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In the drought-scorched heart of Karnataka’s Kolar district, residents of Keeluholali village once lived at the mercy of unreliable rains. Year after year, they watched crops wither and wells run dry as borewells sank ever deeper. “Farming had become a gamble,” says Ganesh K V, a smallholder who once ferried buckets of water on his motorcycle just to keep his four coconut saplings alive.
In 2014, determined to change their fate, residents pooled their labour under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) to build a check dam that would capture rainwater. It was meant to provide irrigation through the dry months, but the plan failed. The structure could not hold the water, which simply seeped into the porous rock below. “It was a well-intentioned effort, but not a scientific one,” recalls Manjunath K R, the village panchayat development officer. He says that between 2008 and 2020, nearly 120 such structures were built in and around Keeluholali under various government programmes. Barely half functioned as intended.
Then, in 2021, the village took a different route, guided by data rather than intuition. The panchayat adopted a mobile application called the Composite Landscape Assessment and Restoration Tool (CLART), which identifies optimal locations and designs for water recharge. For Keeluholali, it became the game-changer they had been waiting for.
Developed by the Gujarat-based Foundation for Ecological Security (FES), the application uses publicly available datasets on geology, drainage, slope, recharge potential, land use and watershed boundaries to identify suitable sites for water conservation structures. CLART also works offline, analysing terrain through geographic information system (GIS) layers and categorising sites under advisories such as “good recharge”, “surface storage” or “run-off zone”. “It gave us scientific guidance right in the field,” says Manjunath. “Earlier, we relied on guesswork or waited for engineers from the taluk office. Now we can make data-backed decisions even without internet access.”
Armed with CLART’s recommendations, the community rebuilt its water structures using MGNREGS funds for materials and labour. When the monsoon arrived, ponds held water longer and wells began yielding again.
Ganesh smiles as he surveys his plot, where 10 thriving coconut palms now sway. “The pond built with the help of CLART fills every monsoon. It feels like we have water in our hands again,” he says.
Recent changes to MGNREGS is central to this story. Launched in 2005, it is a statutory entitlement guaranteeing up to 100 days of wage employment per rural household each year. It was conceived as a livelihood safety net that would also create durable natural resource assets. Of the scheme’s 266 permissible work categories, about 60 relate directly to water conservation, including ponds, percolation tanks and check dams, bunds, trenches and canals.
Implementation is layered and participatory. The Union government defines the framework, state rural development departments plan and monitor, while gram panchayats identify works, mobilise labour and track progress.
Traditionally, project selection began with “table-top planning” by officials. Karnataka has now transformed this into a data-driven process, combining CLART’s GIS outputs with on-ground verification.
Recent policy changes have reinforced this shift. Under the National Initiative on Water Security, launched in September 2024, MGNREGS funds must prioritise waterworks. Overexploited groundwater blocks must allocate 65 per cent of funds to water conservation, semi-critical blocks 40 per cent, and even water-secure areas at least 30 per cent. By March 2025, India completed 6.2 million water conservation works under MGNREGS, including half a million in 2024-25.
The state, one of India’s most drought-affected, has gone a step further. In 2019, it launched the Antarjala Chetana Yojana to revive groundwater through targeted MGNREGS works. Building on its lessons, the Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Department unveiled Jala Sanjeevini in 2021, bringing scientific planning to conservation.
Covering 12,312 villages across eight districts, the initiative integrates digital tools such as CLART, remote sensing and GIS mapping at every stage. Each gram panchayat prepares a micro-plan of priority water works, which are geo-tagged, photographed and tracked through a real-time dashboard.
“Every structure we build now is backed by data,” says Suresh Kumar, senior programme manager at FES, Karnataka. The aim, he explains, was to introduce scientific assessment in creating water recharge structures so that even staff with minimal technical training at panchayat level can assess feasibility. “People no longer dig where it is convenient, they dig where it matters,” he adds. The outcomes have been striking. In D Nagenahalli village of Tumkur district, farmer Mahesh says 28 check dams built under the new approach have transformed farming. “We now grow areca nut, paddy, groundnut and ragi (finger millet). Earlier we barely managed pulses,” he says. In nearby Honnenhalli village, Jayamma, once a subsistence ragi farmer, now cultivates coconuts, flowers and vegetables on 1.6 hectares. Her annual income has more than doubled to almost `1 lakh. “For the first time in 10 years, our borewell is alive again,” she says.
This shift is crucial as water stress defines life in rural Karnataka. Nearly 60 per cent of the state lies on hard-rock terrain where groundwater recharge is naturally limited, and decades of borewell dependence have worsened depletion. Poorly planned structures often fail to make any difference.
According to the February 2025 study by the non-profit WELL Labs, the introduction of digital tools and structured technical support under Jala Sanjeevini has led to tangible improvements in how rural water management is planned and implemented. The study found that technical support significantly enhanced the knowledge, skills and practices of MGNREGS functionaries. Those who had access to capacity-building and the CLART decision-support tool demonstrated a stronger understanding of watershed management concepts, the ridge-to-valley approach and the practical use of CLART compared to those who did not.
The study also revealed a shift in natural resource management planning, with treatment districts allocating more funds to ridge-area interventions such as trenches and bunds rather than drainage-line works like tanks. This transition is crucial, as ridge-area structures are generally more effective in promoting groundwater recharge and improving overall watershed health.
Equally significant was the improvement in planning efficiency. Planning processes began earlier and the districts adhered more closely to timelines. The digitisation of training and monitoring enhanced data visibility and participation, al-lowing for better tracking.
Karnataka plans to extend the Jala Sanjeevini approach to all 31 districts by 2027, linking it with programmes such as Jal Jeevan Mission and PM Krishi Sinchai Yojana. If implemented well, Karnataka’s model could guide other drought-prone states grappling with failed check dams and depleting aquifers.
But sustaining this momentum will take more than technology. Many panchayats still lack trained staff, and digital literacy among field workers remains uneven. Without strong community involvement, experts warn, the process could easily turn top-down, undermining MGNREGS’ participatory spirit.
Maintenance is another weak link. Check dams and recharge pits need regular desilting and repair. “Creation is celebrated, but maintenance is forgotten,” notes a 2023 review by the Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Department, urging a shift “from creation to management” of assets. It calls for hydrological monitoring, periodic audits and the training of local youth as water stewards to ensure upkeep.
Back in Keeluholali, the check dam that once symbolised failure now stands as a marker of renewal. The difference, residents say, lies not only in technology but in the trust that science, when placed in people’s hands, can transform lives. “Earlier, the rains came and went,” says Ganesh, watching water ripple through the pond that feeds his field. “Now, when it rains, we know it will stay.”
The reporter is a recipient of Promise of Commons Media Fellowship 2024, on the significance of Commons and its Community Stewardship
This article was originally published in the November 1-15, 2025 print edition of Down To Earth