In Gujarat’s Mahi river basin, floods in 1973 washed away vast stretches of farmland and village commons.
Deep ravines formed over decades, leaving thousands of hectares degraded and uncultivable.
Villagers, with support from government schemes and NGOs, have spent years restoring the land through soil and water conservation.
Today, farming and livelihoods are returning, as communities reclaim land once thought lost forever.
When floods washed away his family’s farmland in 1973, Hareshbhai Solanki thought he would never farm it again. Five decades later, he is harvesting his first crop in Rustampura village in Gujarat — the 33-year-old has spent the past week cutting tobacco from fields that lay barren for decades.
If all goes to plan, the harvest could bring in Rs 2.5-3 lakh, leaving him with a profit of around Rs 1 lakh from his 1.6-hectare farm.
For Solanki, the harvest holds meaning far beyond its monetary value, as the last time his family cultivated these fields was in 1973. Unprecedented rains in Thasra taluka of Kheda district were part of one of the most widespread and catastrophic flood events in the region. Solanki’s grandfather, Vitthalbhai, lost their farmland during those floods.
“More than five decades ago, heavy rains washed away our agricultural land in just a week,” he told Down To Earth. “When we went back after the rains subsided, there was nothing left.”
The destruction was part of the devastating 1973 floods in Gujarat’s Mahi river basin, caused by torrential rainfall between August 26 and September 9 that year. Entire stretches of farmland were eroded, and many families, including Solanki’s, lost their land.
Villages along the riverbanks also lost large areas of common land — used for grazing, collecting fuelwood and other daily needs.
A report by the Foundation for Ecological Security (FES) in September 2023 titled Ravine Restoration Through Community Initiatives noted the widespread land degradation across villages along the Mahi basin. The river originates in southern Rajasthan and flows through districts including Panchmahals, Mahisagar, Vadodara, Kheda and Anand before draining into the Arabian Sea at the Gulf of Khambhat.
A preliminary survey by FES across 106 villages found that ravines had affected more than 17,992 hectares of both common and private land along a 120 kilometre stretch between Vanakbori in Mahisagar district and Dhuvaran in Anand district.
The sandy loam soil, combined with a lack of vegetation and repeated heavy rains, led to severe erosion. Over time, deep and continuous ravine gullies formed.
Today, these ravines — ranging from 10 to 70 feet deep — continue to expand, cutting massively into farmland and common land with each monsoon. The scale of ravination in the region is now considered second only to that of the Chambal river basin, spreading both horizontally and vertically on a large scale.
Devabhai Ghambhalya, block team coordinator in Kheda district, says the impact has been far-reaching. “These common lands were the backbone of village life,” he explains. “The ravines disrupt grazing, accelerate soil erosion and even cut off traditional routes between villages that help share resources.”
He recalls that as recently as 2019, one night of heavy rainfall — nearly 11 inches — washed away up to 10 feet of topsoil in parts of the region.
Yet today, these villages are working together to restore degraded land, supported by community initiatives, government schemes and assistance from non-governmental organisations and corporate funding.
Solanki says that since the 1990s, efforts have been underway at multiple levels to restore these lands. “This is the first time in 60 years since my grandfather’s time that I have been able to grow tobacco on this land,” he says.
Sixty-two-year-old Girish Chavda from Sukhini Muvad village in Sarnal district recalls that nearly 140 hectares of their village’s common land were eroded during the floods. “After the disaster, Verghese Kurien, who transformed India’s dairy sector through cooperatives, visited our village,” he says.
Members of the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) visited the village in 1987, and Kurien himself guided the villagers. “He encouraged us to come together as a community and take responsibility for restoring the land. We all agreed,” Solanki says.
The non-profit Foundation for Ecological Security (FES), supported by NDDB and corporate funding, began working with villagers on restoration efforts. From 2014-15 onwards, many villagers also received employment through the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), with around 80 per cent of households participating.
These initiatives helped villagers gain knowledge about soil and water conservation techniques needed to restore degraded land.
Kiritbhai Ganpatshri from Sukhini Muvadi village says the training followed a simple principle. “Where water flows fast and erodes soil, it must be slowed down. Where it flows steadily, it must be held back and allowed to percolate to recharge groundwater,” he explains. He says this approach helped silt settle in eroded areas.
Under MGNREGA and capacity-building programmes led by FES, villagers constructed structures such as gabion walls, ponds and small channels to slow water flow and reduce erosion, says Ganpatshri.
“Slowing the water also allowed silt to deposit in areas where soil had been lost. In agricultural fields, structures were built to create elevation and retain water, forming small ponds for irrigation,” he adds.
NDDB also supported efforts to increase vegetation and green cover. Shrubs, creepers and trees were planted to improve water retention and prevent soil erosion.
Jyosnaben Chavda, 33, from Lindora village, says the initial improvements helped build confidence among villagers. “As trees grew, women began collecting fuelwood from the plantations, and we could graze cattle again,” she says. “Earlier, we had to buy these from the market, spending around Rs 2,000 a month. That cost has now been reduced.”
Over time, these efforts were replicated across villages, leading to gradual restoration of the land. Across 65 villages, nearly 18,000 hectares had been degraded by ravination, of which around 4,800 hectares have now been restored.
Chavda says that in his village, about 34 hectares of the 140 hectares affected have been restored. With improved access to fodder, villagers began to invest in livestock.
“Initially, our village produced around 200 litres of milk daily. Now it produces about 800 litres, contributing to NDDB. This has improved our economic condition,” he says.
These economic gains have reduced migration, with many villagers returning from daily wage labour to traditional farming.
Manilal Parmar, 51, from Itada village, owns five hectares of land. He says heavy rains over three days in 2023 caused further damage.
“I lost my tobacco crop and suffered losses of nearly Rs 3 lakh — the worst in my life,” he says.
After restoration efforts, he earned a profit of Rs 1.5 lakh from last year’s tobacco harvest. However, Parmar adds that more awareness and work are still needed.
“As community members, we do not have clear tenure rights over these ravine lands. Many people feel they have little incentive to invest in restoring common land, which leads to continued degradation,” he says. “Villagers need to recognise the value of protecting common resources and build resilience for the long term.”
(The reporter is recipient of Promise of Commons Media Fellowship 2024, on the significance of Commons and its Community Stewardship)