Bundelkhand: Building on Partnership
Working in one of the most backward regions of the country, guiding farmers to build resources and infrastructure, using the latest technological advances to help farmers, PRADAN, in partnership with local NGOs, is supporting the transformation of barren lands into fertile fields as well as infusing confidence in farmers about self sufficiency
The Dry Lands Of Bundelkhand—a Brief Background
G eographically, the region of Bundelkhand is the centre of India and, therefore, has played an important part in the history of the country. It covers six districts in north Madhya Pradesh—MP—(Datia, Tikamgarh, Chhatarpur, Panna, Sagar and Damoh) and seven districts in south Uttar Pradesh—UP—(Jhansi, Lalitpur, Jalaun, Hamirpur, Mahoba, Banda and Chitrakoot). It is located in the central Hindi belt, south of the Yamuna, between the fertile Gangetic plains, stretching across northern Uttar Pradesh and the highlands of central Madhya Pradesh.
Once considered a prosperous region, this is now one of the most backward regions in the country. Prolonged drought, low industrial growth, rampant poverty and apathy of the administration have forced the people to migrate from this region. Since early 1960s, there has been discontent in the area; and there has been a call to establish a separate state of Bundelkhand.
The Bundelkhand region is drained by a number of rivers of the Yamuna river system. The main rivers are Yamuna in the north, Ken in east, and Betwa and Pahuj in the west. River Yamuna flows from west to east and its first order tributaries—Betwa, Ken, Pahuj, Baghain and Paisuni flow from south to north. Also flowing along the west are the Sindh and the Chambal rivers whereas Narmada flows in the south. Betwa, Ken and Pahuj are the main rivers; their seasonal fluctuations, however, are very great. For example, the average annual discharge of Ken is around 800 cusecs; in winter it falls to around 300 cusecs, and it dwindles to practically nothing in May. Such fluctuations undermine the security of irrigation.