The Content
The Gabil Gandual VNRMC
The Village Resources
Problem Analysis
Community NRM Plan with Estimates
Brief Justifications on Proposed activities
Annexure - 1
THE Gabil Gandual VNRMC
The Gabil Gandual village is in Rongjeng C&RD Block of East Garo Hills district in Meghalaya. The village is inhabited by Garo Community with 110 households with 709 populations- 169 females and 168 males. The VNRMC in this village was formed in the month of 18 Nov 2020. The village is 20KM from Rongjeng Block and 60 KM for the district headquarter, Williamnagar. The Land Use Land Cover (LULC) map of the village identified GPS co-ordinates as 25.777417 and 90.832183 for latitude and longitude respectively. The village elevation reading is 511.79 msl.
The Village Resources
The Social Resources
The land is owned by a clan which is called ‘Nokma A’King1 land’. The main social institutions in this village are the Nokma, the Village Employment Council (VEC) and 5 Self Help Group. Everyone in this village use firewood as the main source of fuel and no ones use LPG. The village has good electricity connectivity with 124 households being electrified. There is no Subcenter or PHC and hence, they go to Tamsura Subcenter which is 7 Km away from the village. There is 1 Anganwandi center, 1 private school and 1 govt L.P School. All the residents are farmers and depend on jhum cultivation. The villagers used to contribute for some interventions.
The Natural Resources
Gabil Gandual village has a total of 843.13 Ha of geographical area out of which 577.38 Ha is forest cover. Water bodies’ coverage is 3.25 Ha. The village has Agricultural land measuring 22.44 Ha and 135.75 Ha of cultural wasteland.
Type of Forest Cover and Wildlife in Aragittim Village
The LULC provided that out of 577.38 Ha of forest area, 412.80 Ha is open forest and 164.58 Ha is dense forst cover. These forests have variety of tree species like- Watre, Wanok (Bamboo Species), Boldak (Schima-wallichii), Tebret, Bolgipok (Gmelina-arborea), Bolsal (Shorea-rubusta), Agatchi (Dillenia pentagyna), Gambare (Grewia-microcos), Kimbal, Segun (Tectona-grandis), Sillangre, Bolchim (Duabanga grandiflora), Bolbok. Due to reduction in forest cover and unavailability of food, the existing fauna such as Wild Cat, leopard, Deer, jungle fowl are in decreasing in population.
Cultivable Land
The village has 116.09 Ha of area is under agricultural and plantation land which is mostly arecanut plantation, paddy fields and few rubber plantations. The villagers also practice Jhum cultivation in around 12.64 ha of area. The land is becoming less productive due to unavailability of water for irrigation.
Water Bodies
The village has 6 springs and 3 streams passing through the village. All these water bodies are perennial, however, during the lean season the water discharge in many springs and streams are reducing in recent years. These water bodies are used for domestic and irrigation purposes and drinking. Water crisis during the months of February, March, and April.
Spring Inventory
At the time of VNRM Plan preparation, the Master Trainer has taken the discharge measurement of Gabil Gandual spring- latitude 25.77609°N and longitude 90.830495 °E with elevation is 556.14m. It is a depression spring and perennial in nature. The water of the spring is being used for drinking and for domestic purposes. Spring discharge was calculated as 0.84 LPM through stopwatch-bucket method and pH value of 6.2 LPM. The catchment area of spring is in the private land and the residents have agreed to take up NRM activity in this area.
Problem Analysis
The above village resource data collected through GIS technology, primary data collection made through CNRMP template and Spring Inventory templates suggests that the village is still rich in natural resources. At the same time natural resource degradation has started in the village that needs planned actions and interventions. The area of open forest is increasing, which is due to jhum cultivation, cutting down trees for timber, firewood and for other plantation, etc. for immediate economic benefit. These have resulted in lesser water discharge from springs and streams which has brought about low moisture content in the ground, loss of soil fertility and low crop production. The flora and fauna in the village is also reducing drastically.
Community Natural Resource Management Plan with estimation
Having understood the upcoming threats to land, water and forest, the Villagers and VEC members of this village came together on the 18 November 2020 to identify and plan out interventions to address challenges faced in their village both in terms of NRM issues and their economic issues. These interventions are implemented through CLLM-Project. The VEC with facilitation from CLLMP DPMU-EGH and SPMU has arrived at the list of activities to be taken up in next three years’ time within the budget provision. The villagers strongly feel that these interventions would enable them to conserve and improve the natural resources for them and their future generations.
Proposed Activities
| SL | Proposed activities | Site Name | Benefitted area in Ha | No. of HH benefitted | Estimated Amt. (INR) | Date of work order issued | Date of work started | Work completion Date |
| Community Nursery | Wakgok Stream | 4.12 | 110 | 112800.00 | 11-May-21 | 29-May-21 | 18-Aug-21 | |
| Contour Trenches | Chimitcheng bisik, Wakgok bisik & Tamring bisik | 2 | 15 | 40100.00 | 11-May-21 | 29-May-21 | 30-May-21 | |
| Afforestation | Village Reserve | 6.25 | 110 | 192400.00 | 02-Jun-21 | 28-Jun-21 | 20-Aug-21 | |
| RCC Check Dam | Songkama Stream | 1.5 | 20 | 220100.00 | 23-Mar-22 | 31-Mar-22 | 17-Apr-22 | |
| Afforestation-II | Community Area | 11.23 | 118 | 204000.00 | 05-May-22 | 16-Jul-22 | 24-Jul-22 | |
| Agro-Forestry | Community Reserve | 3 | 118 | 202200.00 | 05-May-22 | 18-Jun-22 | 25-Jun-22 | |
| Earthen Embankment with CC Core wall | Gopram Bisik | 6 | 8 | 231500.00 | 05-May-22 | 12-Jan-23 |
23-Mar-23 |
|
| RCC Check Dam | Tapring Chiring | 4 | 15 | 193700.00 | 05-May-22 | 01-Oct-22 | 17-Dec-23 |
|
| Spring Chamber | Prap Jaguang | 4 | 20 | 160300.00 | 05-May-22 | 01-Oct-22 | 15-Jan-23 |
|
| Water Storage Tank with CC Dam | Techri Chiring | 4 | 10 | 277300.00 | 05-May-22 | 12-Jan-23 |
21-Mar-23 |
|
| Spring Chamber | Wagok Bisik | 6 | 5 | 160300.00 | 05-May-22 | 12-Jan-23 | 1-April-23 | |
| Spring Chamber | Okgupu Bisik | 6 | 20 | 160300.00 | 05-May-22 | 14-Jan-23 | 28-Mar-23 | |
| TOTAL | 58.1 | 569 | 2155000 |
Brief Justification on the Proposed Activities
Community Nursery
The details of the Community Nursery can be seen in the Annexure. The proposed nursery is meant for raising the saplings which will be planted in the open forest, catchment areas, reserve forest, and private land covering to a total of around 577.38 ha of land. The roads connecting to the village is far from the market, so sourcing building materials is a challenge for the villagers, but since natural resources like water, trees, bamboo, etc. are readily available to them, they can easily construct an environment friendly nursery.
Composting
The villagers have also proposed to improve land productivity in around 116.09 ha of agricultural land using composting so that the soil will be more fertile and that healthy plants in return would fetch more productivity leading to increased income.
Plantation/Afforestation/Reforestation
In the village there is only open forest in the village which is about 577.38 ha. Villagers have realized that open forests are increasing which leads to climate change and loss of biodiversity are increasing day by day. The villagers have decided to Afforestation or reforestation & Agro-forestry both in the open forests as well as in the private land which bring to a total of 577.38 ha of land. It has been advice to encourage the villagers to plant fruit bearing trees while carrying out reforestation for the benefits of all fauna and human beings alike.
Spring-shed Development and management
There are 6 no.s of springs and 3 no.s of streams in this village. The water discharge from these springs reduces drastically during the lean season. Development of spring-shed approach in the village along with rejuvenation activities such as afforestation, contour and staggered trenches in the catchment areas help in increasing the water discharge during peak and lean. The Springs and Streams are :- Chimitcheng ,Wakop Bisik, Tamring Bipak, Ronggom chiring, Gopram chiring, Chiring techri, Sokadam chiring, Okgipu stream and Prapjaguang stream.
Check Dam
Since there is unavailability of irrigation facilities during the month of February to April and the land has become less productive, villagers have proposed 2 no.s of check dam to be constructed for irrigation and domestic purposes from which around 27 households will be benefitting from it. It is expected that 7 ha of land will be benefitting from these structures. Availability of water throughout the season can help the villagers to practice multiple cropping and follow crop rotation throughout the year which will increase the production and their income as well.
Forest Management Plan (FMP)
The village has a Reserve Forest which has been preserved by the community but due to extraction of timber by the villager themselves, now it is considered as open forest. After the villagers realized that open forests are increasing which leads to climate change and water crisis, they wanted to reclaim the forest under Forest Management Plan which is a working scheme under CLLMP, this practice will further increase its forest cover and take preventive measures. The activities to be done under FMP are Nursery for Food Forestry, Boundary Survey, Forest Fire Control, In-Situ and Ex-Situ Conservation, Enrichment in Forest Blanks, Assisted Natural regeneration in Open Forest and Enrichment Planting.
6. Annexure
LULC Map
Photo Gallery
The land belongs to a clan which is called Nokma A’king land. It is under the custody of its female head, the Nokma, whose husband acts on her behalf in all clan decision-making; the Nokma has no authority to take decisions on land and its use. Decisions are meant to be collective among representatives of the clan.↩︎