Reliance Foundation's video: Reliance Foundation: Water - Reconstructing Lives

Belwadi village in Parbhani District, Maharashtra, stands in stark contrast to many other villages in India which lack water. Today the village has sufficient water for its needs, but it wasn’t always so. A drought resulted in overuse of groundwater, leading to depletion of this precious resource. The agricultural land soon became infertile and without sufficient water for irrigation, the farmers were pushed into debt. the issue of water scarcity was brought to the fore by the villagers. Accordingly, it was decided that an old dam in the village would be reconstructed so it could harvest rain water. This water harvesting structure helped to recharge the groundwater level. Once water became abundantly available, the fate of the farmers changed. They could easily grow crops which increased their incomes, enabling them to live debt free lives.