Rajasthan taps into change as Watershed Mahotsav pours spotlight on revival

MUMBAI: Rajasthan is gearing up for a celebration that’s less about pomp and more about ponds as the Watershed Mahotsav flows into Ajmer on 6 December, spotlighting how community-led action is rewriting the state’s water story. Hosted at the JLN Medical College Auditorium, the Mahotsav brings together government teams, village leaders and partner organisations to reflect on one question that has quietly transformed the desert state, what happens when people take charge of their own water security?

The event will put the achievements of the Mukhya Mantri Jal Swalamban Abhiyan (MJSA) and the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchay Yojana (PMKSY) under the lens, with teams from five districts presenting real on-ground shifts. Panchayati Raj members, local leadership and community representatives will share how watershed interventions have reshaped agriculture, storage and daily life. Senior dignitaries, including MP Bhagirath Choudhary and six MLAs from Ajmer, are slated to attend, underscoring the importance of the moment.

Piramal Foundation, a partner to the Watershed and Soil Conservation Department, is anchoring the Mahotsav to reinforce the power of Jan Bhagidari, a belief that durable water security emerges when communities co-create solutions. A short film by the Foundation, developed with the A.T.E. Chandra Foundation (ATECF), will be screened to show how desilting can measurably expand storage capacity and be funded through Finance Commission allocations. The film makes a compelling case for a low-cost, replicable rejuvenation model built on collective ownership rather than dependence.

The scale of progress already paints a vivid picture. In the past three years, ATECF and its partner organisations have rejuvenated nearly 1,180 waterbodies across 12 districts. Backed by FFC funding and implemented with the Piramal Foundation, the effort has been particularly effective in underserved areas 14 per cent of the rejuvenation has taken place in NITI Aayog’s Aspirational Districts and Blocks. The results are formidable: 1,191 crore litres of additional storage created, equivalent to over 10 lakh tanker trips, impacting an estimated 1.7 million people across roughly 1,700 villages.

Data from WRIS maps the road ahead. Rajasthan has approximately 82,000 waterbodies, of which nearly 49,000 are viable for revival. Aligning large-scale rejuvenation with MJSA could unlock water security for 26,000 villages, generate an estimated 33,210 crore litres of potential storage and save nearly Rs 9,963 crore in tanker expenditure. For a state living on the edge of the monsoon, the numbers speak louder than any speech.

The sentiment was echoed by Piramal Foundation lead of school of climate & sustainability Sangeeta Mamgain who said the organisation is adapting its Gandhi Fellowship model to strengthen natural resource management. “Through our collaboration with the Directorate of Watershed Development & Soil Conservation under MJSA in Ajmer, we aim to support machine-led rejuvenation of water bodies and contribute to a more climate-resilient Rajasthan.”

ATECF COO Amrtha Kasturi Rangan added, “Restoration accelerates when people, institutions and systems work together rather than apart. Watershed Mahotsav is a moment to acknowledge that shared effort. We remain committed to approaches that place people at the front and protect ecosystems.”

Offering a forward-looking view, Watershed Development and Soil Conservation IAS and director Muhammad Junaid P. P.  said, “The journey ahead remains significant. By collaboratively shaping a clear action pathway, we can strengthen long-term engagement and secure durable outcomes for communities across Rajasthan.”

With stakeholders from across sectors gathering in a single room, the Watershed Mahotsav aims to be more than an event, it aims to be a turning point. A place where stories from the field meet policy, where numbers meet lived experience, and where Rajasthan’s long-term vision for water security gathers momentum one revived waterbody at a time.