Haryali
Topic: Water Resources of India: Availability, Use and Conservation · NCERT: Class 12, Ch 4 "Water Resources"
Meaning
Haryali is a central government watershed project launched in 2003. Gram panchayats (elected village councils) run it, and villagers take part. It helps rural people catch and save water for drinking, irrigation, fisheries and afforestation (planting trees). Watershed work succeeds only when the community takes part, so Haryali puts the village council in charge.
Example
Under Haryali, a gram panchayat in a dry area plans its own check dams, ponds and tree planting. This is the kind of village-led watershed work done at Ralegan Siddhi in Ahmednagar, Maharashtra.
Don't confuse with
- Neeru-Meeru: this means "Water and You". It is Andhra Pradesh's own state programme for water conservation. Haryali is a central project.
- Atal Bhujal Yojana (2019): it focuses on managing groundwater in 7 states. Haryali covers watershed development more broadly.
Related concepts
- Rainwater harvesting
- Rooftop rainwater harvesting
- Shillong rooftop rainwater harvesting
- Tamil Nadu rainwater harvesting mandate
- Watershed management
- Check dam
- Percolation tank
- Ralegan Siddhi
- Arvary Pani Sansad