The Western Region team of RAF Global in India undertook significant groundwork before initiating rainwater conservation work in the Barmer district, to address the scarcity of drinking water for 148 families, and scaling up incrementally. 

Barmer district is largely arid, known for its dryness, extreme temperature and erratic rainfall.  Drought is a recurrent phenomenon with the region experiencing drought once in every 3 years. In such extreme conditions, water becomes the most precious lifeline for survival. People spend a large portion of their annual income to purchase potable water for their families. Though most of the community members have water tanks (tankas), over a period of time, most of them are not in a usable condition and cannot store enough rainwater due to the damaged catchment areas. Most of the families cannot afford the cost of re-construction. As a result, these families end up buying drinking water for 6-8 months, spending about INR 8000 to 10,000/- per year.

RAF Global is committed to reaching out the most marginalised sections of the society and addressing critical issues pertaining to their lives and livelihoods. RAF  Global identifies beneficiaries through a series of community consultations and consensus building in order to zero down on the most needy to redevelop the Tankas.

As part of the reconstruction of drinking water assets, catchment area of tankas are expanded up to 12 ft diameter. This enhanced catchment helps in harvesting more rainwater and storing them in tankas. The Tankas thus reconstructed currently meets the drinking water requirements of households for 7-8 months enabling them a savings of Rs. 8,000-10,000 a year.

With this programme, 148 tankas that were earlier lying defunct, are revived now with low-cost intervention. These structures are effectively meeting the requirements of 740 beneficiaries, for safe drinking and domestic purposes. The programme is ongoing and tries to reach maximum beneficiaries in the long run.

• Ensuring drinking water security for most marginalised communities in Thar Desert Region
• Strengthening centuries-old traditional water harvesting structures for addressing drinking water problems in Rajasthan