Action Research 

Villages covered under Action Research are: 

1. Chincholi (Western Maharashtra):  The Watershed lies in the drought prone area (rain shadow region) of Maharashtra and therefore only receives scarce monsoons with an average of 578 mm per year. During summer there is an acute shortage of drinking water. Drought condition in the last five years (except 1996) fostered this situation. The Chincholi Watershed is located in Parner taluka (8km), 55 km from the district place Ahmednagar. The total Watershed covers an area of 1319 ha of which 73% are private land and 27% common or forestland. The Watershed is undulating with less soil in the ridges and deep soil in the lower catchment areas. Chincholi, Pimpalgaon and parts of Punewadi, Sherikoldhara and Wadjhire belong to the Watershed.  
    

2. Darewadi (Western Maharashtra): Watershed is located in the Sangamner taluka of the Ahmednagar district. The two villages of Darewadi and Shelkewadi form the Watershed community of the Darewadi Watershed, with altogether 7 different hamlets and a population of 921 (131 households). A high percentage of the population of Shelkewadi belongs to the shepherd community.
    

         The village is lies very interior; the State Transport facility is at a distance of 6 km, connected by a mud road. The market place is 8 km away, and there is one grocery shop in Shelkewadi as well as 2 flour mills in Darewadi. Two kindergartens (Anganwadis) and 2 primary schools (up to 4th standard) are situated in the Watershed. 

    

        The Watershed is in the rain shadow region in Maharashtra, so the rainfall-average is only 282.54 mm per year. The intensity of the rain is high and erratic which results in a high runoff of the top-layer soil on the barren hills. The rainy season starts in the last week of June and ends in the beginning of October. In summer the temperature goes up to 40O -44O Celsius, in winter down to 7.3O Celsius.    
    

3. Dongaon (South-Eastern Maharashtra): The Dongaon Watershed is situated in the Biloli taluka of Nanded district in the Marathwada region of Maharashtra. This region was a part of the erstwhile Nizam’s State and became a part of the then Bombay State after the Reorganisation in 1956. When the Bombay State was bifurcated into Maharashtra and Gujrat in 1960, Nanded district became a part of Maharashtra and so the borders of the three States viz.; Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, meet at the south of Nanded, giving it a very distinctive cultural character.  
     

4. Jadagon (Group Watershed in North-West Maharashtra):    The Jadgaon group watershed is located 25 km east of the district town Aurangabad city on the Jalna road. It is agro-climatically located in an arid zone with severe droughts a common feature. The Jadgaon group of  watershed project comprises of five villages, namely Jadgaon, Mangrul, Hivra, Ladgaon and Tongaon. The annual average rainfall in this area is 736 mm with the result that the village goes scarce of its drinking waters during the non-monsoon periods. During the 1993-95 drought, the villages were dependent on government provided tanker for its drinking water requirements.  
    

5. Mandwa (North-East Maharashtra): Mandwa is located in the Hingna taluka in Nagpur district, and lies nearly 40 km away from the district headquarters. Mandwa is one village without any separate hamlets. The village is connected by only a ‘kuccha’   road and the nearest ‘pucca’(all-weather) road is around 4 km away (Nagaziri) from the village. Mandwa lacks many basic amenities like a Primary Health Centre, potable water, and transportation facilities. There is one kindergarten (balwadi) and one school up to the 4th standard in the village.  
    

6. Talawali (Westcoast Maharashtra): Talawali was one of the first villages under the IGWDP. The village is located in Palghar taluka of Thane district, off the Bombay-Ahmedabad highway. The village is populated by tribal groups, the main being Malharkoli. The area of the Watershed is only 640 hectares and the population 1385 (178 families). The main occupation is agriculture with 55% of the area under the plough.  

In conducting the study, it was kept in mind that ‘Development has got a face and so any development should build on and start with individuals on the micro level, because it is also them who have to initiate and carry on with the changes. However, the role of the individual has to be understood within the overall framework of the village structure. So the upmost focus of the Action Research Programme was to focus on the individual, but within the context of the surrounding  dynamics of the groups within the village.  

The Study adopted a variety of methods to collect the data.  These included a qualitative data collection (lifestories), a quantitative approach, focus group discussions, Participatory Rural Appraisal and semi structured interviews with the NGO. The first two approaches adopted a stratified random sampling in which were the households were divided into various categories depending upon their land holding. A sample of 20% was identified of each Watershed population. For the qualitative study, in addition to adopting the above criteria, it was also ensured that a fair representation of backward castes, women and other marginal groups were included.