2100 families in about 30 villages, planted more

than 27,000 fruit and forestry trees and thus contributing substantially to climate action. Apart from

fruits and forestry trees, we also helped farmers plant hundreds of floriculture trees with life span of 5-7

years. It is joyful moment to see the households who used to travel hours to fetch drinkable water are

now getting sufficient water at their doorsteps. The unprivileged/underprivileged children are getting

quality education and sumptuous meals are also being supplied to mitigate their hunger.

The Journey has begun and we have millions to reach in our humble effort to empower Rural

India, we eagerly look forward for your feedback and contribution... Together we serve Mother

Nature.

Mr. Hrishikesh A. Mafatlal

Chairman - Sri Chaitanya Seva Trust

Contents

1 Introduction 1

2 Primary Objectives and Sustainable Development Goals 32.1 Food Security and Poverty Alleviation Through Sustainable Practices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32.2 Water Resource Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42.3 Improving Health of The Community . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42.4 Women Empowerment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42.5 Landless Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42.6 Rural Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42.7 Character Building and Skill Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

3 Major Interventions 53.1 Symbiotically Enhanced Wadi Agriculture (SEWA) Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

3.1.1 Components of SEWA program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63.1.2 The SEWA Program Concept . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63.1.3 Activities under taken for SEWA Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73.1.4 Highlights of SEWA Program for Year 2017-2018 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

3.2 Water Resource Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93.2.1 Drinking Water Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93.2.2 Land Irrigation Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103.2.3 Activities Conducted Under Water Resource Development Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113.2.4 WRD Highlights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

3.3 Women Empowerment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133.3.1 Overview of Women Empowerment Activities at GEV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133.3.2 Highlights of Women Empowerment Activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

3.4 Landless Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183.4.1 Objective and Approach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183.4.2 The nature of interventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183.4.3 Landless Development Program: Achievements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

3.5 Rural Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193.5.1 Activities Conducted Under Rural Development Initiatives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

3.6 Community Care . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203.7 Ecotourism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

4 Symbiotically Enhanced Wadi Agriculture Practices Transforming Lives of The Tribes 24

5 Bringing Water to The Tribal 28

6 Tribal Women Transforming Rural Health and Economics 30

7 Preparing for the future - Rural Education 34

8 Annexure 378.1 Annexure 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 388.2 Annexure 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

0

Chapter 1: Introduction

Historically India's Economy is classified in 3 sectors: agriculture, industry and services.

While India is thriving in the fields of Industry and Services, agriculture sector is dwindling. As

evident from the data reported in various forums majority of India's work force is employed in

agriculture and allied sectors. As reported by quickonomics.com, agriculture and allied sectors like

forestry, logging and fishing accounted for 17% of the GDP and employed 49% of its total

workforce in 20141,2

. Dwindling of agriculture sector is affecting major portion of India's

population mostly in rural areas. Numerous cases of farmer distress are reported in near past.

Maharashtra had the highest numbers of farmer suicides in rural India in the last few years3–5

.

According to report submitted by Department of Agriculture, Cooperation & Farmers Welfare,

Government of India, New Delhi, multiple causes are responsible for building the agrarian distress

such as squeezing of income sources under the pressure of increasing cost of cultivation and higher

cash needs for the households3. “This is further aggravated by the climatic factors, low productivity

and market failures both in factor and product markets. But among these, the farm indebtedness was

considered as the major triggering factor by analysts. Even though indebtedness is the major reason

for farmer suicides, it originates due to inadequacy and continuous shrinking of the income flow.

The scenario of indebtedness as well as income generation in agriculture in the country also

supports this hypothesis. The per cent of indebted farm households to total farm households was

57%, 46 % and 37% in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, respectively. At all India

level, prominent causes recognized for farmer suicides were namely, bankruptcy or indebtedness

(20.6%), family problems (20.1%), farming related issues (17.2%), illness (13.2%) and drug abuse/

alcoholic addiction (4.4%)”.

Figure 1: Contribution to GDP of India by economic sectors

All the major reasons for farmer distresses are inter-related. Bankruptcy or Indebtedness

often arises out of chemical farming, hybrid and genetically modified seed dependent debts,

monoculture farming practices that are not resilient to climate change and resultant crop failures.

This often leads to consequences such as drug/alcohol addiction, family violence, migration to

urban areas etc. Also, several small farmers and landless families, who work as agricultural laborers,

raise livestock and are dependent on the natural resources of the forest, suffer due to an

indiscriminate destruction of forests. Therefore, a large percentage of the rural population is

compelled to migrate to cities in search of work, where they end up as ad hoc daily wage laborers

and become victims of poverty and exploitation.

1

Chapter 1: Introduction

The Rural Development Program, started in April 2009 by Sri Chaitanya Seva Trust,

Govardhan Ecovillage, Galtare in the Wada block of Palghar district, aims to reduce farmer distress

and rural-urban migration by empowering them with various sustainable livelihood options in their

villages. We strive to support farmers through Symbiotically Enhanced Wadi Agriculture (SEWA),

Water Resource Development (WRD), Women Empowerment, Landless Development, Rural

Education and Community Care initiatives. The overall objective of the Rural Development

Program is to bring about holistic growth, and sustainable development in rural communities

through physical, economic, social, environmental and spiritual development. The uniqueness of

our organization is that we continue to support the individuals in various ways through

motivational talks, trainings, financial support, government linkage, etc. till the time they are well

established and become competent to grow on their own.

2

Chapter 2: Primary Objectives and

Sustainable Development Goals

The primary objectives of the program, as given below, are aligned with the Sustainable

Development Goals Set by the United Nations.

Food Security and Poverty Alleviation through Sustainable Practices

Water Resource Development

Improving Health of The Community

Women Empowerment

Landless Development

Rural Education

Character Building and Skill Development

1 Food Security and Poverty Alleviation Through Sustainable Practices

Poverty is more than the lack of income or resources. People live in poverty if they lack basic

services such as healthcare and education. They also experience hunger, social discrimination and

exclusion from decision making processes. We are committed to empower tribal families, who have

been deprived for long time, through education, training and support for sustainable agricultural

practices and other allied employments. This objective and our approaches to realize this are directly

related to the following sustainable development goals set by United Nations.

Goal 1: No Poverty

Goal 2: Zero Hunger

Goal 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth

Goal 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities

Goal 13: Climate Action

Goal 15: Life on Land

We strive to alleviate poverty in all its forms by empowering tribes through education and

training as well as providing basic services and facilities. Regular health trainings, health camps,

kitchen gardening for improved nutrition, exposure visits, skill trainings, etc. are integral part of our

interventions. All these is done in environmentally

friendly and socio-economically just manner. We

actively participate in climate action and improving

life on land through plantation of trees, promoting

use of cloth and paper bags, encouragement to

micro enterprises, livestock development and

protection. We partner with government, other

NGOs and Enterprises through CSR initiatives for

realization of the sustainable development goals.

3

Chapter 2: Primary Objectives and Sustainable Development Goals

2 Water Resource Development

Even after seeing so much advancement at global and national level, many tribal families are

struggling for basic necessity such as clean drinking water and water for irrigation. This is due largely

to industrialization, deforestation, and pollution of water resources. This goal is directly related to

Sustainable Goal 3 and 6 of United Nations. The provision of clean drinking water also liberates

children from having to struggle for hours to get water and give the opportunity to impart education to

them.

Goal 3: Good Health and Well-Being for people

Goal 6: Clean Water and Sanitation

3 Improving Health of The Community

Regular health awareness camps, health checkups, training and support for kitchen gardening,

support for clean drinking water and decent source of income are some of the initiatives that we are

committed to for improving health of the community. This goal is directly related to United Nations'

Sustainable Goal 3: Good Health and Well-Being for people.

4 Women Empowerment

According to the UN, "gender equality is not only a fundamental human right, but a necessary

foundation for a peaceful, prosperous and sustainable world." Providing women and girls with equal

access to education, health care, decent work, and representation in political and economic decision-

making processes will fuel sustainable economies and benefit societies and humanity at large. In our

efforts to contribute to Goal 5: Gender Equality, we help the tribal community women get organized in

self help groups, conduct various trainings encourage them to save on regular basis, practice healthy

lifestyle and cultivate good values in their children.

5 Landless Development

Several families in rural areas do not have sufficient means of generating income. And do not

posses land resources also. As a part of our rural development initiative we strive to uplift those with

meager source of income by providing training, guidance and financial help.

6 Rural Education

Imparting quality education to build character and skills among children and youth is essential

for children are future of the world. This goal is directly related to United Nations' Sustainable

Development Goal 4: Quality Education.

7 Character Building and Skill Development

Many young people in tribal communities are not educated and do not have good skill sets.

Some of them are even addicted to bad habits due to urbanization. We AIM to provide quality training

in relevant domains to the young people. Through this objective we are contributing to United Nations

Sustainable Goal 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth.

4

Chapter 3: Major Interventions

Rural Development initiative of Sri Chaitanya Seva Trust through Govardhan Ecovillage

cover diversified range of interventions. We are committed to addressing the problems faced both

locally and globally by working in harmony with nature, harmony with self and harmony with

divine. The diversified interventions planned and executed by the department are broadly classified

in following categories.

1. Symbiotically Enhanced Wadi Agriculture

2. Water Resource Development

3. Women Empowerment

4. Landless Development

5. Rural Education

6. Community Care

7. Ecotourism

1 Symbiotically Enhanced Wadi Agriculture (SEWA) Program

This is a holistic program for sustainable livelihoods and interventions to improve the

quality of life of the tribal communities, in a socio-environmentally just manner. The approach will

help to develop a diversified horticulture, agriculture and dairy portfolio for the tribal families to

enable them to earn a sustained income for themselves and their future generations. The various

component is within the approach are given below:

5


1.1 Components of SEWA program: The mainstay of rural economy is agriculture and allied occupations. About 85 % of the

rural population is engaged in agriculture and agricultural labor. Traditional agriculture is

characterized by low level of inputs and poor management practices. These conditions further

deteriorate due to uncertain rains and lack of irrigation facilities.

The SEWA program aims at helping the tribal communities establish one-acre horticulture

plantation to provide long term sustainable income, and floriculture plantation for middle term

income. The program also aims at improving the agriculture practices by providing improved

technology for the main crops and introduction of vegetable and cash crops.

1.2 The SEWA Program Concept: The horticulture cum forestry plantation program is called the WADI (local name for

‘orchard’). The socio-economic rehabilitation of poor rural families has become possible through

development of wastelands/rain-fed land into productive assets by plantation of fruit and forest trees.

The SEWA program is based on a farming - system approach that includes horticulture, forestry,

intercropping (food and cash crops), and intensive cultivation of cash crops on separate smaller

plots. The components of this program are as follows:

Development of eroded wasteland through soil and water conservation.

Plantation of fruit and forestry trees.

Plantation of floriculture for economic support while fruit and forestry trees are yet to

mature.

Cultivation of suitable improved intercrops both for food and for cash incomes wherever

possible during the initial stage

Cultivation of short-term cash crops on small plots in an intensive manner in the nearby area.

Improved production techniques and varieties of traditional crops.

The program is planned with the family as a unit. The intensive utilization of land and water

resources helps to generate self- employment opportunities throughout the year. The components

are need based and tailor made to ensure that the family will be rehabilitated by the end of the

gestation period of seven years. At the end of this period, the horticulture and forestry plantations

become productive and the income from these and inclusion of agriculture helps the rural family to

rise above the poverty line on a sustainable basis.

6


After the family joins the program they do not feel the need to migrate to the nearby towns

as self-employment is available at village level throughout the year. In addition, there are intangible

benefits in the form of family welfare, improved nutrition and health. The workflow for establishing

SEWA plots involves: land shaping through contour bunds, trench, digging and filling of pits,

fencing, plantation of fruit and forestry saplings, water resource development, inter cropping,

aftercare of plantations etc. The forestry species are planted on the boundaries of the plantation,

serving as a windbreak for the fruit trees and a source of timber, fodder and fuel wood.

The species to be planted are chosen according to their suitability to the project area, their

income generation potential and the preferences of the participating family. The saplings are

provided critical watering during summer months in the first few years to enable their proper

establishment.

1.3 Activities under taken for SEWA Program: Following activities are conducted for giving SEWA project support to the farmers.

1. Village Survey and Meeting (Concept training)

2. Wadi Exposure

3. Selection of participants

4. Documentation and Agreement

5. Land development- Contour bunding, Trenching, Terracing, Making gradonies /terraces

6. Formation of Shetakari Mandal, opening of bank accounts, monthly saving and meetings

7. Plantation –Fencing, digging pits and filling them with soil and manure, raising nurseries of

fruit and forest trees, planting saplings, transplanting grafts

8. Post plantation activities-After care practices such as weeding, basin preparation, mulching,

pruning, etc., protective watering of plants, plant protection through pest management and

control.

9. Soil Improvement activities-Inter cultivation and harrowing, soil improvement through

green manuring, raising intercrops such as vegetables, fodder oilseeds, tuber crops etc.

10. Other Activities-Water Resource Development (WRD) -Construction of low cost check

bunds to harvest post monsoon flows, development of ponds/tanks, dug-wells, springs and

repairing/deepening of existing wells, water lifting devices.

11. Improved Agriculture-Provision of seeds/fertilizer and pest control measures, technical

know-how.

12. Trainings-Functional training of participants in above activities, training of field

functionaries.

13. Wadi Video Presentation

14. Wadi Overall Execution – Pitting, plantation, aftercare etc.

15. Marketing linkage for farmer produce and Government linkage scheme.

In addition to the above activities for the SEWA program, improved seeds for traditional

crops, Small-scale irrigation arrangements or elaborate water resource development support, as well

as livestock support for producing organic inputs such as cow dung and cow urine is provided to the

farmers.

7


1.4 Highlights of SEWA Program for Year 2017-2018 Supported 130 new ST category families Below Poverty Line through Symbiotically

Enhanced Wadi Agriculture (SEWA) Program during FY 2017-18, thus the count of total

participating BPL families under SEWA program reaches to 450

Organic farming support to 135 families from all categories and below poverty line,

cumulatively we are supporting 585 farmers

Free Sustainable Organic Farming Training to more than 800 farmers from all over

Maharashtra

Distributed 15 indigenous Gir cows and 1 indigenous bull to 15 farmers

13 other farmers are supported through government livestock support

SEWA participants planted more than 8000 fruit trees this year and more than 27,000 fruit

and forestry trees cumulatively in last 7-8 years - climate action.

Apart from fruit trees, around 7400 floriculture plants also contribute to green climate

action.

8


2 Water Resource Development

In spite of high rain fall ranging from 200-2500 mm in monsoon season in hilly regions of

Maharashtra, because of high runoff of water with very little percolation, there is acute scarcity of

water in summer season. Conservation of water and its storage becomes crucial for providing

irrigation to summer crops and also for drinking purpose for human and animals. As part of our

holistic approach we have planned to take up measures to improve the quality of living of the tribal

communities through various areas of primary health care such, quality management of drinking

water, nutrition and family welfare, etc. We strive to make available safe drinking water for

everyone. Water resource development intervention, primarily covers construction and/or repairs of

small wells and bore wells, lift-schemes for irrigation and installation of water tanks. For achieving

the better impact, farmers in contiguous area are selected (for horticulture, agriculture) in the small

catchments. This has generated employment throughout the year.

Water resource development divided in two sections - Drinking Water Program and Land

Irrigation Program.

2.1 Drinking Water Program: As part of our holistic approach we have planned to take up measures to improve the quality

of living of the tribal communities. This will cover various areas of primary health care such as

hygiene and sanitation, quality management of drinking water, nutrition and family welfare. For the

quality management of drinking water we aimed towards making available potable drinking water

through:

Development of safe drinking water sources (hand pumps, open wells etc.)

Repairs and maintenance of drinking water sources (hand pump repairs, deepening of wells,

fitting pulley on wells etc.)

Awareness camps and source chlorination/home chlorination etc.

9


2.2 Land Irrigation Program Villages are dependent on natural spring and rainwater for their water supply. However, this

water supply is irregular. Additionally, in the last couple of years’ spring water has been decreasing

due to insufficient rainfall, and decrease in water retention capacity of soil owing to indiscriminate

deforestation. Water scarcity has become a grave concern. Under Land Irrigation program,

following WRD interventions are provided:

River and well lift scheme.

Small Land Irrigation Support: Development of spring/small well (Kaccha well)

Rain Water Harvesting: Development of big pond having storage capacity more than 50 lack

liters, farm ponds, and check dams

Water Storage: Development of water storage tank and Jalkunds for storage of water in

rainy and peak summer season

Smooth Supply of Water From Reservoir To Farm Land: distributed diesel/kerosene engine

or electric motors, garden pipe and PVC pipe

Water Conservation: Support for Drip Irrigation

10


2.3 Activities Conducted Under Water Resource Development Program The following are the steps involved in executing the water resource development support

program:

1. Village Survey to identify the need for potable and irrigation water

2. Meeting with prospective beneficiaries

3. Survey of water servitor to detect bore well drilling spot or a land survey with technicians for

establishment of lift irrigation schemes

4. Drill the bore well and Installing hand pump or installing lift scheme

5. Meeting with beneficiaries regarding maintenance

6. Installation of water storage tanks where necessary

Apart from this other supports such as development of farm ponds, drip irrigation support,

water storage tank, and Jalkund, etc. are provided.

Following table shows summary of water resource development activities conducted so far

Sr. No.

Particular

Year 2017-18 Cumulative

No. of Families

Benefitted

No. of members

benefitted

Total no. of particulars

No. of Families

Benefitted

No. of members

benefitted

Total no. of particulars

1 New bore well Installation

202 1239 11 486 2555 24

2 Old bore well repairing 251 1286 14 382 1977 24

3 Water storage tank 32 934 5 166 1592 12

4 Lift Scheme 38 185 3 171 878 8

5 Jalkunds 0 0 0 10 46 4

6 Small well/Spring Dev 0 0 0 125 672 125

7 Farm Pond 0 0 0 25 145 25

8 Big Pond 0 0 0 10 70 1

9 Check Dam 0 0 0 13 70 13

10 Well Repairing 0 0 0 4 22 1

11


2.4 WRD Highlights 3 lift irrigation schemes established benefiting 38 families consisting of 185 persons in FY

2017-18, cumulatively 8 lift schemes established benefitting over 171 families consisting of

878 individuals

11 New Bore Wells installed benefitting 202 family consisting of 1239 persons in FY 2017-

18, cumulatively 24 new borewells installed benefitting 486 families consisting of 2555

members including 175 Anganwadi and Z.P. school students

251 families comprising of 1286 benefitted from repairing of 14 old bore wells in FY 2017-

18, cumulatively 24 old borewells repaired benefitting 382 families comprising of 1977

individuals including 87 Anganwadi and Z.P. school students

5 water storage tanks installed benefitting 32 families consisting of 934 persons including

754 Anganwadi and Z.P. school students in FY 2017-18, cumulatively 12 water tanks

installed benefitting 1592 individuals

12


3 Women Empowerment:

As a part of the holistic approach to improve the quality of living of the tribal communities,

strong emphasis is given to Women Empowerment. Under women empowerment initiatives

emphasis is given on organizing women through the formation of Self Help Groups and

empowering them with better organization, skills and income generation through training and

exposure visits. The activities involve exposure visit, formation of SHG for mobilizing, saving and

micro-credit, promotion of micro-enterprises, reducing hardship of women, initiating various social

development activities for the local communities.

Stages involved in capacity building of SHG members

3.1 Overview of Women Empowerment Activities at GEV The systematic approach adopted for Women Empowerment initiatives is explained in this

section. Firstly, village survey is conducted followed by SHG formation, strengthening,

stabilization, and extension of SHG as summarized in Stages involved in capacity building of SHG

members.

13


3.1.1 Activities Prior to SHG Formation:

Before a group is formed, a survey of economic conditions of village families, their

management, natural resources of the village, and problems faced by women, is conducted with

help of the women.

3.1.2 SHG Formation:

Importance of SHG is explained to villagers through meetings and home visits. SHGs of 10

to 12 women each are formed. A president and a secretary are selected for each SHG. Guidance is

provided for preparing rules and norms regarding functioning of the SHG and record keeping.

3.1.3 Consistency:

Once SHG is formed, it is registered with local gram panchayat as well. Regular training and

guidance is given in accordance with directions from government and vision given by our leaders.

SHG members are helped to take advantage of government schemes as well as trained for

improving quality of their physical and social life. Various health care, nutrition improvement and

income generation activity trainings are conducted and members are encouraged to take advantage

of these initiatives. For development of collective decision making, regular monthly meetings,

issuing internal loans, observance of government rules and regulation are all necessary. Members

are trained to make decisions and implement them. This promoted overall development of tribal

women and a few inspired women even take up initiative to improve education, ban alcoholism, etc.

To ensure consistent growth of SHG members SHGs are graded for quality. Following

parameters are considered for grading SHGs.

Grading SHGs for quality:

Homogeneity

Age of the SHG

Regularity of meetings

Attendance in the meetings

Decision style and awareness of by laws

Regular savings collection

Utilization of savings for loans

Recovery of loans

Maintenance of books of accounts

Social awareness

It is mandatory for SHG to have a common saving account in a government authorized bank.

This helps to ensure that regular saving habits are created in members and they are getting

familiarized with and taking advantage of various government schemes. This also ensures

availability of funds for emergencies.

Impact of SHG-Bank Linkage:

Financial (Banking, Saving Awareness)

Economic (Financial literacy)

Social (Health, Hygiene, Sanitation)

14


3.1.4 Trainings:

Several trainings are conducted for each SHG that is formed. The basic trainings include

record keeping training, proceeding book distribution, concept and capacity building training,

special training for Community Resource Person (CRP) and exposure visits. Apart from this several

health camps, nutrition improvement awareness camps and support, income generation activity

trainings etc. are conducted on regular basis. Following table shows details of basic trainings

conducted this year.

Sr. No. No. of Activity No. of Participants No. of SHG

1 Record Keeping Training 319 104

2 Proceeding Book distribution 129 12

3 Concept & Capacity Building Training 556 104

4 CRP Training 127 15

5 Exposure Visit 23 4

Income Generation Activity Trainings:

Various Income Generation Activity (IGA) trainings such as agarbatti making, cloth bag

making, rice handicraft, etc. are conducted to improve economic growth of the community.

Members are promoted to participate in production based on some of the IGA activities and partial

support for purchasing raw materials and marketing/selling is also given. Members are required to

consistently engage in micro-businesses to uphold their economic growth.

Following table shows details of IGA trainings conducted this year.

Sr.

No. Product Name

No. of Trainings

Conducted

No. of Women

participating in training

1 Agarbatti 24 1086

2 Face Pack 4 70

3 Mehandi 4 44

4 Candle 6 196

5 Detergent 4 44

6 Jewellary 12 47

7 Cloth Bag 14 47

8 Mat making 30 590

9 Rice Handicraft 7 132

10 Paper Bag 1 12

11 Phenyl 2 26

12 Hand Wash 2 26

13 Dishwash cleaner 2 26

14 Diya 11 47

15 Vegetable

Production 22 311

15


3.1.5 Social, Health and Hygiene Activities

Dedicated camps and awareness activities are conducted to improve community health and

life standard. The project interventions are categorized as follows

Development interventions for women:

Awareness programs

o to generate awareness regarding importance of fresh vegetables in daily diet, basic

aspects like general health and hygiene, vaccination, diet of pregnant women and

new mothers, etc.

o to reduce diseases caused by consumption of contaminated water

o to improve wrong feeding practices, incorporate new nutritional recipes, protection

against reproductive health problems & skin infections, etc.

Encouragement to take up developmental issues centered around their lives. it includes

reducing drudgery, improving health, developing skills & take up various homestead

activities

Gardening support for improving nutrition content of daily diet

Health program:

Access to clean drinking water through chlorination and water filters

Nutrition and herbal-based interventions such as kitchen gardens with medicinal herbs

Health camps to treat scabies, worms, and lice among school children

Training on hygiene in the kitchen with kitchen counters placed well above the ground level

Glass tiles to bring in natural light in the houses and traditional wood fired stoves set up near

the windows to ensure the safe ventilation of smoke

Distribution of saplings for Kitchen Gardening

16


Following table shows No. of families benefitted from health care activities:

Sr.

No. Activity No. of Participants

1 Health Checkup Camp (HB, BP) 1081

2 Health Awareness Training Program 1081

3 Nutritional Improvement (Kitchen Gardening) Winter

Season 653

4 Nutritional Improvement (Kitchen Gardening) Rainy

Season 484

3.2 Highlights of Women Empowerment Activities Formed and established 89 new women self help groups directly benefiting 945 families in

14 villages

Continuing to support and evolve 181 self help groups with members from 1924 families

Conducted 15 types of IGA training activities

Conducted 21 health camps benefitting more than 1000 individuals

Over this year 560 women from 56 SHGs got benefitted by receiving direct fund of Rs.8,

40,000/- from govt. link schemes.

Micro Finance Loan Distribution from IDBI for personal use was conducted. 120 women

were benefited with a total amount of Rs 15,00,000/-

17


4 Landless Development:

Poverty in villages is amongst the landless or those who have insufficient land. These tribal families

are compelled to migrate to cities in search of work. GEV is promoting the formation of micro enterprises by

creating sustainable livelihood opportunities in the villages and thereby minimizing rural-urban migration.

4.1 Objective and Approach: The fundamental objective of Landless Development Project is to develop and support better

livelihood options for the landless within their villages.

Approaches:

• The following approaches are taken while working with the landless -

• Finding opportunities for adding value to time of the landless by imparting intensive skills training;

for e.g. from developing a helper to a mason to a skilled mason by imparting training in masonry.

• Identifying off-farm supportive opportunities for land-based activities like nursery cultivation.

• Creating opportunities from opportunities. Economic development in land based / agriculture sector

opens up new opportunities in the service sector. The land less can avail such jobs like diesel pump

repairs, installation of irrigation systems, masonry, grocery and small trade. These activities can be

earmarked exclusively for landless.

• Giving priority to the landless at entrepreneurial level. At a subsequent stage, processing and

marketing opportunities also develop at individual and community levels; the landless are

motivated and given priority in related enterprises.

4.2 The nature of interventions: Broadly the activities of the landless development are classified as under:

• Skill development such as masonry work, carpentry, hair cutting, tailoring

• Agriculture/livestock development for example vegetable cultivation on small piece of land, dairy

• Trading business such as kirana shop, snack center, juice center, flour mill

4.3 Landless Development Program: Achievements This year 22 families and cumulatively 52 families benefitted from the landless support initiatives.

This year Support was given for establishment of 4 snack center stalls, 3 Kirana stores, 1 Jewellary

shop, 1 cloth shop, 1 welding shop, and for purchasing 22 Sewing Machines

Landless family are successfully engaged in activity such as vegetable sale, grocery shop (kirana

shop), flour mill, snack

center, sewing machine, hair

cutting salon, juice center.

Average Income: Landless

family supported through the

program are able to earn

average income of Rs 150 to

Rs 800 /- day due to

improvement in the

employment opportunity and

skills

18


Following table shows the summary of landless families benefitted this year from financial support

for setting up their business.

Sr.

No. Name of Benefitted People Village Name Support

1 Kirti Kiran Satavi Karanjpada Sewing Machine

2 Sanjivani Suresh Jadhav Gorhe Sewing Machine

3 Sujata Santosh Jadhav Gorhe Sewing Machine

4 Sunita Baban Thakare Gorhe Sewing Machine

5 Vijaya Vijay Bhoir Gorhe Sewing Machine

6 Aruna Eakanath Jadhav Sange Sewing Machine

7 Arpita Ananta Dhanava Sange Sewing Machine

8 Gayatri Gajanan Bhoir Sange Sewing Machine

9 Sanjivani Sandip Rav Sange Sewing Machine

10 Sangita Bhausaheb Jadhav Pali Sewing Machine

11 Sangita Lakshman Dhum Vasuri Sewing Machine

12 Manda Magan Birari Vasuri Sewing Machine

13 Urmila Umesh Bhagat Gorhe Snacks Centre Stall

14 Manjula Chandrakant Bhoir Gorhe Snacks Centre Stall

15 Vijay Ananta Bhagat Ambhai Snacks Centre Stall

16 Jayashri Sudhakar Bhandari Vaveghar Snacks Centre Stall

17 Anita Anil Padavale Gorhe General Store (Kirana)

18 Pranita Ranesh Bhoir Guhir General Store (Kirana)

19 Sangita Baliram Khandekar Galtare General Store (Kirana)

20 Parvati Dnyaneshwar Korade Gorhe Jwellery Shop

21 Rajashri Rajkiran Mali Galtare Cloth Shop

22 Ramesh Atamaram Joshi Gorhe Welding Workshop

Apart from this, various trainings are conducted for training landless families to generate income in

sustainable way.

19


5 Rural Education

According to Annual Status of Education Report 2017, "Although many children continue to

secondary school, ASER data shows that their foundational reading and math abilities are poor. In

2016, a quarter of all children in Std VIII in rural India were unable to read a Std II level text and a

third were unable to solve a 3-digit by 1-digit division sum... According to Census 2011, one out of

every ten Indians is currently in the age bracket of 14-18. This amounts to more than 100 million or

10 crore youth in all. If we do not ensure that these young people have access to the knowledge,

skills, and opportunities they need to help themselves, their families, and their communities move

forward, India’s much awaited ‘demographic dividend’ will not take place." The situation around

Wada block of Palghar district in Maharashtra is that, there are almost 50% school drop outs and

about 70% of children are undernourished. Many children are having mental and physical

disabilities and the community is deprived of basic necessities and rights.

Rural Education initiatives are vital part of our holistic approach to improve lives of tribal

families. Along with fulfilling their basic need through water resource development, generation of

sustainable income routes, providing free food to children and the needy, we strive to improve

standard of education being imparted to the children. Children with special need are given special

attention and regular yoga and sound therapy sessions are conducted to help students grow

internally as well as physically.

5.1 Activities Conducted Under Rural Education Initiatives Bal Samskar Varg (Character Building Classes for Children)

Health Checkup and Awareness camps in Schools

Science on Wheels

Science camps

Yoga Camps

Health Checkup

Coaching classes

Career guidance Seminars for class 10th

and 12th

College programs - Lifestyle management courses

College programs - Environmental seminars

Evening programs – charitra vikas

Youth Camps and Tours

Teachers' Training Program

NSS Camps

Teachers training program

Working with other organizations

Science on wheels

Bhakti Vedanta Kaushalya Vikas Kendra

Anganwadi

20


21


6 Community Care

While contributing to overall development community around us and creating a model

community to inspire thoughtful people to learn how to live in harmony with nature, we also

emphasize on harmony with divine. Having sufficient facilities for comfort is not enough for one to

experience happiness. We try to bring people together, try to increase brotherhood among them and

help them achieve contentment of heart. Moreover, these community care programs help people get

rid of addiction to alcohol and smoking and live a responsible life.

Bringing true joy...

22


7 Ecotourism

Since inception of Govardhan Ecovillage, "Ecotourism has become lifeline of the tribal

region around it." Govardhan Ecovillage was developed with sustainable development model. The

first focus was to attract people from cities to come, interact with local villagers and tribes and get

inspired to intervene and transform their lives. India has around 700 thousand villages. We adopted

around 30 villages and created a center of excellence in sustainable development right in the midst

of them to inspire people to come interact and create inspiration to transform.

More than 12,000 visitors visit this place every year and get inspired to contribute to

transforming the lives of people around them.

23

Chapter 4: Symbiotically Enhanced Wadi

Agriculture Practices Transforming Lives of

the Tribes

Symbiotically Enhanced Wadi Agriculture (SEWA) project of Govardhan Ecovillage and

Sri Chaitanya Seva Trust is a holistic program for establishing sustainable livelihoods through

interventions to improve the quality of life of the tribal communities, in a socio-environmentally

just manner. Most cultivators in rural area lack sufficient investments and management. They

generally rely only on short term crops which are often adversely affected by climate change. We

encourage farmers to cultivate diversified horticulture, agriculture and dairy portfolio. Through the

project, support and guidance is given to establish one-acre horticulture plantation to provide long

term sustainable income (income starts after 4-5 years and continues till 25 to 40 years) and

floriculture plantation for intermediate term sustainable income (income starts after 1-1.5 years and

continues till 10 to 12 years) along with improving the agriculture practices by providing improved

technology for the main crops and introduction of vegetable and cash crops. For building mutual

trust and cooperation for strengthening community initiatives, farmers are encouraged to organize

in groups, participate in various events and help each other. The uniqueness of our organization is

that we continue to support the individuals in various ways through motivational talks, trainings,

financial support, government linkage, etc. till the time they are well established and become

competent to grow on their own.

According to Economic Survey of Maharashtra Published by Directorate of Economics and

Statistics, Planning Department, Government of Maharashtra, "Agriculture & allied activities sector

is the primary constituent of the economy. Any situational change in this sector has a multiplier

effect on the entire economy. About 25 per cent of the workers in the State are cultivators and

another 27 per cent are agricultural labourers. The aim of “Doubling of Farmers’ Income by 2022”

shall have a direct impact on a large share of population. It is, therefore, necessary to accelerate

growth in the agriculture & allied activities sector, enhancing the incomes of the farmers ensuring

income security.4"

Under SEWA project we have supported 450 tribal ST category farmers and 135 other

category organic farmers (cumulatively 585 farmers) having income below poverty line from 30

villages. Apart from this we also provided trainings and organic farming support for several other

category farmers below poverty line and conducted training and guidance for sustainable organic

farming practices to around 6000 well established farmers to encourage them to practice organic

farming. These farmers are given support at various levels - financial, social, motivational, physical

and life style support. Most of these farmers grew only rice, a few having adequate water resource

could grow some vegetables. Therefore, since last year we have started motivating and supporting

them for cultivating indigenous rice - which has higher productivity, resistance to climate change,

higher nutritional value and higher market rate - for seed production and conservation. We also

provided them support for organic vegetables and encouraged them for organic certification to

increase value of their produce. Some of these farmers were helped to establish marketing linkages

and some were helped to gain livestock through government linkage schemes and trust. A few of

24

Chapter 4: Symbiotically Enhanced Wadi Agriculture

Practices Transforming Lives of The Tribes

SEWA project beneficiaries are Mr. Bhagvan Ashok Dalavi from Guhir village, Mr. Sadu Shidya

Baraf from Amgaon village, Mr. Ramesh Madhukar Jadhav from Sange village, and Mr. Narayan

Deu Rinjad from Shelte village. Mr. Bhagvan Dalavi and Mr. Ramesh Jadhav owned 8 acre and 7

acre land respectively, however they could cultivate only a small portion of their land depending

entirely on the natural rains for irrigation. Mr. Sadu Shidya Baraf of Amagaon possesed 8 acres of

land and a well, and he made 20 to 25 thousand rupees per annum. And Mr. Narayan Deu Rinjad is

a farmer from Shelte village with 3acres and 23 guntha of land. He made about Rs.40,000 to Rs.

50,000/- per annum, which was insufficient to support his family of four. Interestingly, Mr. Narayan

who has leased land resource was able to earn more than the other three farmers. This shows the

dire need of water resource, guidance and financial support for planned agricultural investments.

One of these farmers benefitted from lift irrigation scheme and all of them were given support for

cultivating 1 acre horticulture plantation under SEWA project. To cater to their immediate needs

intensive vegetable cultivation and improved rice seeds were provided. To make the families

sustainable and self sufficient, we are encouraging them to participate in rice seed production that

will reduce their investments on seeds for next plantation. And also floriculture support is provided

to boost their income by the period of 2 to 2.5 years while the fruit trees are yet to become matured.

After SEWA project support Mr. Bhagvan Ashok Dalavi's income has increased to Rs. 1,20,000/-

per annum from around Rs. 15,000/- per annum in 3.5 to 4 years. This is a substantial achievement

for the family as well as community. Similarly, income of Mr. Sadu Shidya Baraf, Mr. Ramesh

Madhukar Jadhav, and Mr. Narayan Deu Rinjad has increased to Rs. 1,23,160/-,Rs. 1,45,550/-, an d

Rs. 1,28,350/- per annum from around 25 thousand, 40 thousand and 50 thousand Rs. per annum,

respectively. The families connected to SEWA project are also supported to various community

care initiatives such as health and hygiene awareness camps and health checkup camps.

Distribution of cows to farmers for organic inputs such as cow dung and cow urine. Protection of

cows also gives them milk for nourishing their family.

25



Rural Development Department of Sri Chaitanya Seva Trust is authorized by Govt. of

Maharashtra to award organic farming certification. We are using this facility to promote organic

farming and help the tribal farmers get better income from their organic farming cultivations.

Organic farming certification and marketing support to farmers practicing organic farming

26



Mulching paper support to farmers through government schemes

Regular exposure visits conducted for farmers

27

Chapter 5: Bringing Water to The Tribal

There is acute water shortage in rural areas of western Maharashtra. Many tribal

communities live in poverty and lack basic necessities such as clean drinking water, health care

facilities, descent source of income, etc. The primary means of subsistence in rural India is

agriculture. Water is essential for both household use and agriculture. In spite of high rain fall

ranging from 200-2500 mm in monsoon season in hilly regions of Maharashtra, because of high

runoff of water with very little percolation, there is acute scarcity of water in summer season.

Conservation of water and its storage becomes crucial for providing irrigation to summer crops and

also for drinking purpose for human and animals.

In the reporting year we invested in total of 33 water resource development initiatives in

different villages of Wada and Vikramgadh blocks. The drinking water resource development

supports through installation of 11 new borewells, repair of 14 old borewells and installation of 5

water storage tanks have brought immense transformation in the lives of tribal people. They are

now getting potable drinking water right at their doorsteps. The girls who could not go for schools

because of having to spend hours for bringing water from far off places are now getting time and

support for education and training.

28

Chapter 5: Bringing Water to The Tribal

Three lift schemes established in Amgaon, Nane and Karalgaon has transformed lives of 38

families. Now they are able to practice farming throughout the year and take full advantage of

SEWA support being provided by Sri Chaitanya Seva Trust.

“Water Resource Development is essential for enabling desired impact from agricultural

investments”

29

Chapter 6: Tribal Women Transforming

Rural Health and Economics

Women Empowerment Initiatives are playing key role to transforming rural health, economy

and literacy. Many tribal communities are victims of poverty, lack of education, and lack of safe

drinking water. Through Women Empowerment Initiatives women are encouraged and trained to

adopt hygienic practices, participate in Income Generation Activities (IGA), save on regular basis,

and send their children to school compulsorily.

Women empowerment initiative of Sri Chaitanya Seva Trust is bringing unity, sustainability

and promoting integrated development of tribal women. Most women in tribal communities we are

trying to serve are illiterate. They work as labor in farms and nearby businesses and meagerly

sustain their families. Sri Chaitanya Seva Trust invests in trying to bring them together in small

groups called self help groups (SHGs). Our representative holds regular meetings, exposure visits

and trainings for these groups. They are encouraged and trained beginning from helping them to

learn writing their own name to production of marketable items. We also help them take advantage

of government schemes. Some of the SHG members are trained in documentation and record

keeping. All SHG are encouraged to save cumulatively and invest effectively. In these ways we are

trying to bring people together and make them self sustainable.

SHG women engaged in Kitchen Gardening to improve nutrition value in daily diet

30



Two of such examples are Saroj Baburav Tokare and Nikita Nakul Mhase. Both are member

of Radharani Mahila Bachat gat from Pali village in Wada. Members in their group were given

various trainings including making cloth bags and Agarbatti. Saroj Baburav Tokare was inspired to

take up the production of cloth bags and Agarbatties and we also helped her sell her products at

Govardhan Ecovillage Exhibition Stall. She earned additional 4400 Rs. Per month. Similarly,

Nikita Nakul Mhase got training in Agarbatti and Mat Making. She also participated in production

of Agarbatti and mats which were sold by her with the help of GEV Exhibition and she earned Rs.

2200 in addition to her normal income. We also try to establish relationships among various

families and establish a self sufficient community where local producers, shopkeepers support each

other. Along with financial help through our community care initiatives we are continuously trying

to educate them, increase health awareness, and build mutual integrity.

31



SHG women are inspired to participate in various exhibitions and sell their products. Apart

from that SHG products are also sold at Exhibition shops at Govardhan Ecovillage and Various

Exhibition Camps are also organized to encourage participation in Income Generation Activities.

SHG Exhibition camp at Govardhan Ecovillage

32



“We are highly encouraged by enthusiastic participation of the tribal families and local

authorities in rural development initiatives. It is a proven fact that attitudinal changes on the part of

women have an impact on the attitudes of their families and communities. We hope that stories of

transformation from stone work/agriculture laborer to self dependent and responsible women will

motivate the readers to intervene and cause transformation in the lives of deprived communities.”

Heath check up and awareness camps held regularly in different villages

33

Chapter 7: Preparing for the future - Rural

Education

The responsibility of building the nation lies in the hands of the youths. Unfortunately, a

large section of youth population of the country lacks sufficient skills and employment. It is crucial

to train up the youths with necessary skills and character for sustainable growth of the nation. Rural

Education initiatives are vital part of our holistic approach to improve lives of tribal communities

and the country as a whole. Along with fulfilling their basic need through water resource

development, generation of sustainable income routes, providing free food to children and the

needy, we strive to improve standard of education being imparted to the children and also strive to

empower the youth who couldn't get privilege of proper training during childhood.

We invest sincerely in bringing up the rural education standards by various means such as

providing mid-day meals to inspire students to continue studying, training teachers, sending

dedicated teachers for supplementing educational requirements, conducting regular yoga classes,

NSS camps, bringing science wan - science on wheels - to give opportunity to students to take

advantage of learning aids. The rural education initiatives are subdivided mainly in three categories,

viz. support to village schools, anganwadi project and a dedicated training centre called

Bhaktivedanta Kaushal Vikas Kendra. Under these main division various trainings, competitive

exams, seminars, exposure visits, etc. are conducted.

HG Sudhir Madhav Das addressing students at science fair

34

Chapter 7: Preparing for the future -

Rural Education

Bhaktivedanta Kaushal Vikas Students fabricating Solar Tunnel Dryer

Bhaktivedanta Kaushal Vikas students trained in Construction of zero energy cold storage

35

Chapter 7: Preparing for the future -

Rural Education

Local Schools' exposure visit to Govardhan Ecovillage

Training in the lap of Mother Nature - increased sensitivity along with technical education

36

37

Annexure - 1

Family Person

A Wadi SEVA Programme

1 New Wadi Support Nos. 130 130 750

2 Total Acre under wadi Acres 130 130

3 Land Layout Acres 203 130

4 Pitting Nos. 130 130

5Total Horticulture species distribution (Mango-

30,cashew-20,Sapota-10)Nos. 7800 130

6Fertilizer distribution for Horticulture plants

(Racimil-50kg,Neem-40kg)Nos. 130 130

7 Tools distribution (Spade/Tikau) Nos. 130 130

8Plant protector Distribution for Horticulture

Spp.(Trichoderma)Nos. 130 130

9 Water Resources Development / participant Nos. IP

10 Improved Agriculture (seeds) for Two Season

10a Kharif (Rainy) Nos. 186 186

10b Rabbi (Winter) Nos. 213 213

10c Rabbi (Winter) Sapling distribution Nos. 117 117

10d Rabbi (Winter)Pulses Distribution Nos. 253 253

11 Fertilizer distribution for Vegetables Winter season Nos. 16 16

12 Organic Techniques

12a Vermicompost Unit distribution Nos. 22 22

12b Bordo Pest Nos. 52 52

12c Plant protector Distribution (Amrut +Pious+Neem

oil)Nos. 111 111

12d Green Manuring (Jute Seeds) Nos. 94 94

13 Horticulture spp. (Gap filling @ 20%) Nos. 30 30

14 Other Fruit Trees support Nos. 20 20

15 Floriculture plants support (Batch VII) Nos. 7400 37

15a Tools Secateur support Nos. 15 15

15b Fertilizer (Durga) Nos. 35 35

15c Plant Protector (Neem oil) Nos. 27 27

16 New Technology support

16a Indigenous Rice seed distribution Nos. 127 127

16b Fertilizer distribution( Durga + Rashi ) Nos. 70 70

16c Special support(Fertilizer +Plant protector) Nos. 7 7

16d Trellis plot support(fertilizer) Nos. 2 2

17 Special support (Horticulture plants) Mango -30 Nos. 9 9

18 Water lift schemes Or WRD support IP

19 Seed storage,Production,Trainning, Display center

STATEMENT SHOWING PROGRESS UNDER VARIOUS PROGRAMS DURING THE

REPORTING YEAR 2017-18No. of Beneficiaries

UnitsPhysical

AchievemenProgramme

Sr.

No.

38

Annexure - 1

Family Person

20 Organic Farming support New Farmer Nos. 135 135 675

20a Seed ,Sapling distribution Nos. 135 135

20b Fertilizer support (Racimil) Nos. 135 135

20cPlant protector (Neem oil+Amrut+pious+Ezy

bordo+ dashparni+Trichoderma)Nos. 135 135

20d Liquid + Solid fertilizer (Jivamrut+Rock phosphate) Nos. 135 135

21 Model Plots (5000 Sq.ft) Nos. 4 4 20

21a Rose (Desi Variety) Nos. 1 1

21b Trellis vegetable plot Nos. 1 1

21c Drumstick plot Nos. 2 2

21d Papaya plot Nos. 2 2

22 Exposure Visit for New Wadi participants Nos. 107 107

23 Wadi Video Shows participants Nos. 107 107

24 Marketing support Nos. 150 150

25 Exposure Visit of farmers Nos. 50 50

B Farmers Trainings Nos. 16

26a Preseasonal Crop cultivation Training_Kharif Nos. 1 213

26b Preseasonal Crop cultivation Training Rabbi Nos. 1 184

26cOrganic Vegetable cultivation & Land preparation

trainingNos. 15 90

26d Organic Rice Cultivation & Pest control Training Nos. 1 140

26eHorticulture After care Training

(Plantation,Treaming,Supporting,Green Manuring)Nos. 130 130

26f Organic Fertilizer Preparation (Jivamrut) Nos. 12 83

26g Organic Plant protector Preparation (Dashparni) Nos. 5 33

26hOrganic Fertilizer Preparation (Vermicomposting &

composting)Nos. 8 117

26i Rice Harvesting & marketing Training Nos. 1 30

26j Green Manuring Training Nos. 12 58

26k Organic Farming Marketing Training Nos. 1 115

26l Challenging wadi Training Nos. 1 22

27 Shetakari Mandal Meetings Nos. 109

28 Wadi Visits Nos. 1478 1478

29 Yuva Shetakari Training Nos. 1 45

30 Jasmine Cultivation & Plant Protection Nos. 2 34

31 Nursery Grafting Training Nos. 1 47

32a Shetakari Vikas karyakram Maharashtra (Reg.

Farmers)

Nos. 15 15

32b Training Program on Organic Farming practices Nos. 862 862

Sr.

No.Programme Units

Physical

Achievemen

No. of Beneficiaries

39

Annexure - 1

Family Person

C Women Empowerment

32 New SHG formations Nos. 89 945 4725

33 Record Keeping Training Nos. 104 319

34 Proceeding Book distribution Nos. 12 129

35 Concept & Capacity Building Training Nos. 104 556

36 CRP Training Nos. 15 127

37 Exposure Visit Nos. 4 23

38 Income Generation Trainings Nos. 115 2134

38a Agarbatti Nos. 24 1086

38b Face Pack Nos. 4 70

38c Mehandi Nos. 4 44

38d Candle Nos. 6 196

38e Detergent Nos. 4 44

38f Jewellary Nos. 12 47

38g Papad Nos. _ _ _

38h Cloth Bag Nos. 14 47

38i Pickle Nos. _ _ _

38j Mat making Nos. 7 132

38k Rice Handicraft Nos. 1 12

38l Paper Bag Nos. 2 26

38m Phenyl Nos. 2 26

38n Hand Wash Nos. 2 26

38o Dish wash cleaner Nos. 11 47

38p Diya Nos. 22 311

38q Vegetable Production Nos. 20 20

39 Monthly Meetings Nos. 268

40 Marketing exposure visit Nos. 5 170

41 Marketing support Nos. 300 300 1500

42 Health Checkup Camp (HB, BP) Nos. 1081 1081 5405

43 Health Awareness Training Programme Nos. 1081 1081 5405

44Nutritional Improvement (Kitchen Gardening)

Winter SeasonNos. 546 546 2730

45Nutritional Improvement (Kitchen Gardening) Rainy

SeasonNos. 716 716 3580

D Government Scheme Nos.

46Micro Finance Loan Distribution from IDBI for

personal use Rs 15,00,000

47a Revolving Fund Nos. 56 56 280

47b Revolving Fund Rs 8,40,000

48 Livestock support Nos. 14 14 70

Sr.

No.Programme Units

Physical

Achievemen


40

Annexure - 1

Family Person

E Water Recourse Development

49 New bore well Installation Nos. 11 202 1239

50 Old bore well repairing Nos. 14 251 1286

51 Water tank installation Nos. 5 32 934

52 Community lift irrigation scheme Nos. 3 38 185

53 Jalkunds Nos. _ __ _

54 Small well/Spring Dev Nos. _ __ _

55 Farm Pond Nos. _ __ _

56 Big Pond Nos. _ __ _

57 Check Dam Nos. _ __ _

58 Well Repairing Nos. _ __ _

59 Monthly Meetings Nos. 113

60 WRD on field Visits Nos. 438

F Landless supports

61 Sewing machine support Nos. 12 12

62 Snacks Centre Stall Nos. 4 4

63 General Store (Kirana) Nos. 3 3

64 Jewellery Shop Nos. 1 1

65 Cloth Shop Nos. 1 1

66 Welding Workshop Nos. 1 1

G Livestock Development program

67 Cow distribution Nos. 15 15

68 Cow fodder plots Nos. 15 15

HCommunity Care (Family care ) Activity

(Villages/Pada)Nos. 69 1760 5280

There is overlapping in number of families due to many households benefitting from two or more activities.

Sr.

No.Programme Units

Physical

Achievemen


41

Annexure - 2

Sr.

No.Programme Units

Physical

Achievements

A Wadi SEVA Programme Family Person

1 Wadi Support Nos. 450 450 2374

2 Total Acre under wadi Acres 450 450

3Total Horticulture species distribution (Mango,

cashew, Sapota)Nos. 27000 450

4 Other Fruit Trees support/ Plantation Nos. 1404 54

5 Floriculture plants support / Plantation Nos. 45800 229

6 Forestry Plantation Nos. 54200 271

7 Organic Farming support New Farmer Nos. 182 182 910

8 Total Model Plots (5000 Sq.ft) Nos. 12 12


B Farmers Trainings Nos.

10a Preseasonal Crop cultivation Training_Kharif Nos. 1 332

10b Preseasonal Crop cultivation Training Rabbi Nos. 1 292

C Women Empowerment 11 New SHG formations Nos. 181 1924 9620

12 Income Generation Trainings Nos. 125 2630

13 Health Checkup Camp (HB, BP) Nos. 1146 1146

14 Health Awareness Training Programme Nos. 1656 1656

15 Nutritional Improvement (Kitchen Gardening) Winter Nos. 715 715

16 Nutritional Improvement (Kitchen Gardening) Rainy Nos. 546 546


D Government Scheme Nos.

18 Micro Finance Loan Distribution from IDBI Rs 15,00,000

19 Revolving Fund(SHG) Nos. 56 560

20 Revolving Fund Rs 8,40,000

21 Livestock support Nos. 14 14

E Water Recourse Development

22 New bore well Installation Nos. 24 486 2555

23 Old bore well repairing Nos. 24 382 1977

24 Water tank installation Nos. 12 166 1592

25 Community lift irrigation scheme Nos. 8 171 878

26 Jalkunds Nos. 4 10 46

27 Small well/Spring Dev Nos. 125 125 672

28 Farm Pond Nos. 25 25 145

29 Big Pond Nos. 1 10 70

30 Check Dam Nos. 13 13 70

31 Well Repairing Nos. 1 4 22

F Landless supports Nos. 52 52 260

G Livestock Development program32 Cow distribution Nos. 23 23 115

33 Cow fodder Plots Nos. 15 15

HCommunity Care (Family care ) Activity

(Villages/Pada)Nos. 69 1760 5280

No. of

Beneficiaries

STATEMENT SHOWING CUMULATIVE PROGRESS TILL MARCH 2018

42

Abstract— There is a steep rise in the volume of the waste

generated due to rise in population. Conventional waste

Management systems based on linear resource to trash concept are

proving to be ineffective and often ecologically disastrous in dealing

with it. The Waste management process in Nature is cyclic in nature

where in waste from one process acts as raw material in another

process thus avoiding the need of expending any energy in

processing the waste. Govardhan Eco Village (GEV), a 100 acre

farm community has successfully implemented this Symbiotic

Model for Waste management and is being able to process all kinds

of wastes and utilize them in other processes thus creating economic

benefits out of it. In this way GEV is able to resolve the dichotomy

between ecological and economical sustainability.

Keywords— Sustainability, Symbiotic Recycling, Waste

Management, Waste Recovery.

I. INTRODUCTION

ITH India looking forward to regain 8% growth rate,

economic pundits are strongly advocating expanding

the manufacturing sector as the way to move ahead.

Historically it has been observed in various world economies

that the manufacturing sector has had a positive influence on

the nation's growth rate. Policies governing the

manufacturing sector have always aimed towards improving

the economy, but have laid little or no emphasis on the

impact of such a growth on the ecological infrastructure of

the nation. It’s a tricky challenge as the systems that are

aimed towards improving the economy on the short term, can

potentially prove detrimental to the very infrastructure that

sustains it in the long term.

This dichotomy has created a scission among thinkers who

have developed opposing views towards economic

sustainability and ecological sustainability, deeming these two

paradigms to be incompatible. However for a nation to

achieve a balanced growth this dichotomy has to be

reconciled. The United Nations in its Millennium

development goals [1] set targets for simultaneously

improving both the socio-economic conditions of people and

ensuring environmental sustainability.

Ramesh Dave is CSR Manager of Govardhan Eco Village, Galtare,

Hamrapur (P.O), Wada (Taluka), Palghar (District) – 421303, Maharashtra,

India

Gauranga Das is President of Govardhan Eco Village, Galtare, Hamrapur

(P.O), Wada (Taluka), Palghar (District) – 421303, Maharashtra, India

II. IMPACT OF MODERN DEVELOPMENTAL SYSTEMS

Developmental systems adopted today have failed to

acknowledge the aspect of ecological resilience [2] or nature's

capacity to absorb disturbance and reorganize while

undergoing change so as to still retain essentially the same

function, structure, identity, and feedbacks. Our modern

developmental systems have been formulated on the premise

that nature has abundant resources and have hence adopted a

linear model of “resource- to- trash” systems. They take

resources from nature, process them into a useful form and at

the end of life-cycle dump it back into nature in the form of

waste. Wastes are also generated at various stages in this

model, whose handling costs are offloaded into nature. This

model has worked for decades and has successfully improved

many world economies. However this model can’t sustain

long because what has been presumed as nature's capacity to

produce unlimited inputs and accept unlimited waste, was its

mere persistence in the face of changes in ecosystem variables

due to anthropogenic causes [3]. With more nations of the

world adopting this model there is an increasing strain on the

planet's ecological resilience resulting in effects like global

warming, climate change, loss of biodiversity, food shortage

etc. In order to mitigate these effects, a significant amount of

financial resources are being spent in the form of

environmental protection measures and offering subsidies to

the affected populace. Thus the modern developmental

systems are straining the economy and proving to be

counterproductive.

III. URBANIZATION IMPACT

A direct consequence of the modern developmental model

can be perceived in the abnormal growth in the urban

population. The 2011 census report shows that for the first

time in independent India the absolute increase in population

is more in urban India than rural India. The trends are no

different globally. For the first time in the history of

humankind, urbanization has increased at such a massive

pace, that more than half the world's population today lives in

towns and cities. By 2030 this number is expected to swell to

almost 5 billion, with urban growth concentrated in Africa

and Asia [4]. This essentially means an undue overload on

the urban infrastructure which have not been designed for

such inflated numbers. With all modern cities being based on

the resource-to-trash systems, one of the key areas that will be

badly hit are waste management systems. Predictions are that

waste management is going to be one of the planet's biggest

Symbiotic Recycling Systems for Creating

Sustainable Habitats

Ramesh Dave, and Gauranga Das

W

Int'l Journal of Advances in Agricultural & Environmental Engg. (IJAAEE) Vol. 2, Issue 2 (2015) ISSN 2349-1523 EISSN 2349-1531

http://dx.doi.org/10.15242/IJAAEE.C1215244 83

concerns in decades to come [5].

Current waste management techniques like landfills and

incineration were devised decades ago when the population

density was relatively low. With rising population and steep

rise in the volume of waste generated the ecological resilience

is being tested to its full capacity. Conventional waste

management techniques are proving to be ineffective and

ecologically disastrous. In spite of the glaring ecological

hazards posed by these techniques they continue to prevail

especially in third world nations. Separate segregation and

recycling of waste, though a highly effective solution, is not

being taken up on a wide- scale due to various technical and

financial challenges they pose.

IV. SYMBIOTIC RECYCLING SYSTEMS

This dichotomy of sustainable economic and ecological

development can be harmonized by a close examination of

nature, its systems, processes & constituting elements. Nature

also has an extensive method of development, evident by the

wide variety of life forms it successfully nurtures. The well

being of any model can be understood by examining the ease

with which the various systems in the model function and

how the individual elements constituting each system have a

sustained growth.

Nature has a very unique way of waste management.

Before we understand that, we need to understand what waste

is. Waste can be defined as any object that neither in partial

nor in totality contribute to the end goal of a system. Such an

object may be produced as a “delayed waste” or as an

“immediate waste” in a system. For example, in a

manufacturing process, there are wastes generated at various

intermediary stages in the process, constituting the

“immediate wastes”. And the final good produced thereby

will also eventually, at the end of its life cycle, be trashed

constituting the “delayed waste”. The systems comprising the

developmental model in nature are in such a way that the

wastes from one particular system can be used as raw

materials for another system, that way there is no extra

energy expended in processing the wastes. In other words,

what comes from nature from one system goes back to its

proper place in nature in a different system where it is

processed and used. Thus the various systems in nature

develop a symbiotic dependence on each other and the wastes

produced in various stages are recycled within the model.

This concept is called Symbiotic recycling.

The modern developmental models are all comprised of

disconnect individual systems that follow the resource-to-

trash concept. At every stage in this model each system acts

like an individual consumer, consuming resources and

producing waste. Thus the overall waste produced from this

model is very high. If we can formulate models comprising of

symbiotically dependent natural systems then we can

incorporate an inbuilt mechanism of recycling and save all

hassles of waste management. Such a model then would not

be an integration of consumers, but a symbiotic integration of

contributors. By developmental models formulated around

this concept of Symbiotic recycling we will be able to achieve

the desired objective of improving the quality of life and also

ensuring environmental sustainability.

V. GOVARDHAN ECO VILLAGE – A CASE STUDY

Govardhan Eco Village (GEV) is a farm community set up

to highlight the importance of living a life in harmony with

nature. Unlike the modern day resource-to-trash systems,

GEV is an integration of various symbiotically dependent

systems. At the heart of this model is organic farming and

cow barn, the traditional symbols of sustainable living. The

farming system produces enough grass and feed for the

animals and the cow barn system produces manure and cow-

urine derivatives which provide other necessary ingredients

for farming. These symbiotically dependent systems have a

built in mechanism of waste management and in return

produce grains, vegetables, cloth, natural medicines, milk and

other cow products. Thus a self sustainable cycle was

established that meets our bare minimum needs

Around this basic model we added buildings for human

settlements. The challenge was to make buildings that were

not only aesthetic and comfortable, but would also create

minimal impact on the environment. So after a thorough

research, we started making green buildings using an

improvised mud brick technology called compressed

stabilized mud blocks (CSEB). Unlike the commonly used

baked bricks these unfired bricks retain mud's natural

property of maintaining optimum temperature. Thus

buildings made with these bricks would remaining cool in hot

weathers and warm in cool weathers, thus saving a lot of

energy in heating and cooling systems. An entire structure

made from these bricks have less than 1% the embodied

energy as compared to their fired brick counterparts [5].

So with food and shelter in place our focus was then to

ensure a sustainable water source for the village. So we

undertook a thorough survey of the ground water flow

patterns, called as a hydro-geological survey, and identified

ideal locations for extracting water. We also made a facility to

recharge the ground water and created various rain water

harvesting structures that would serve all the water

requirements of our growing community

With a growing community in place our biggest challenge

was waste management. Our intention was to set up symbiotic

systems that would harness nature’s inbuilt concept of

recycling. But at the same time we were also conscious that

not any kind of waste could be handled by this natural system,

for example highly toxic industrial effluents etc. So we had to

simultaneously imbibe in the eco village a culture of using

compatible materials. This perhaps is the most important step

in the long term sustenance of this model because as much

important as it is to create right systems, it is also important

to train the people using these systems.

Thus the nature of wastes produced in the eco village was

mainly four fold:

1) Animal Waste and other wet wastes like food wastes etc.

2) Dry biodegradable wastes like foliage, paper etc.

3) Dry non-biodegradable wastes like plastics, construction

aggregate etc.



4) Human wastes, which constitutes the sewage

To take care of the first category wastes, we added biogas

plants that accept wet food wastes and cow dung from the

barn system and give out digested slurry, which acts as an

organic fertilizer input to the farming system. The biogas thus

produced is used in cooking thus generating savings on LPG

bills. We also set up various composting pits that takes in

other organic wastes like paper, foliage etc. and produce

compost for the farming system.

Construction wastes like broken cement poles and bricks

are utilized in making permanent raised beds (PRB) for

farming. The PRBs are an innovative way of saving human

labor, tractor usage, energy and time before cultivation. The

land is prepared by creating these raised beds from cow

manure, leaves, compost and soil. These beds are permanent

and are more fertile and conducive for growing vegetables

and fruits. GEV was recently listed among the top 100

agricultural innovators for effective usage of PRBs. The entire

boundary of the PRB is made by construction wastes like

cement poles and bricks, creating a symbiosis between

farming and construction systems. Other construction wastes

like quarry dust (an ingredient in making CSEBs) and

construction aggregate was used in cob house construction

and in repairing the roads. The broken red bricks are being

used in water proofing the roofs in other constructions. Waste

card board cartons and cloth are used as mulch in the

agriculture field. Mulch is a protective cover placed over the

soil to retain moisture, reduce erosion and provide nutrients.

Spreading the waste card board cartons and cloth on the land

also blocks sunlight, thus preventing growth of any weeds. By

using this simple technique one can avoid the labor intensive

task of removing weeds or usage of any chemical weedicides

Cement Bags and other plastic bags are utilized to store

mud and compost. It is also used to grow plants, esp. grasses

like kusha – whose fragrant roots can be easily extracted by

cutting the bag open. Wood dust, produced by sawing the

wood used for construction, forms an ingredient along with

cow dung, in making of dhoop sticks or chemical free incense

sticks. Not only are these dhoop sticks fragrant, but also have

the utility of being a chemical free mosquito repellent. An

entire cottage industry is run in GEV which takes as raw

ingredients cow dung and cow urine and manfucatures

various chemical free products like dhoop sticks, tooth

powders, soaps, bathing powder.

VI. NEED FOR SAFE SEWAGE TREATMENT

The final category of waste, namely human waste was a

serious issue to be dealt with. Initially we adopted the

standard practice of septic tank based sanitation systems.

However in due course of time it was found that this process

was leading to foul odour, mosquito breeding and stagnation

of water due to poor permeability in black cotton soil. Also it

was ecologically unethical to dump the contaminated septic

tank water into water bodies directly. So we required an

alternative technique meeting the following requirements:

1) An ideal sanitation model to practice in a self-sustaining

rural, sub urban and urban community.

2) Saving of ground/surface water resource via recycling of

waste water for secondary usage like irrigation of farm

3) Generate photosynthetic biomass for internal use

(flower, fruit, and excess biomass for green manuring)

VII. SOIL BIOTECHNOLOGY

Soil Biotechnology (SBT) is an indigenous green

technology for sewage processing for recycle and reuse of

processed water. SBT has been developed & patented by

Chemical Engineering Department, IIT Bombay. In this

system combined grey water and black water streams are

collected and transported via gravity driven underground

sewerage network up to the raw water storage tanks. Raw

sewage is then pumped and distributed over the SBT

bioreactor through a network of pipes

Organic solids and liquid wastes of human activity contain

both energy and nutrients. Unless harnessed, they pollute the

environment. Conventional sewage treatment technologies

fail to achieve this. As a result the non-utilized nutrients

accumulate and disturb the natural balance of soil, water and

air through overloading. Salinity, pests, diseases are

symptoms of this phenomenon. SBT synergistically engages

photosynthesis, respiration and mineral weathering - the three

fundamental processes of Nature, to bioconvert organics and

inorganic in sewage. This is achieved by soil micro-

organisms and regulated by soil macro-organisms viz.

geophagus earthworms etc. As a consequence the organic

waste constituents of the raw water are consumed and

simultaneously water of desirable quality is produced. SBT

removes BOD, COD, ammonia nitrogen, nitrate nitrogen,

suspended solids, bacteria, color, odor - all this in a single

“all green” system open to atmosphere. The processed water

(after multiple passes if necessary) is collected in an

intermediate collection tanks. The final treated water is

recycled for farming and in use in the GEV nursery

VIII. ADVANTAGES OF SBT

A. Sustainable

Conventional sewage treatment systems are characterized

by high mechanization and are highly energy intensive.

Consequently the operations & maintenance is very tedious

and cost intensive. As a result, in many cases the plants are

not in operation, the ground water is polluted and treated

water cannot be reused. SBT stands out as a very sustainable

cost- effective solution to the problem of waste water

management, specific to the Indian climatic, social and

environmental conditions. Besides the process being natural,

it depends very little on external energy sources and

conserves the same

B. Recovery Efficiency

The only water loss in SBT systems is due to evapo-

transpiration from the plants and soil. Therefore the treated



water recovery is very high. Recovery of more than 90% has

been observed under all climatic conditions.

C. Power Saving

Use of SBT system results in substantial saving in

electricity cost, as power usage is for pumping alone. The

comparative data is as follows for the envisaged capacity of

100 KLD.

Power for SBT system – 36 units per day

Extended Aeration Process – 200 units per day

Total percent saving = (200 – 36) * 100/ 200 = 82%

approximately1

Though SBT’s functioning is aligned with nature, it is

intensive enough to fit in a typical urban scenario that is

scarce on space. An SBT system is quiet & green. It’s

deceptive look hides the intensive processes that are based on

sound principles of terrestrial (soil-plant) ecology. Therefore,

the quality of SBT processed products be it treated water or

bio- mineral fertilizer, are by far superior to any other

systems. Therefore, it qualifies for an ideal zero discharge

system

REFERENCES

[1] UN Millennium Goals.

[2] Holling, C.S., "Resilience and stability of ecological systems," Annual

Review of Ecology and Systematics 4: 1–23, 1973

http://dx.doi.org/10.1146/annurev.es.04.110173.000245

[3] State of World Population, UNFPA report, 2007

[4] USEPA report, 2002

[5] B.V. Venkatarama Reddy, K.S. Jagadish “Embodied energy of common

and alternative building materials and technologies”. Energy and Buildings

35: 129-137, 2003

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0378-7788(01)00141-4

1 NOTE: SBT power estimate does not include requirement for distribution of

treated water just as in all other conventional systems.






http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0378-7788(01)00141-4

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0378-7788(01)00141-4

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0378-7788(01)00141-4

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0378-7788(01)00141-4

Abstract— Most of the Rural villages in India suffers from the

problem of water scarcity and water contamination. Govardhan Eco

Village (GEV) located on the Western Ghats in India was one of

those villages suffering from this acute problem. By undergoing

hydro-geological survey, they identified proper places of recharge

and discharge for water bodies and constructed a 10 million liter

water pond for collecting water though rain water harvesting. This

not only solved their problem of scarcity of water, but also reduced

their dependency on the nearby river, increased the bio-diversity of

the region and the underground water level. In order to protect the

ground water from getting contaminated, GEV installed the soil Bio-

technology plant, a green technology which processes all the sewage

of the community and generated processed water which can be used

for irrigation purposes. Thus GEV saved the cost of electricity in

pumping this much amount of water. Moreover the biomass

generated from the system further acts as fertilizers for the fields thus

saving more money.

Keywords—Sustainability, Water Conservation, Rainwater

Harvesting, Water Recycling

I. INTRODUCTION

ater is the basis of sustenance for the entire world be it

for the people, for the cattle or for growing food

through agriculture. The current situation prevailing in the

world is that the scarcity of water is going on increasing.

Researchers from MIT found that by 2050 more than half the

world’s population will live in water-stressed areas and about a

billion or more will not have sufficient water resources [1].

Groundwater levels have fallen as much as 1-3 meters per year

to 70 meters or more below the levels of 30 years ago.

Assessments by the Central Groundwater Board, Government

of India shows dramatic change in share of tube wells in

irrigated areas rose from a mere 1% in 1960-61 to 40% in

2006-07 [2].

The predominant sources of water, i.e. the rivers, lakes and

oceans are getting polluted due to huge amounts of waste

being dumped there from the cities. With rising population and

steep rise in the volume of waste generated the ecological

resilience is being tested to its full capacity. Sewer and River

mixed together making river water unsafe. The World Bank

estimates that 21% of communicable diseases in India are

Mulpuri Chandrashekhar is Chief Sustainability Officer of Govardhan Eco

Village, Galtare, Hamrapur (P.O), Wada (Taluka), Palghar (District) –

421303, Maharashtra, India

Gauranga Das is President of Govardhan Eco Village, Galtare, Hamrapur

(P.O), Wada (Taluka), Palghar (District) – 421303, Maharashtra, India

related to unsafe water [3]. 128 million Indians lack safe

water. The agricultural run-off from the modern farming

techniques involving high chemical deposits contaminates the

water bodies further more. Currently more than 1.2 billion

people around the world lack access to clean drinking water.

[4]

Not only the rivers, but even the ground water is getting

polluted. The proportion of districts with “unsafe” ground

water development in India has grown from 9% in 1995 to

31% in 2004. [2] Only 14% of the rural population has access

to a latrine. 839 million have no sanitation services. Out of a

total of 2.5 billion people worldwide that defecate openly, 665

million belong to India. Due to improper sewage management,

ground water gets contaminated by bacterias that can cause

diarrhea and can even lead to kidney failure. As per WHO in

India, diarrhea alone causes more than 1,000 deaths of

children daily [5]

Efficient water conservation is therefore a natural step

towards sustainability with respect to water resources

Moreover, protecting the existing water bodies and ground

water by having proper waste management systems is also

critical

II. GOVARDHAN ECO VILLAGE – A CASE STUDY

Need of Water Conservation and Protection

Govardhan Eco Village (GEV) is a farm community set up

to highlight the importance of living a life in harmony with

nature. It exemplifies a model for the whole world which is

self-sustainable and takes proper measures to both conserve

and protect water

The water requirement for the Ecovillage was met by

extracting water from the nearby Vaitarna river and

supplemented by groundwater. Pumping river water was able

to suffice the current water demands; however, it was not a

viable option to meet future requirements. With growing

population of the community and increasing number of visitors

to the Ecovillage, the average water requirement for the

Ecovillage was expected to be about 100,000 liters per day.

The groundwater extraction was mainly through 5 bore-wells,

two of which were very low yielding and remain unused. The

discharge in other bore-wells was also very inconsistent.

Also the ground water available there was found to be

contaminated and not with in the permissible safe drinking

limits. As was the case with many rural locations, GEV

adopted the system of open sewage. With increasing

Integrated Water Conservation and Protection

Scheme for Rural Location

Mulpuri Chandrashekhar, and Gauranga Das

W

3rd International Conference on Civil, Biological and Environmental Engineering (CBEE-2016) Feb. 4-5, 2016 Bali (Indonesia)

http://dx.doi.org/10.15242/IICBE.C0216023 22

population of the community, they had later shifted to septic

tank based systems. However in both cases it was discovered

that the ground water bore-wells was getting contaminated by

Escherichia coli, a bacteria often found in fecal matter that if

ingested can cause diarrhea and at worse even result in kidney

failure. The microbiological test of the drinking water showed

coliform count 54 times above acceptable limits.

Hence a need was felt to create a natural system which helps

them attain sustainability with respect to water resources

without disturbing the existing ecology while keeping cost

feasibility in mind

III. GEV INTEGRATED WATER CONSERVATION AND

PROTECTION MODEL

Water Conservation Model

In order to identify proper spots for water harvesting,

recharge and discharge areas, a thorough survey of the ground

water flow patterns, called as hydro-geological survey, of the

entire Ecovillage was conducted. Recharge point is at a higher

level, which acts as an inlet. Discharge area is typically at a

lower point. Hence water flows from the recharge to discharge

point. A recharge point is the ideal location to build rain water

harvesting units to recharge the underground aquifers. A

discharge point is the ideal location to draw underground

water through open wells, bore-wells or water harvesting units.

The entire process involved the following steps:

1) Hydro-geological mapping - Geology is the most

important factor that governs storage and movement of

water in the subsurface. These factors were studied in

this survey

2) Employing geophysical techniques - Resistivity

surveys were conducted at different locations within

GEV plot to identify the depths to water bearing layers

underground.

3) Water Level monitoring of wells in the area -

Measuring static water levels is important to ascertain

the groundwater movement direction in the area

4) Aquifer test - A pumping test was conducted to evaluate

the properties of the basaltic aquifer in the area, helping

us understand the quantity of groundwater in the area

5) Analysis of collected data - All the data collected in the

field was systematically analyzed to obtain specific

information regarding the aquifer and the hydro-

geological regime in the area.

Based on the analysis two spots were identified in the Eco-

village which were good points for recharge and discharge of

water. A rain water storage pond of 10,000,000 liters capacity

and a ground water recharge pond of 2,500,000 liters capacity

was excavated. The study also recommended drilling few

borewells and dug wells which can supply water to the

community. These facilities served all the water requirements

of the growing community. With the 1 Crore litre pond the

greenery and the biodiversity of the region increased

substantially. They could also reduce dependency on pumping

of river water from long distance. The landscaping water

requirements were also met through the ponds. Underground

water levels increased. Infact the reservoir when filled to

capacity became the biggest pond in Thane District, which is

the largest district by population in the city of Mumbai.

IV. WATER PROTECTION MODEL

As was the case with many rural locations, GEV had

adopted the system of open sewage initially. With increasing

population of the community, they later shifted to septic tank

based systems. However in due course of time it was found

that both processes were leading to foul odour, mosquito

breeding and stagnation of water due to poor permeability in

black cotton soil. Moreover, the ground water bore-wells were

getting contaminated by Escherichia coli, a bacteria often

found in fecal matter that if ingested can cause diarrhea and at

worse even result in kidney failure. The microbiological test of

the drinking water showed coliform count 54 times above

acceptable limits. Also it was ecologically unethical to dump

the contaminated septic tank water into water bodies directly.

So a need arose to prevent ground water pollution caused due

to improper sewage management. An alternative technique was

needed meeting the following requirements:

1) An ideal sanitation model to practice in a self

sustaining rural, sub urban and urban community.

2) Saving of ground/surface water resource via recycling

of waste water for secondary usage like irrigation of

farm

3) Generate photosynthetic biomass for internal

use(flower, fruit, and excess biomass for green

manuring)

Soil Biotechnology

Soil Biotechnology (SBT) is an indigenous green

technology for sewage processing for recycle and reuse of

processed water. SBT has been developed & patented by

Chemical Engineering Department, IIT Bombay. In this

system combined grey water and black water streams are

collected and transported via gravity driven underground

sewerage network up to the raw water storage tanks. Raw

sewage is then pumped and distributed over the SBT

bioreactor through a network of pipes. Liquid wastes of human

activity contain both energy and nutrients. Unless harnessed,

they pollute the environment. Conventional sewage treatment

technologies fail to achieve this. As a result the non-utilized

nutrients accumulate and disturb the natural balance of soil,

water and air through overloading. Salinity, pests, diseases are

symptoms of this phenomenon. SBT synergistically engages

photosynthesis, respiration and mineral weathering - the three

fundamental processes of Nature, to bioconvert organics and

inorganic in sewage. This is achieved by soil micro-organisms

and regulated by soil macro-organisms viz. geophagus

earthworms etc. As a consequence the organic waste

constituents of the raw water are consumed and simultaneously

water of desirable quality is produced. SBT removes BOD,



COD, ammonia nitrogen, nitrate nitrogen, suspended solids,

bacteria, color, odor - all this in a single “all green” system

open to atmosphere. The processed water (after multiple

passes if necessary) is collected in an intermediate collection

tanks. The final treated water is recycled for farming and in

use in the GEV nursery.

The SBT is having various advantages:

1) Sustainable: Conventional sewage treatment systems

are characterized by high mechanization and are highly

energy intensive. Consequently the operations &

maintenance is very tedious and cost intensive. As a

result, in many cases the plants are not in operation, the

ground water is polluted and treated water cannot be

reused. SBT stands out as a very sustainable cost

effective solution to the problem of waste water

management, specific to the Indian climatic, social and

environmental conditions. Besides the process being

natural, it depends very little on external energy sources

and conserves the same.

2) Recovery Efficiency: The only water loss in SBT

systems is due to evapo-transpiration from the plants

and soil. Therefore the treated water recovery is very

high. Recovery of more than 90% has been observed

under all climatic conditions.

3) Power Saving: Use of SBT system results in substantial

saving in electricity cost, as power usage is for pumping

alone. The comparative data is as follows for the

envisaged capacity of 100 KLD.

Power for SBT system – 36 units per day

Extended Aeration Process – 200 units per day

Total percent saving = (200 – 36) * 100/ 200 = 82%

approximately1

Though SBT’s functioning is aligned with nature, it is

intensive enough to fit in a typical urban scenario that is scarce

on space. An SBT system is quiet & green. It’s deceptive look

hides the intensive processes that are based on sound

principles of terrestrial (soil-plant) ecology. Therefore, the

quality of SBT processed products be it treated water or bio-

mineral fertilizer, are by far superior to any other systems.

Therefore, it qualifies for an ideal zero discharge system

The impact of installing this system was that all the sewage

generated in the ecovillage was processed in a low-energy and

chemical free process. Being a relatively low energy

consuming operation, the carbon foot print of the entire

treatment plant is much lower than the modern sewage

systems. The bad odor and mosquito breeding which used to

be there due to the improperly treated sewage before decreased

substantially thus improving the living conditions for the

residents in the community. Also no toxic waste and foul smell

is produced. The SBT recovers around 95% of sewage water,

which comes out to be around 1Cr liter annually. This recycled

1 NOTE: SBT power estimate does not include requirement for distribution

of treated water just as in all other conventional systems.

water irrigates a horticulture and vegetable plantation spanning

over 2 acres and housing over 500 varieties of plants. The by-

products from waste water treatment system based on SBT are

Biomass and Bio-fertilizer. Around 2MT/annum of Biomass is

produced by SBT in the form of flower, fodder, fruit and fibre

which is utilized completely at GEV. The bio fertilizer rich in

organic and slow release minerals are also utilized in

horticulture

V. CONCLUSION

Managing waste plays a key role in protecting the ground

water and water in the lakes and rivers Modern civil systems

transfer this burden to another location – as in landfills; or

another medium – as in rivers/sea. Through thorough research

GEV has created a system of not only reducing ecological

costs by retaining 99% of wastes, but also brought down

various economic costs.

REFERENCES

[1] “Predicting the future of global water stress”,

http://news.mit.edu/2014/predicting-the-future-of-global-water-stress.

Retreived 20 December 2015

[2] P S Vijay Shankar, Himanshu Kulkarni, Sunderrajan Krishnan, “India’s

Groundwater Challenge and the Way Forward”, Economic and Political

Weekly Volume XLVI, 2: 37-45, 2011

[3] “Clean Water by Riverbank Filtration”,

http://wbi.worldbank.org/developmentmarketplace/idea/clean-water-

riverbank-filtration. Retrieved 20 December 2015

[4] "Water Scarcity. International Decade for Action 'Water for Life' 2005–

2015", un.org. Retrieved 20 October 2013.

[5] UNICEF/ WHO, Diarrhoea: Why Children are still dying and what can

be done, 2009



http://news.mit.edu/2014/predicting-the-future-of-global-water-stress

http://wbi.worldbank.org/developmentmarketplace/idea/clean-water-riverbank-filtration

http://wbi.worldbank.org/developmentmarketplace/idea/clean-water-riverbank-filtration

IntroductionHousing is one of the basic needs of survival. The Indian construction industry is projected to contribute INR 11,954 billion by 2017 to the national GDP and provides employment to more than 45 million people either directly or indirectly [1]. However if we see the ecological picture in regards to the construction industry then currently the building industry contributes to 22% of carbon dioxide emissions. The annual energy consumed in India today is a whopping 250 Cr GJ of energy which is equivalent to burning of 15 Cr tons of coal. This requirement is expected to double by the year 2020. In order to address this serious problem, a new revolution is happening all over the world to provide alternative techniques of construction which are eco-friendly, which lead to conservation of natural resources, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and conserve energy in operating the building.

If we see the amount of energy that goes in the buildings then there are two components – Embodied energy and Operational Energy. Embodied Energy is the sum of all the energy required to produce any goods or services which accounts for energy used for raw material extraction, transport, manufacture, assembly, installation, disassembly, decomposition etc. This is an accurate measure in determining the life-cycle impact of any goods or services. Broadly speaking it has 3 components. Firstly the energy consumed in the production of basic building materials, secondly the energy needed for the transportation of the building materials and thirdly the energy required for assembling various materials to form the buildings. The operational Energy is something that is for service, maintenance and waste management.

B.V. Venkatarama Reddy and K.S. Jagdish [2] concludes in their paper that use of energy efficient alternative building technologies can result in considerable reduction in the embodied energy of the buildings. They concluded that Soil–cement block is the most energy efficient walling material and is the second best mortar material after LP mortars. They also mention that there is need to avoid Aluminum which has almost 6 times more embodied energy than steel and need to reduce transportation and relay on local resources & skills.

This paper presents the case study of the Govardhan Eco Village (GEV), a farm community and retreat center located 108 kms on the outskirts of Mumbai, where many of these low embodied energy housing alternatives were applied. Implementation of green buildings helped them in protecting the environment and reducing cost of materials due to signi�cant reduction in the embodied energy.

Govardhan Eco Village – A Case studyThe purpose of GEV is to highlight the importance of living in harmony with nature and using the gifts that Nature and God have bestowed upon us to serve the society by setting up a model farm community. At Govardhan Eco Village (GEV), we wanted to create

aesthetical and comfortable structures for the residents and guests, while not breaking the harmony with nature and our immediate surroundings. This entailed minimizing resource consumption, waste generation and overall adverse ecological impact. In order to achieve this goal, we wanted to go with a standardized model for Green Buildings which would uphold the balance of sustainability concept along with the community needs in the process of its construction. Hence we decided to conform to GRIHA norms, an initiative of The Energy Resource Institute (TERI). The GRIHA norms entails one to follow various criterions including preserve and protect the landscape and topsoil, reduce air pollution, reduce, recycle and reuse the water utilized for landscape and building construction, reduce the conventional energy demand either through optimal building design or by using low energy materials or by utilizing renewable energy, minimize waste and ozone depleting substances and minimize the depletion of the natural ecosystem etc.[3] In this way by following these norms, we found that we will be ful�lling our purpose of living in harmony with Nature and serving the society by creating an island of excellence for others.

Construction ProcessThe construction process we followed involved a thorough planning and zoning prior to the construction. Smart sourcing principles were followed in order to reduce the overall carbon foot print and hence 90% of the materials were sourced from within 100 kms radius of our facility. Construction activity was not allowed to spread all throughout the campus. It was restricted to only some areas with all the brick production units strategically placed near those areas to minimize transportation .Simple, natural mud was the key constituent of the construction material. Foundation was of stone masonry with stabilized mud mortar & concrete short poles (as bond stone). The door and windows were made of recycled wood. The walls were made of stabilized mud blocks, the details about which is given in the next section. The roof was made of arch panel with mud tiles, steel and Mangalore tiles (burnt clay tiles) Assembled arches were used in the construction of buildings which saves cost on RCC, saves cost on plastering ceiling with cement, saves wastes in plastering ceiling with cement as lot of cement falls down during plastering and provides more strength and stability. A sloped roof with double layer of Mangalore tiles (Burnt clay tiles) with an air gap between the two layers as insulation. It ensures that the temperature inside the room is moderate as compared to outside. In order to protect the existing ecology a fence was built around the trees and other important ecology.

Technology SpotlightOne of the Technologies utilized in constructing these buildings was the usage of Compressed Stabilized Earth Blocks (CSEB). The fundamental process for making these bricks is by compressing a combination of mud, stone dust and lime. Stabilization is achieved by 5-10% cement. The special feature of these bricks is that plastering and painting is not required. Only pointing is done to �ll the cavities between the brick layers. Moreover, lesser amount of

Low Embodied Energy Housing Alternatives at Govardhan Eco Village

Gauranga Das Presidential Board Member of Govardhan Eco Village, Galtare, Hamrapur (P.O), Wada (Taluka), Palghar (District) – 421303, Maharashtra, India

Original Research Paper Engineering

ABSTRACT Housing Industry although a signi�cant contributor to India's GDP and second largest facilitator of employment in the country also contributes signi�cantly to the consumption of energy and emission of carbon dioxide gases. In

order to resolve this problem green buildings with alternative low embodied energy housing materials are considered to be viable options. This paper presented a case study of Govardhan Eco Village where these low embodied energy housing materials and techniques were used for construction which not only led to conservation of energy but also lead to cost savings.

KEYWORDS : Sustainability, Green Housing, Mud Blocks, CSEBs, Waste Management

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energy is consumed in preparing the Compressed Stabilized Earth Blocks as against the modern day bricks used in construction. While typical brick wall takes 75 MJ of energy, CSEB wall at GEV takes just

20.275 MJ. Moreover, the strength of these bricks is around 65 Kg/ cm 2as against 40 Kg/ cm for conventional red bricks. Also the size

variation for these bricks is only 0-2 mm and is available in 8 possible shapes.

Cost Savings AchievedIn Govardhan Eco Village, Green Buildings following the GRIHA norms lead to cost savings both during the construction phase and post construction phase.

During the construction phase, there are various factors which lead to cost savings. The construction material used in green buildings in GEV is the CSEB blocks (Compressed Stabilized Earth Blocks). These bricks are made locally as against the conventional red bricks which are made somewhere else. Hence there is no transportation cost involved in making these bricks.

Moreover the process for making these bricks involved utilizing the local materials which are cheaper as compared to the primary ingredient coal used for making conventional red bricks. Approximately Rs. 1 gets saved per brick this way and around 2.5 lakhs bricks have been used in construction.

Another thing is that the CSEB blocks have a �x shape and moreover their width is around 7.5 feet as against the red bricks which are irregular in shape and also small. Due to this the number of joints and the mortar used for joining the bricks is very less. This further leads to saving of around 40% of cost for mortar, amounting up to 2.5 lakhs in our case.

Another advantage of implementing green buildings was that it didn't require plaster. Only pointing of the mortar was done on both sides of the bricks which further leads to savings of around 2.5 lakhs. Moreover paint was not at all used in the buildings as the CSEB blocks themselves gave a beautiful appearance. This further lead to savings of 10 lakhs of rupees. The structure of the green buildings is such that there is no usage of any columns or beams or slabs. The load is carried directly by the wall because of the high strength of the CSEB blocks. This further lead to savings of around 7-7.5 lakhs.

Another innovative feature of the CSEB blocks was that dust was used in it which is very cheap and is considered as waste materials (In 2010 it was considered as a waste material and was cheaply available) compared to sand. Sand costed around Rs. 50 per cubic feet while the dust costed only around Rs. 20 per cubic feet. GEV has used around 70,000 cubic feet in construction and that leads to huge cost savings. Also mud mortar is being used for all of the construction which further saved few lakhs of rupees. Following the GRIHA norms GEV involved local laborers more compared to laborers from outside which also lead to signi�cant cost savings.

During the construction phase the cement used had �y ash in it. The nature of such cement is that it uses less water. Also lot of water got conserved as there was no plaster or paint utilized for making the buildings. Hence approximately 25% of water usage gets reduced. In this way GEV saved almost 1 Cr of cost overall by following this whole process.

GEV has also installed an Eco-friendly sewage treatment plant in the campus called the Soil Bio Technology (SBT) plant. During the post construction phase of Green Buildings, this plant processes more than 95% of all the sewage water coming from these buildings, which amounts to 70,000 – 80,000 litres per day, and utilizes it for the irrigation of various agricultural crops in GEV. This saves around Rs. 105,000 in electricity costs annually, which would had been used for pumping equivalent amount of water. The bio-fertilizer produced as a byproduct through SBT amounts to 6 Metric Tons/ annum thus leading to saving cost of equivalent chemical fertilizers.

Also the CSEB blocks used in these buildings have special properties by which they remain hot in winter and cool in summer seasons. Hence almost 50% of cost is saved in electricity as there is no AC usage. Moreover the design of these green buildings facilitate natural lighting thus reducing the electricity cost further down.

ConclusionThe Ministry of New and Renewable Energy and TERI awarded the 5 Star Platinum GRIHA ratings to GEV for Green Buildings. Owing to this GEV has been invited to various conferences to present its case study on Green Buildings like the Indian Green Building Congress, Annual National GRIHA Summit etc. The green buildings are source of attraction for thousands of visitors from all over the world. Annually more than 15000 Visitors from all walks of life and from around the world come to GEV and stay in these green buildings and generate revenue for GEV. In this way GEV provides an excellent case study about the bene�ts of implementing Green Buildings in its campus.

References[1] Human Resource and Skill requirements in the Building Construction and Real Estate ��

Sector, NSDC Report, Volume 5[2] B.V. Venkatarama Reddy, K.S. Jagadish “Embodied energy of common and alternative ��

building materials and technologies”. Energy and Buildings 35: 129-137, 2003 [3] Griha Rating Criterion”,�� http://www.grihaindia.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=ar ticle&id=87,

Retreived 21st Feb 2

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Govardhan Eco VillageGuhir Road, Galtare Village, Wada (Taluka), Palghar, Maharashtra 421303, Indiawww.ecovillage.org.in

Govardhan Ecovillage (GEV) is a 90-acre sustainable farming community and retreat center located on the foothillsof the Sahyadhri Mountains, 108km north of Mumbai, India. GEV has implemented award winning greentechnologies there such as rain water harvesting, symbiotic waste recycling, alternative energies, green buildingtechnologies, organic agriculture and so on, thereby ensuring a minimum carbon footprint.

GEV is developed as a world-class retreat center that includes eco-friendly (CSEB) cottages offering luxury andcomfort, an Ayurvedic wellness center, conferencing facilities and meditation halls.

GEV has a Govardhan School of Yoga (GSY) which regularly attracts international students from over 25 countries.GEV offers certified month long residential Yoga Teachers Training Course there which not only enables one to learnand teach yoga, but also practice healthy eating, self-care through holistic-living, and meditation techniques fromthe bhakti tradition. The yoga teachers at GSY are qualified and highly experienced professionals, withspecializations in traditional Hatha and Ashtanga Yoga

GEV is located in the Wada region near Mumbai which is one of India’s most backward tribal regions facing poverty,illiteracy and malnutrition. GEV’s rural empowerment programme is

1. Providing sustainable livelihoods and employment2. Financing and training landless poor in non-farm enterprises 3. Skills development for over 1000 women to get alternate sources of income4. Free school lunches to 30,000 children to discourage school drop-outs5. Clean drinking water through 60 borewells to stop women walking 2 miles to fetch water6. Provision of non-toxic bio-fuel through bio-gas plants to 30 families7. Organic farming training to over 470 farmers with end-to-end support from sowing, harvesting to selling produce

All these initiatives have made Govardhan Ecovillage a hub for eco-tourism, yoga tourism and sustainable rural development.

2

3

GOVARDHAN ECOVILLAGE RECEIVED THE PRESTIGIOUS UNITED NATIONS AWARD

(UNWTO) FOR EXCELLENCE AND INNOVATION IN TOURISM IN NGO SECTOR

4

Govardhan Eco Village (GEV) Wins Top United Nations Award for Excellence and Innovation in Tourism,

First Ever Award for India in NGO Sector

Govardhan Eco Village received the top United Nations Award for having innovative initiatives of Sustainable

Tourism in India, the first time India has ever won the recognition in the Non-Governmental Organizations Sector.

Previous winners in the category include initiatives from Nepal, Amsterdam, Malaysia, Austria, Brazil, Australia,

Spain, Chile and Portugal.

Govardhan Eco Village walked away with the top honours at the annual United Nations World Tourism Organization

(UNWTO) Awards for Excellence and Innovation in Tourism presented on January 18, 2017 in Madrid, the capital of

Spain.

Govardhan Eco Village received the award for its path-breaking initiative of 'Eco Tourism as a catalyst for Rural

Development' in Wada, Maharashtra. The project has successfully linked the Tourism initiatives at GEV with

providing a sustainable life to the local tribal communities in the villages, thereby creating a model for

empowerment and development of the local tribal people in the area.

The UNWTO Awards for Excellence and Innovation in tourism is the flagship event for the global tourism sector.

Since 2003, this event seeks to highlight the work of organizations and individuals around the world that have

positively impacted and inspired the tourism sector through innovation and knowledge. The contributions of the

awardees are in lined with the policies, priorities and Programme of Work of UNWTO, including the Global Code of

Ethics for Tourism and the principles and standards set in the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. The

UNWTO has 157 countries as its member-states besides 6 associate members and over 500 affiliate members

representing the private sector, educational institutions, tourism associations and local tourism authorities. 5

GOVARDHAN ECOVILLAGE RECEIVED THEIGBC GREEN VILLAGE PLATINUM RATINGS

6

Govardhan Ecovillage Received the IGBC Green Platinum Ratings

Govardhan Ecovillage received the Indian Green Building Council (IGBC) GreenPlatinum Ratings during the Green Building Congress 2017 which took place onOctober 4th – 7th in Hotel Clarks Amer, Jaipur, India. Shri Gauranga Das, Director ofGovardhan Ecovillage, received this award from the hands of Mr. Gurmit Singh Arora,Co-Chair, IGBC Mumbai Chapter. Shri Gauranga Das was also one of the masterspeakers of the conference and shared the about the Sustainability Initiatives atGovardhan Ecovillage

The Green Building Congress is the largest event on green buildings in Asia and 2017was their 15th successful edition. Over 3000 participants attended this event withover 150 leading National and International experts shared their thoughts andperspectives on sustainable built environment. The Congress also hosted World GBCBoard Meeting and Annual Members Meet. The event attracted participation fromseveral countries including Singapore, Srilanka, Hong Kong, Australia, China, UK andUSA.

7

GOVARDHAN ECOVILLAGE RECEIVED THESPIRIT OF HUMANITY AWARDS

8

Govardhan Eco Village won the Spirit of Humanity Award

The 8th edition of the Spirit of Humanity awards was held on 14th Sept 2017,in a gala event at J W Marriott, Juhu, Mumbai. The event was organized byAmeriCares, a non-profit disaster relief and global health organization.Following a stringent 3-step evaluation process, spread over 6 months, thebest-in-class NGOs were identified from each zone. As the winner from theWest zone of India, Govardhan Ecovillage made it to the final round alongwith Harsha Trust (East), Don Bosco Tech Society (North) and Sevalaya(South). The final round involved each institute making a presentation to anesteemed jury who have evaluated the projects based on criterion likereplicability, scalability, innovation, future expansion plans, sustainability etc.

Dubbed as “From Suicide to Sweet-side”, the rural development projectreceived full honors from the jury and was declared the national winnerunder the Livelihood category. Receiving the award on behalf of GovardhanEcovillage and Sri Chaitanya Seva Trust were Shri Nimai Lila Das, MrVenkataramanan and Mr G Venkataraman.

9

GOVARDHAN ECOVILLAGE RECEIVED THE WATER DIGEST AWARD

IN THE “BEST WATER NGO – WATER EDUCATION”10

Govardhan Ecovillage (GEV) wins Water Digest Water Award

Govardhan Eco Village received the Water Digest Water Awards in the “Best Water NGO -Water Education” category. To commemorate World Water Day 2017, Water Digest inassociation with UNESCO, the Ministry of Water Resources & ASSOCHAM announced 11thWater Digest Water Awards to leading Organisations, Industry members & NGOs on the 22nd

March 2017. The ceremony took place in Hotel Jaypee Vasant Continental, Basant Lok, VasantVihar in New Delhi

Water Digest Water Awards (WDWA) is India’s premiere & one of the most illustriousplatforms to honor and appreciate outstanding and exceptional environmental initiatives andachievements. WDWA were conceived with a vision to awaken the Eco-consciousness inIndian industries and society as a whole. In the past, the award has been conferred uponorganizations like ITC Limited, NHPC, Grundfos, Pepsico, Hindustan Unilever, Philips, ITT, IonExchange, Pentair, Essar Steel etc. The award is judged by an eminent jury panel withmembers from IIT, TERI, & UNESCO.

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12

INTERNATIONAL GREEN WORLD AWARD FOR GEV SYMBIOTIC DEVELOPMENT

MODEL

Govardhan Eco Village won the Green World Environment Award 2016 in the

international campaign to find the world's greenest countries, companies and

communities. They competed against more than 500 other nominations in the

Green World Awards for Environmental Best Practice, and were presented with

their trophy and certificate at a glittering presentation in Bucheon, South Korea on

October 28, 2016. This recognition comes as a result of the environmental success

of their GEV Symbiotic Development Model

The awards are organised by The Green Organization, an international,

independent, non-political, non-profit environment group dedicated to recognizing,

rewarding and promoting environmental best practice around the world. They are

supported by the Environment Agency, the Chartered Institute of Environmental

Health, the Chartered Institution for Wastes Management and other independent

bodies.

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14

THE INTERNATIONAL BUILT ENVIRONMENT AND ARCHITECTURAL HERITAGE 2016

AWARD FOR GREEN BUILDINGS

Govardhan Eco Village (GEV) received the 2016 Green Apple Awards for Built

Environment & Architectural Heritage Award for it’s Green Building initiatives from the

Green Organization, UK, at a special ceremony on Monday August 8, 2016 at The Crystal,

London Docklands – regarded as the most sustainable events venue in the UK. During

that same ceremony GEV was also honored as the International Green World

Ambassadors. This recognition comes as a result of the environmental success of their

GEV SYMBIOTIC DEVELOPMENT MODEL Project.

The award judges commented: “As a model to demonstrate sustainable living, this

village is a prime example. Rural farming communities such as this are ideally placed to

find alternative avenues for what would usually be waste and they have combined

traditional use of animal power with 21st century solar power to create a community

which lives in harmony with its environment.”

15

GREEN APPLE ENVIRONMENT

AWARD IN GOLD

CATEGORY AS GREENEST

COMMUNITY PROJECT

16

INTERNATIONAL GREEN APPLE AWARD FOR SYMBIOTIC DEVELOPMENT MODEL

Govardhan Eco Village (GEV), won the Green Apple Environment Award in Gold category in

the international campaign to find the greenest companies, councils and communities. This

recognition comes as a result of the environmental success of their GEV Symbiotic

Development Model. GEV was presented with their trophy and certificate at a glittering

presentation ceremony in the Houses of Parliament, London on Monday, November 16 2015

The Green Apple Awards began in 1994 and have become established as UK’s major

recognition for environmental endeavor among companies, councils, communities and

countries. The Green Apple Awards are supported by the Environment Agency, the Chartered

Institute of Environmental Health, the Chartered Institution for Wastes Management and

other independent bodies. The Green Apple Awards campaign was one of the first to be

accepted by Britain’s RSA Environmental Awards Forum as meeting the high standards and

criteria to be approved as an automatic conduit into the Brussels-led European Business

Awards for the Environment

17

SKOCH RENAISSANCE AWARD FOR WATER

CONSERVATION

18

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SKOCH PLATINUM AND RENAISSANCE AWARD FOR WATER CONSERVATION

Mr. Gauranga Das, President, Govardhan Eco Village was honored with the SKOCH

Platinum and Renaissance Award 2013 for the Water Conservation project from the

Finance Minister of India Mr. P Chidambaram, Mr. Montek Singh Alhuwalia Chairman

Planning Commission of India, Mr. U K Sinha Chairman Securities Exchange Board of

India and Mr. Sameer Kochhar Chairman Skoch Foundation.

SKOCH Awards enjoy the distinction of having instituted some of the oldest, most

prestigious independent civilian honors in India. SKOCH Awards have no sponsor

driven agenda, are unaided and are based on a fair process that salute the “extra

ordinary” that go extra mile to make India a better nation. These are conferred on

the well known and common citizen alike.

Other industry leaders who received the awards include:- Dr. Rajiv B Lall Chairman

Infrastructure Development Finance Company (IDFC), Ms. Naina Lal Kidwai Managing

Director Asia Pacific HSBC Bank, Mr. Ashish Kumar Chauhan CEO Bombay Stock

Exchange, Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance Co Ltd, AISECT Education

21

5 STAR PLATINUM GRHA RATINGS FOR GREEN BUILDINGS GIVEN BY MINISTRY FOR NEW AND

RENEWABLE ENERGY AND TERI22

5 STAR RATINGS BY MINISTRY OF NEW AND RENEWABLE ENERGY AND TERI FOR GREEN

BUILDING CONSTRUCTION

GEV (Govardhan Eco Village) received a 5 star ratings for its Green Buildings along with three

other projects at the 5th GRIHA (Green Rating for Integrated Habitat Assessment) summit, a

three-day flagship event of ADaRSH conducted in association with TERI and Ministry of New and

Renewable Energy (MNRE), Government of India at India Habitat Centre, New Delhi.

GRIHA, National Green building Rating System of India, is a rating tool that helps people assess

the performance of their building against certain nationally acceptable benchmarks. The GRIHA

structure on the entire process of construction results in habitat that are rooted in surroundings,

ecologically susceptible and in sync with socio-political background.. GEV has been awarded 100

points (96 awarded+ 4 innovations) by the evaluation committee of ADaRSH (Association of

Development and Research of Sustainable Habitats) on providing necessary documentation and

demonstrating compliance with mandatory criterion under GRIHA; first building to score 100

points in the GRIHA rating in last 5 years.

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24

AQUA EXCELLENCE AWARD FOR ‘Outstanding Contribution towards cause of Sustainability”

The “Aqua Excellence Award” , the highest award is given by Aqua Foundation to itsmembers, stakeholders and contributors in recognition of their outstanding achievementsin the field of water, environment, energy, earth sciences, atmospheric sciences, planetarysciences, pollution control and sustainability solutions.

The IX World Aqua Congress was organized centered on the theme of reviving traditional

water resources and environment conservation techniques. The conference took place on

November 26, 2015 and November 27, 2015 at the India Habitat Centre, New Delhi. During

the Congress, Govardhan Eco Village received the prestigious Aqua Excellence Award in the

category for its ‘Outstanding Contribution towards cause of Sustainability – Social Sector’.

The award was given by the Hon’ble Minister for Water Resources, River Development and

Ganga Rejuvenation, Ms. Uma Bharti to Shri Gauranga Das, President of GEV. The

conference was attended by various corporate heads, Government authorities, university

professors, NGOs etc.

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AQUA EXCELLENCE AWARD FOR PROTECTION OF QUALITY AND SUPPLY OF FRESH

WATER RESOURCES

Every year the Aqua Foundation Group organizes the World Aqua Congress (WAC) on a

theme related to environment and invites excerpts of papers from speakers from all over

India. During the X World Aqua Congress in the year 2016, ISKCON GEV was awarded

with the prestigious Aqua Excellence Award in the category of ‘Protection of the

Quality and Supply of Freshwater Resources’. Nimailila Das, Chief Sustainability Officer,

GEV received this award from Mrs. Sunita Narain, Director General of Center for Science

and Environment (CSE) and Editor, Down to Earth Magazine. The X World Aqua Congress

was centered on the theme of ‘’Water: Smart Solutions for Growing India’’on the 24th

November 2016 at India Habitat Centre, New Delhi.

The “Aqua Excellence Awards” are the highest awards given by Aqua Foundation to its

members, stakeholders and contributors in recognition of their outstanding

achievements in the field of water, environment, energy, earth sciences, atmospheric

sciences, planetary sciences, pollution control and sustainability solutions.

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IAA OLIVE CROWN AWARDS FOR CREATIVE EXCELLENCE IN COMMUNICATING

SUSTAINABILITY

Apar Industries Ltd. & Govardhan Eco Village received the “Corporate Social

Crusader of the Year 2015” award for the Corporate Social Investment initiative

within the GEV community and the reach and impact it has created.

The award was given by the International Advertising Association -India Chapter

which has instituted the Olive Crown Awards to encourage and espouse the cause

of companies with a sense of communicating sustainability. The award ceremony

was held in Mumbai on 27th March, 2015.

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GEV IN LIMCA BOOK OF WORLD RECORDS FOR INNOVATIVE AGRICULTURE

PRACTICES

Govardhan Ecovillage has been listed in the prestigious Limca Book of Records for

its agricultural innovation in restoring wasteland into a cultivable vegetable

garden. Started in 2014, this project to revive a 4-acre piece of waste land had an

extra challenge – it was on a slope. So measures had to be taken to avoid any form

of soil erosion

By systematically using biomass and vermicompost the soil was restored and by a

series of plantations of grasses like lemon-grass and kusa the soil erosion is being

prevented. Today varieties of vegetables like cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, bottle

gourd and spinach are being grown there

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ASIA LEADERSHIP CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY AWARD

Govardhan Eco Village(GEV) has bagged the Asian Leadership Corporate Social

Responsibility(CSR) award for “Best Overall Sustainable Performance”

Asian Leadership CSR Awards are given for Corporate Social Responsibility indifferent categories such as Rural Development, Healthcare Excellence, Education,Women Empowerment, Community Development, Sustainable Business Practicesetc. Asian sustainability leadership awardThe Asian Sustainability LeadershipAwards is the leading industry event recognizing and rewarding outstandingachievement in Sustainability in the built environment and are a key benchmark forachieving best practice in the sector.

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GOLDEN GLOBE TIGERS AWARD FOR INTEGRATED WATER

CONSERVATION AND PROTECTION SCHEME

Govardhan Eco Village (GEV) was awarded the “Best Green Water Stewardship

Award”. The award was conferred upon GEV in recognition of the novel integrated

water conservation and protection scheme in GEV and that enables to conserve

lakhs of liters of water. These awards have been instituted by the World Corporate

Social Responsibility Congress (World CSR Congress). The award ceremony was

held in Kuala Lumpur on 25th March, 2015.

World CSR Congress also acknowledged the contribution of HH Radhanath Swami

by rating him as one of World’s 50 most talented Sustainability leaders. Similarly

HG GaurangaDasa was nominated as World’s 50 most talented Green leaders

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INVITED TO PRESENT THE

GEV MODEL AT NATIONAL

THINKERS & WRITERS

FORUM 2013, MUMBAI

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MR. GAURANGA DAS, DIRECTOR, GEV, INVITED AS KEY NOTE SPEAKER IN CII’S WASTE

MANAGEMENT SEMINAR, DELHI37

MR. GAURANGA DAS, DIRECTOR GEV PRESENTING C2C MODEL FOR WASTE MANAGEMENT IN FICCI’S

LIFECYCLE ASSESSMENT CONFERENCE, BANGALORE

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GEV INVITED TO SHARE ITS BEST PRACTICES IN INDIAN GREEN BUILDINGS CONGRESS, HYDERABAD, ASIA’S

LARGEST GREEN BUILDING CONFERENCE39

INTEGRATED WATER CONSERVATION AND PROTECTION SCHEME FOR RURAL LOCATIONS – A CASE STUDY AT

GOVARDHAN ECOVILLAGE PRESENTED IN CII’S WATER CONCLAVE, MUMBAI

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MR. GAURANGA DAS, DIRECTOR, GEV PRESENTING LOW EMBODIED ENERGY HOUSING ALTERNATIVES IN FICCI’S

LIFECYCLE ASSESSMENT CONFERENCE, DELHI

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GEV INVITED TO SHARE ITS WATER TREATMENT TECHNIQUES IN NATIONAL

WATER CONFERENCE, AHMEDABAD42

INTERNATIONAL ADVERTIZERS ASSOCIATION OLIVE CROWN AWARD FOR ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY

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Listed Among Top Agricultural Innovators in India based on a Survey conducted by the Ministry of Agriculture

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VRUKSHAVALLI HORTICULTURE AWARDS FOR 30 BEST NURSERY PLANTS

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HH Radhanath Swami rated as one of World’s

50 most talented Sustainability leaders.HG Gauranga Dasa nominated as World’s 50

most talented Green leaders

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THANK YOU

THANK YOU

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Documents

Rural Development Department Sri Chaitanya Seva Trust