India - World Water Day: When Water Returns, Futures Are Rewritten

(ANS – Ahmednagar) – Every year on 22 March, the world celebrates World Water Day, drawing attention to the vital importance of water and the urgent need for its sustainable management. For the Salesian Congregation, this day is also an opportunity to recognise and reaffirm the commitment of many Salesian institutions worldwide that work tirelessly to ensure access to water for poor and marginalised communities.

Among them stands Bosco Gramin Vikas Kendra (BGVK) in India, whose quiet yet transformative work has been rewriting the story of water in the drought-prone regions of Ahmednagar and Beed in Maharashtra. In these rain-shadow areas, water has never been taken for granted. Each summer brings with it an unsettling question: who will remain, what will survive, and how long can hope endure? For marginal farmers like Murlidhar, the monsoon once determined everything. One failed season meant migration; two meant debt. Water was not a certainty, but a gamble.

Today, that narrative is changing. “Now the land listens, now the water has returned,” he says, as he presses fertile soil between his fingers. His testimony reflects a transformation made possible through more than three decades of sustained, community-centred intervention by BGVK.

What began in the late 1980s as watershed work in parts of Ahmednagar has now expanded across 12 districts of Maharashtra, reaching 56 villages and directly impacting over 48,000 people from 8,406 families. Through watershed development interventions covering 20,218 hectares, BGVK has built a model rooted in sustainability, participation, and local ownership.

By implementing contour bunding, check dams, farm ponds, percolation tanks, and continuous contour trenches, the initiative has enabled rainwater to recharge depleted aquifers and restore ecological balance. Water is no longer treated as an isolated necessity, but as the foundation of life, livelihoods, and long-term resilience.

The results extend far beyond environmental restoration. As groundwater levels have risen and agriculture has stabilised, seasonal migration has significantly decreased. Families who once left their villages in search of survival now remain on their land with renewed confidence. Increased agricultural productivity has allowed parents to invest in their children’s education, opening doors that once seemed permanently closed. Temporary dwellings are gradually being replaced by permanent homes — visible signs of stability and restored dignity.

Ecologically, too, change is evident. Seasonal streams now flow for longer periods, and lands once limited to single crops now support multiple cropping cycles. Farmers are diversifying into horticulture, dairy, and allied activities, strengthening both income security and climate resilience.

On this World Water Day, the landscapes of Ahmednagar and Beed offer a powerful witness. They tell a story not of sudden abundance, but of resilience patiently rebuilt. Of water that does not come merely as temporary relief, but remains as a sustained promise.

For when water returns, it does more than fill wells. It restores livelihoods, renews dignity, and gives families the courage to imagine a future that will not dry up with the changing seasons.