00:00 - Before and after footage
00:22 - Introduction
00:42 - Floods led to land degradation
02:11 - Using community knowledge
02:51 - Constructing a tank to store water
05:18 - Water changes the landscape
06:37 - More water harvesting structures
07:30 - Land rejuvenates, biodiversity returns
The Dhun series is divided into two parts.
The first part of Bringing water to the barren land can be found here.
Story of Dhun:
This dry and dusty piece of 500-acres of land on the outskirts of Jaipur
once hardly had 30 trees on it. But today, the same land has over 120 species of birds, 70 species of native trees and thousands of animals.
This land in the Phagi district once had plenty of life in it. But a devastating flood ruined the topsoil and left the land to die and be part of the desert.
The fate of the land changed when Manavendra Singh Shekhawat, a hotelier from Jaipur saw the land back in 2013.
Instead of selling the land in parts, Manavendra aspired to do something different with the land, to create an alternative ecosystem to live in, to build a unique business model while keeping the land away from the unscientific and destructive practices.
And the first step for his dream project was to bring water to this dry land and using traditional water harvesting practices the land today has more than 8 waterbodies in it.
The water also has completely transformed the life and economy of the neighbouring villages as well.
With the water feeding the land and with 100s of trees and buzzing wildlife, Manavendra is now stepping on to build an alternate living space here.
Look out for part 2, where we will show you how Manvendra along with the community converted this barren land into a lush green forest.
You can follow Dhun's work here.
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