Water for All’s Jaldoot project in the state of Maharashtra in India has been undertaken in cooperation with partner organization Sevavardhini. The Hindi word ‘Jaldoot’ literally means ‘water messenger’.
The project revolved around a number of villages in Maharashtra. This semi-arid region is drought-prone and has seen a number of tragic farmer suicides in the past years, due to recurrent low rainfall. These have also resulted in the depletion of ground water, which is the major source of water, especially for drinking. Water for All India took on the challenge to make a difference to the community, identifying more than 27 villages, with a total population of around 50,000 people. Provision of drinking water is the project’s main deliverable but also to initiate and foster community-developed water resource development and conservation plans. This is meant to help reduce over-dependency on the monsoon for agriculture, which is the region’s main source of employment and income. In concrete output 30 practical interventions have been done, such as repairing or preparation of bunds and different kinds of water harvesting methods. The project started in September 2015 and ended in June 2017. It was implemented in honor of Sune Carlsson, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Atlas Copco Group between 2003 and 2014.