"Roads are not laid down in our village, Water facilities are not provided. Electricity is not supplied"... are the criticism done by thousands of villages against the government. They spend days worried of their situation. But Payvihir in Maharashtra brought unity among the villagers and changed its own fate. It became an inspiration to other villages by winning National and International awards.
It is our right to get work done by the government. At the same time, it is our basic responsibility to do our own work. A Tribal village in Melghat region of Amaravathi district in Maharashtra, Payvihir, has set an example by not fighting against the government for their rights but by realizing their responsibility. The result is a transformation of the area without a single tree to a 182 hectares of community forest land. For this effort, Payvihir bagged the Biodiversity Award from the United Nation’s Development Programme (UNDP) in 2014.
For generations, villagers have cut the trees for selling, cooking needs and animal feeding which resulted in the village without a single tree. Ground water has declined and drought has stuck. Without any income source, villagers began to migrate to nearby places. Villagers felt that if the situation continued, there would be no one left in the village. They realized that this situation is caused by the lack of trees which once protected them and decided to come together to restore. Khoj, an NGO, helped them in sanctioning 182 hectares under the Contentious Forest Rights Act. Irrespective of age, villagers started planting saplings and pouring water from a nearby well. They formed security groups to safeguard the trees from cutting and preventing animals. Government came forward to pay the security groups through Employee Guarantee Scheme. As a result, migration decreased and trees began to grow within 4 years.
With the surrounding of Payvihir becoming a min-forest, animals like deers, wild pigs, hyena have formed their homes in the forest. The change that the villagers have created is spread to the United Nations and the village was awarded with Biodiversity Award. With the money received from the award, they cleaned up the school and children started going to school. Having realized the power of community work, villagers have decided to do agriculture in groups. They took help from Khoj in Organic Cultivation and began producing Sitaphal. State Forest Secretary, Praveen Pardeshi, has suggested to create a brand for the village products. He arranged a stall in the Secretariat to sell these products. Thus created the brand "Melghat Naturals" and sold 10 tones of Sitaphal in cities like Mumbai and Nagpur. Motivated by complete sale of the fruits, they decided to do more plantations with installation of solar drip irrigation system. They started selling wheat, pearl millets, amla, lemon, guava, mango products under their brand.
With an increase in the income of the villagers, they constructed a school, primary health center and a biogas plant. Every family in the village purchased gas from the plant and distanced themselves from the hazards of traditional wood fire. The village has come a long way leaving behind the bad habits of gutka and liquor. Villagers have started recharging underground water and ways to improve land quality. They have put up a condition of planting fifty thousand saplings every year in the village surroundings. Youth of the village were provided employment within the village itself, thereby migrations were reduced. Payvihir is going forward without depending on the government for each and every thing. The success of Payvihir is a perfect example of "If we save nature, nature saves us".
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