Coming from a small village named Dhamangaon in Maharashtra, IRS officer Ujjwal Chavan always had a desire to return back all the happiness the village gave him during his childhood. After becoming a civil servant, he had that thing in his mind and was just waiting for the right time to implement his ideas.
It was in 2016 when the village recorded its very first suicide case. The case was tragic as the victim (farmer) took the extreme step due to the issue of water scarcity which has been prevailing in the village for the past two decades. The debt-ridden farmer was finding every possible way to generate income from his 40-acre farm, but the dry local river and insufficient rainfall in the area was stopping him from getting any results.
Mr. Chavan, currently posted as the Joint Commissioner of Income Tax in Mumbai, was shocked by the tragic news. The farmer’s suicide ignited his desire to strengthen his roots and plan for the benefits of the farmers in his ancestral village.
WATER CONSERVATION PROJECT
After the shocking incident, the officer observed the dissent shown by the farmers, as their subsequent protests. This ignited the fire inside the officer which was there since the time he joined civil services.
Within a year of the incident, Mr Chavan launched a water conservation project to deal with water scarcity, rejuvenate the water body and improve the groundwater tables in his village. Despite being an officer serving the revenue department, Mr. Chavan went beyond his duty and took a step that would not only help the farmers of his village but would serve as a role model for farmers all across the country.
The work started with the mobilization of villagers and construction of water reservoirs and small dams on rivulets. Mr Chavan used to take stock of the work by visiting the village on weekends. While speaking to the media, Mr. Chavan said “We have created 62 small dams through which a surface water reservoir of 200 million litres of water has been formed. This reservoir will aid the area’s water need for 10 months and after every rainfall the groundwater level will be get recharged to the level of saturation.”
IMPLEMENTING THE IDEA IN OTHER VILLAGES
The noble idea was not only implemented in Mr Chavan’s native place, but it was also replicated to 16 other villages of Jalgaon district, making them drought free within the next three years. The idea has benefitted more than 30,000 farmers in the district. Apart from him, various other stakeholders like the district administration, tehsildars, NGOs and school teachers, made the implementation possible.
His vision towards the project is to implement it in all the 65 villages in the district and create a five-billion-liter surface water reservoir to make the whole district drought-free within two years. For this, Mr Chavan is also training other people who will empower more people in the coming time.
OFFICER’S BACKGROUND
The desire of helping the farmers in his village came from Mr Chavan’s deep connection of being raised in a farmer’s family. His father was a farmer and his mother was a school teacher. Therefore, he was exposed to both the poor farming conditions as well as the importance of education. His love for studying did not stop after cracking one of the toughest competitive exams in the country (UPSC), but he continued pursuing various courses for having a broader perspective at things and gaining more knowledge.
Before clearing UPSC in 2010, Mr. Chavan completed him MBBS. He has also studied Master of Arts in Economics, Master’s in business law, and Taxation (MBTL), and is now pursuing Bachelors in Law.
