Mazhapolima Rain Bounty · rain, first rain is flushed out along with impurities; then water...

Rain BountyRain Bounty2008-2016 Album

MazhapolimaDistrict Rainwater Harvesting MissionDistrict Collectorate, Ayyanthole P.O, Thrissur District,

Kerala, India Pin 680 003. Phone: 0487 2363616

Mazhapolima

KERALA STATE - INDIA

Basic FactsRain Fall : 3000mm

No. of Households : 7.5million

No. of Dug Wells : 6.5 million

Population : 34.8 million2Land Area : 38,863 km

Rain, the Gift of nature. We enjoy the incessant rain but often we ignore to save this gift

for tommorrow. It is in this context, Mazhapolima initiative of Thrissur District

Administration (Goverment of Kerala) reaches out to the people and becomes a boon to

them. In the rainy seasons, the roof top rain water is led through pipes with a filter at the

end, filtered rain water is led to open dug wells to replenish the aquifers. This is

Mazhapolima well recharge programme. In such recharged wells, even in scorching

summers availability of adequate water is a proven fact. Not only the abundance of

water, In coastal areas it helps to reduce the salinity, turbidity and color of water from

the wells, and provides pure and clear water. The roof top is cleaned before the first

rain, first rain is flushed out along with impurities; then water harvested will be pure.

Around 70% of the houses in Kerala depend on dug wells for their drinking water. The

proposed solution to deal with the district’s water woes was a logical extension of this –

divert rainwater from roof tops to dug wells within the premises.

Thus 'Mazhapolima' meaning 'bounty of rain' was born. Thiruvilwamala Gram

Panchayat was the first in the state to experiment with ‘Mazhapolima’, which was

floated as a participatory effort at groundwater recharge using shallow dug wells.

Arghyam Trust Banglore, India, District Rainwater Harvesting Mission ,Government of

Kerala, Local Governments, Private Agencies and Beneficiary households are some of

the institutions that support us.

Mazhapolima

MazhapolimaDistrict Rainwater Harvesting Missionwww.mazhapolima.org

Message

The scarcity of water during summer is a regular phenomenon

across the state. Though a lot of agencies and departments are in

the field to mitigate the drought situation, no substantial

improvement is noticed during the yester years. The District Rain

water Harvesting Mission (Mazhapolima ) envisages raising of

the ground water table of the water sources is a replicable mode

of water conservation which can be emulated anywhere.

The Roof water harvesting is a unique device for channeling

water to the open dug wells for recharging Ground water table.

The method adopted in Mazhapolima is as simple as a technique

which can be executed even by a layman. The community based

conscientisation will make strides in confronting water crisis of

the state. I hope Mazhapolima has a major role in conserving

water through the scheme by the localized and affordable

methods.

Dr. A. Kowsigan IAS

District Collector & Chairman Mazhapolima

MazhapolimaDistrict Rainwater Harvesting Mission

The Thrissur District Administration (Government of Kerala,

India) together with the Panchayathi Raj Institutions (Local

Self Governments) of the district jointly launched a well

recharge programme through roof rainwater harvesting by

name, 'Mazhapolima' means “bountiful rain” in 2008 when

Dr.V.K.Baby IAS was the District Collector, Thrissur. 70% of

the population in the district depends on an approximate

4.5 lakh open wells in Thrissur district for their domestic

water needs. A vast percentage of these wells are non

perennial and unsustainable. An attempt is made to

recharge these wells through 'Mazhapolima well recharge'

programme through roof rainwater harvesting and make

these sustainable both in terms of quality and quantity.Major Objectives in the two phases


Thrissur District is located in the Kerala state of Indian

Peninsula at the south western corner. Kerala state has

three physiographaic areas such as coastal low lands near

the Arabian Sea, midland planes and the high & sloppy

landscape in the eastern boundary hills. Ground water table

at the shallow aquifers fluctuates between less than

2 meters to even nearer to 15 meters during pre monsoon

and post monsoon rainfall periods.

Main rainfall season is June, July and October, November.

Summer begins from January till May. Light Summer

showers falls during March to May.


The Thrissur District had one ground water over exploited

block called Kodungallur and four other semi critical zones

(Mathilakam, Mala, Thalikulam and Ollukara blocks) as per

the Central Ground Water Board parameters. Now after the

introduction of Mazhapolima Well recharging scheme in

the Kodungallur block, the status of over exploited block

turned down into Critical block

The ProblemKerala households were self reliant with homestead dug

wells till the introduction of modern supply system. When

the state government started intervening the supply of,

domestic and irrigation water to the households, traditional

wisdom of conserving the dug wells becomes obsolete.

Coupled with climate changes and irregular monsoon

rainfalls, about the two third strength of dug wells in the

state becomes either dry or polluted particularly during

summer. The coastal wells are seen saline ingress shown

below.

As per the estimates of Centre for Water Resources

Development and Management (CWRDM) Kozhikode –

Kerala State Water Research Agency- there are about 65

Lakh wells in the state in which two third majority of this are

seasonal wells. State government pumping money to

combat drought situations every year. And to combat this,

Thrissur District Administration tried to make humble

attempt in association Arghyam Trust Banglore since 2009.

This is a story of Rain Bountry – Mazhapolima Open Well

Recharging through rainwater harvesting, being scaled up

into all districts of the state, learning the experience from

Thrissur District. It all happened when Dr.V.K.Baby IAS took

charge as District Collector and likeminded people joined

under the banner of District Collector to have a water

movement that is known as Mazhapolima.

Water solution:The technology adopted for the Mazhapolima programme is

mainly the roof water harvesting for open well recharging.

As mentioned above, households in Kerala mainly depend

upon homestead open dug wells than the inefficient public

water supply systems. However, ground water depletion in

general calls forth large scale replenishment of unconfined

aquifers from where open dug wells make avail water in

Kerala. The pictures below shown how the roof water is

collected from the roof top and filtered before injecting down

to dug wells. While doing so a fresh water zone is formed at

the source of dug wells. The cost for such well recharging is

about INR 6000(nearly $100)


Before Recharging After Recharging


Well recharging can be done from run offs available in the homesteads, leading rainwater to percolate down in the premises of wells. It has been taken under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme (MGNREGP).

Also well recharging can be done with first flush valve to clear out the dirt over the roof. First Flush is meant for first rain or rain after the intermittent gaps of rain. It is user friendly. A user can operate this valve to separate out the roof dirt if any. Also the first flush valve can be directed to a percolation pit so as to percolate the rainwater into premises of wells that would in turn recharge the unconfined aquifer of the well underneath. To affirm the sides of the pit, a cement ring can be fixed around the percolation pit.


Harvesting rainwater under the coconut tree and in the

garden by building check bund and contour trenches is

another form well recharging easily possible in Kerala

conditions.

Implementation Process:Once the hot spots of water scarcity and contaminated

areas are located, it is the first step to talk about well

recharging the local stakeholders in the presence of Grama

Pancahayat members.

Thereafter, Grama Panchayat level awareness building is

conducted on the subject before the implementation of well

recharging scheme. Grama Panchayat Presidents are

requested to execute agreements with District Collector for

the proper implementation of the scheme. Mazhapolima

plumbers install the well recharge system.


Information, Education and Communication (IEC)Intensive IEC programmes have been held to adopt well

recharging programme by people themselves at their cost.

Appropriate methods suited to their land terrain can be

applied to recharge the wells. The dessimination of well

recharging methods are through IEC campaigns. Various

tools of IEC have been made use. School and college level

campaign along with implementation of the Mazhapolima

units are one among the prominent methods of IEC.


College level classes as well as Teacher Trainings on the

subject added more strength to the campaigns from the

grassroots levels.

Exhibitions Mazhapolima exhibition pavilion was one of the attractions

in the Thrissur Pooram Exhibition which will be held every

year before Thrissur Pooram prolongs for nearly 2 months.

The major attraction behind this is the free water quality

test held in the pavilion in association with CCDU,

Trivandrum.

Posters and StickersPosters in Malayalam language (local language) were

affixed every nook and corners of the district and beyond the

district particularly in the government offices where large

number of people come across or gather together. The

poster given above is about the technique of Mazhapolima

which is self explanatory. Similarly, the stickers on the theme

like “ Well Recharging is done in the Well of this house” and

“Water availed in this house is collected through Well

Recharging” were affixed on the doors and walls of houses

where Mazhapolima unit is installed. This is to give

information for the visitors to this house about the well

recharging. It includes the phone number of Mazhapolima

office so as to call up office if any repair required.

Road Shows & RalliesRoad shows highlighting the need of well recharging is

mounted upon the vehicle were shown to the public during

Onam festival Rallies conducted by District Administration.

This was repeated in number of years.



Training for Women Plumbers: Kudumbasree is a Gender

Movement promoted by State Government. Kudumbasree

members were given plumbing so as to equip them to install

Mazhapolima units locally. Such members from

Vadakkanchery and Pazhayannur blocks that consists of 12

Grama Panchayats were given training in 6 training

programmes. This has been repeated in nearby districts like

Malappuram. They were made use for implementation.

Research

The Water samples from mazhapolima installed wells were

tested before and after the implementation of Well

Recharging of particular wells. And water samples are

tested during and pre and post monsoon rainfall periods as

to assess the impact of the scheme at the local level.


Some of the schools were given the task of taking rainfall

data using simple rain gauges. This was to assess and

compare the local rainfall data with IMD data from

Government. Centre for Water Resources Development

and Management (CWRDM) which is premier water

research agency of Government of Kerala conducted

scientific research analysis and the Impact Assessment

about the Mazhapolima project sites. CWRDM ascertained

that Mazhapolima scheme is found improving the ground

water table scenario of the local areas and recommended

to replicate and scale up to all districts of the Kerala state.

District Rainwater Harvesting Mission alias Mazhapolima locates in District Collectorate

Mazhapolima II phase was initiated from February 2013

with the continued support of Arghyam Trust Banglore.

Remarkable changes happened in this phase was placing

the Project Management Unit into the District Collectorate

office, Thrissur. This has facilitated the government's

genuine interest in the Mazhapolima movement. The

scheme Mazhapolima was then brought under the

registered society called District Rainwater Harvesting

Mission in which District Collector is the Chairperson. This

was made possible with the concerned effort of P.M.Francis

IAS, District Collector during 2012-2013 and Arghyam

Grants Manager Manohar Rao.

This face was witnessed with the influx of visitors from other districts to Mazhapolima sites to replicate the same in their own districts.


Visitors were showing their interest in the beginning of the

project period also during 2009. Unicef had shown interest

in the subject and arranged a Mazhapolima Water Solution

Workshop at Kerala Institute of Local Administration during

June 2009.Vulnerable groups were given particular focus in the implementation of the project.


Mazhapolima Units Across Kerala State

Pathanamthitta 01%

Alleppy 01%

Ernakulam 01%

Kozhikode 03%

Kottayam 02%

Kollam 10%

Palakkad 02%

Malappuram 05%

Thrissur 75%


Mazhapolima Units Implemented outside Thrissur District

Pathanamthitta

Alleppy

Ernakulam

Kozhikode

Kottayam

Kollam

Palakkad

Malappuram

0 10 20 30 40 50

Mazhapolima Units Implemented outside Thrissur District-Source of Fund

60

50

40

30

20

10

0

MGNREGP*

IWMP*

Govt./

Plan f

und

Wester

n Gha

ts

Priva

te

World B

ank

NABAR

D*

* MGNREGP : Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme

* IWMP : Integrated Watershed Development Programme

* NABARD : National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development


Recognitions

Mazhapolima won the best NGO award for Rainwater Harvesting at UNESCO sponsored Water Digest Award during 2010-2011.

World Water Council recognized Mazhapolima as the Outstanding Water Showcase in the 7th World Water Forum held at Deague, South Korea April 2015.

MazhapolimaDistrict Rainwater Harvesting MissionDistrict Collectorate, Ayyanthole P.O, Thrissur District,

Kerala, India Pin 680 003. Phone: 0487 2363616

www.mazhapolima.org

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