Devnadi is a river originating from Dhondbar village located in the hills of Aundhepatta of Sahyadri Mountain, 26 km. from Sinnar town. Devnadi was the lifeline for the 19 villages located in the western part of Sinnar. There are 20 check dams built on this river by British government in 1870. Each check dam has a canal, which is further divided into sub-canals. The gravitational flow of the water ensures that every piece of land is irrigated. It was a community based water management system, which used to distribute water to almost 6500 ha. land of 19 villages, for 9 months This system was functional till 1995. This system also used to recharge ground water table. Devnadi used to flow for 10 months of the year now hardly retains water for five months.

Devanadi river conservation –

Devanadi in Sinnar was once known as lifeline for villages located on her bank. Today the river bed has tapered and polluted and there is threat to very existence of the river. River banks are full with Besharam plants which create blockages in the river stream. River bed has become shallow in many parts. Through a survey we have observed a loss of bio-diversity across the river banks. Fish breeding has stopped completely and fishing business no longer takes place over here. Most importantly sand extraction is taking place in a massive way and has impacted water retention process. Earlier the river water was used up to March; however at present the water gets over in December, four months earlier. Industrial and human waste is causing pollution of the river water. Study findings called for urgent action for conservation of the river and Yuva Mitra decided to take up necessary actions in this regard.

Ensuring sustainable development by regenerating river ecology is part of Yuva Mitra’s long term programme covering 19 villages. The programme has evolved through Yuva Mitra’s past interventions in these villages. The long term goal of the programme is -

• Regenerating traditional water irrigation system over Devnadi.
• Regenerating agro-biodiversity ensuring ecological sustainability.
• Initiating and strengthening people’s institutions for income generation and community based water management.
• Command area development of the Devnadi.

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