Mahiti Rural Development


	Since 1981, Mahiti is a rural development organization based...

More...


	Mahiti works closely with communities in nearly 90 villages of Dhandhuka, Barwala and...

More...


	We are constantly looking for people who may be able to contribute to our programs and...

More...


	Our work is possible because of the support of numerous organizations / institutions and Individuals...

More...

Geo-climatic condition

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The geographical characteristics of Bhal consist of areas affected by high salinisation and alkalinity, large creaks and predictably severe temperature variations. It is highly prone to natural disasters like earthquake, floods and drought. The region consists of landmass stretching along the coast from Gulf of Cambay (now Khambhat) in Anand district to Creek of Bhavnagar district. Bhal region covered across administrative blocks in Ahmedabad, Ananad, Kheda and Surendranagar and Bhavnagar districts of Gujarat state, India comprising more than 500 villages. This region is called ‘Bhal’ refers to “forehead” in local language – Gujarati.

Large chunk of villages located near coastline and some of them are submerged due to sea-ingress. In rest of the villages, salinity is a serious problem. Natural salt deposition on soil surface is a common site in summer. Agriculture productivity of land is very low due to salinity, seawater ingress, wind erosion and lack of fresh water source (neither ground water). Water logging caused due to black cotton soils makes life further miserable.

Major rivers of Bhal region are Sabarmati, Bhogavo, Sukhbhadar, Dhelo, Kalubhar terminate in Gulf of Cambay (now Khambhat). Due to low gradient they inundate large portion of landmass during high floods and high tides. Though the average rainfall in this region is 400-500 mm it still results in inundation due to its topography. Frequent drought is very common phenomenon in Bhal region. Hostile geo-climatic conditions result in poor life supporting systems.

Vegetation is near zero except wild growth of Prosopis Juliflora and Salvadora Persica (Piloo) in common land. Around 60 years back 75% of the coastline covered with Mangroves and Salvadora Persica (Piloo) and forage grasses. But extensive damage occurred to mangroves resulting in sea-ingress and degeneration of agriculture lands.

Geo-climatic changes largely witnessed in last couple of decades, the level of regular tides increased resulting in salt-water ingress and water logging. Increased level of high-low tides, silt deposition, activities in catchments lead to frequent changes in river course. Large creaks formed along coast and they are penetrating into agriculture lands. Major projects such as “Kalpasar” and industrial / infrastructure activities would further aggravate the problems of people if not consulted and involved at right time.

Top

Recource