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Project Document
A 3a Andhra Pradesh Groundwater Borewell Irrigation Schemes (APWELL)
Project
APWELL, funded by Netherlands Government, aimed at improving living conditions of small
and marginal farmers by providing borewell schemes, in seven districts viz., Anantapur,
Chittoor, Cuddapah, Kurnool, Mahbubnagar, Nalgonda and Prakasam, of Andhra Pradesh
and was completed in 2002. The main aim of the project is fulfilled to a large extent with
visible impact on living conditions of small and marginal farmers, increased agriculture
production and existence of strong people’s institutions.
Environmentally sound intervention was the main strategy adopted by the project through
strict site selection procedures. However, mushrooming of borewells around the clusters
created by the project cannot be avoided as it is outside the scope of the project to keep
the number of borewells in a hydrological regime to the safe limit.
The project approached the problem of groundwater depletion from a different angle i.e.,
generating user awareness on the hydrological systems they are operating within. Towards
this, a pilot activity viz., Participatory Hydrological Monitoring was implemented to field
test the idea of people controlled groundwater management. Local NGO staff provided
training and agriculture extension services, while technical services were provided by
APSIDC, the government agency back-stopped by a team of consultants.
APWELL successfully established models on community managed groundwater systems. It
also had a very large capacity building programme that was able to improve the agriculture
production in small and marginal land holdings. Project organization of APWELL is another
successful model. Ingredients of APWELL organizational model are found in the one proposed
for the project. Capacity building approach of APWELL is also built into the project wherever
relevant. The concept of community managed groundwater systems is widened to natural
resource base, in the project document.
A 3b
National Hydrology Project (NHP)
National Hydrology Project funded by the World Bank and Netherlands Government (Technical
Assistance) helped set up a Hydrological Information System (HIS) at state and national
level. Project has improved measurement, validation, analysis and storage of the
hydrological, hydro-meteorological and water quality data; Strengthened institutional and
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