NAME = SACHIN KUMAR

CLASS = B.B.A

ROLL NO. = 614240830

SUJECT = EVS

TOPIC = ECOSYSTEM OF PUNAVALI

LAKEAND LAND

SUMITTED TO :- SUMITTED BY :-

MISS. MANVIR GILL SACHIN KUMAR

LIM
What is ecosystem

An ecosystem consists of a biological community and the abiotic

factors on which it relies. These factors include sunlight, water,
elements, and minerals. Energy flows one way through an ecosystem,
starting as sunlight absorbed by primary producers, passing through
several levels of consumers,and eventually dissipating as heat.
Materials cycle through an ecosystem by alternating between biotic
and abiotic stages.
The sun is the ultimate source of energy for most ecosystems. The
distribution of solar energy around the world is dictated by the position
of the sun and air and water movement. The variation in solar energy
causes variation in temperature and rainfall in time and space, which
in turn influences the type of ecosystem found in each place.
Ecosystems contain interconnected food chains known as food webs
through which energy flows. Each food chain consists of a sequence of
predator-prey relationships at different trophic levels. Each predator
species can have more than one prey species and vice versa. Primary
producers, which provide 99 percent of all organic material, are
photosynthetic plants and algae. Primary consumers, or herbivores,
eat primary producers; secondary consumers, or carnivores, eat
herbivores. Tertiary consumers eat other carnivores. Most ecosystems
contain no more than two carnivorous trophic levels, because only
about 10 percent of the energy contained in the biomass at one level
is passed on to the next.
Detrivores, or decomposers, form yet another trophic level by
scavenging or decomposing dead organic material. Decomposers are
capable of gaining energy from materials that no other animals can,
such as cellulose or nitrogenous waste, and may consume up to 90
percent of primary production (energy produced by plants) in forests.
Trophic levels are characterized by their productivity. Gross
productivity is the rate at which energy is assimilated by organisms.
Gross productivity minus the amount of energy left over after the cost
of metabolic activity is net productivity. Net productivity can be
measured as accumulated bio-mass, which is the total dry weight of
organic materials, and is the energy that is available to organisms at
the next trophic level. The difference between gross and net
productivity limits the number of trophic levels in an ecosystem. At
some point, there is not enough residual energy to support a healthy
population of predators.
The loss of energy at each trophic level would seem to dictate a
pyramidal structure in which each trophic level contains less biomass
than the one beneath it. However, productivity is a function of both
biomass and reproduction rate. For example, a phytoplankton
population often reproduces fast enough to support a larger population
of zooplankton.
Whole ecosystems can also be measured for their productivity. Algal
beds and reefs, due to their rapid reproduction rates, are the most
productive ecosystems on Earth. Temperate forests, however, contain
the most bio-mass. Swamps and marshes rank as high as tropical rain
forests in productivity, whereas the desert and the open ocean rank
the lowest. Cultivated land has only average productivity.
Materials flow through ecosystems in biogeochemical cycles. These
cycles include the atmosphere, the lithosphere (Earth's crust), and the
hydrosphere (bodies of water). Decomposers play an important role in
material cycling by separating inorganic materials, such as nitrogen,
from organic compounds. A generalized biogeochemical cycle consists
of available and unavailable organic components and available and
unavailable inorganic components.

The ecosystem of punawali lake and land

Located in the semi-arid hills of the Bundelkhand region in southern

Uttar Pradesh, the small village of Punawali faces acute water scarcity
for all but a few months out of the year. The community, like many
across India, is highly dependent on the monsoon rains to replenish its
wells and sustain its crops. In the years when the life-giving rains fail,
this scarcity leads to drought and hardship for the villagers: wells
become dry, fields lay barren and the precious soil blows away with
the wind.

The over 2700 residents of Punawali village live in extreme poverty.

Subsistence agriculture is the mainstay of most villagers, though some
work as shopkeepers or day labourers. Many have little education and
are illiterate. Only primary education is available to the children and no
adult learning or literacy programs have been initiated. Health and
sanitation are almost non-existent. The village is serviced by two
doctors (one high caste, one low caste) and a public health care
worker, but a lack of proper sanitation and poor water quality lead
many, especially children, to suffer from easily prevented gastro-
intestinal ailments. As is the case in most of the rural areas of India,
the traditional occupations of women, which include fetching water and
fuelwood from distant sources, leaves little time for other income-
generating activities.

Getting Involved in the issues and their sollution

Development Alternatives (DA) first became involved with the villagers

in Punawali during the ‘Water of Life’ project, sponsored by United
Distillers. From the period between 1995 and 1997, DA built three
checkdams on nearby streams and nallahs to capture the monsoon
runoff and facilitate groundwater recharge. The result was an increase
in groundwater levels at the village wells and an overall improvement
in the villagers’ access to drinking water.

The success of the checkdam scheme allowed DA to approach the

village as a potential candidate for the Government of Uttar Pradesh’s
(GOUP) Swajal project. The goal of the project, which receives
substantive funding from the World Bank, is to provide water supply
and sanitation facilities to the rural areas of Uttar Pradesh. Under the
terms of the project, the community is responsible for absorbing 10%
of the construction costs and 100% of the operation and maintenance
costs of their water supply and sanitation distribution system.

Initially, the villagers were skeptical. Despite the success of the

checkdams and its prior good relationship with DA, the community was
reluctant to join a project that would require such high capital
investment on their part. Many hours were spent in village meetings
to convince the residents of the merits of the project. Slowly, and with
the help of a few influential village members, the DA project staff
began to make progress.

A Village Water and Sanitation Committee (VWSC) was formed from

nine village residents. As dictated by a GOUP order, 30% of the
members were women and 20% from Scheduled Castes/Tribes. Their
first order of business was to assess the needs of the village and to
determine the appropriate combination of facilities to meet these
needs. But before even this work began, several challenges had to be
overcome by the VWSC. Long standing gender and social equity
issues posed the major obstacle to the effective management of the
committee, and also made the collection of the 10% capital
contribution difficult. Furthermore, the community was quickly
growing impatient with the lengthy Pre-Feasibility stage and was
anxious to see concrete results. These issues were finally resolved by
conducting additional facilitation with the VWSC members and the
community as a whole. In addition, once the construction work began
on the water supply and sanitation system, the villagers’ fear were
allayed.

The Water Distribution System

The water distribution system in Punawali was designed to reflect the
needs of the local residents and to suit the physical characteristics of
the village. One of the most important considerations in the design of
the system were the frequent power shortages which made relying on
electrically-powered water pumps unfeasible. It was therefore decided
to use a diesel-powered generator that could be operated only when
pumping was required. In order for the water to be available to the
villagers at all times, the addition of a large storage tank was included
in the plans. Pumping water into the tank from the well would be
more cost effective, not to mention reliable, than pumping the water
directly through the distribution system. In addition, by placing the
tank on the hillock in the centre of town, the engineers ensured that
no further pumping was necessary: gravity would feed the system
and supply the villagers with sufficient water when they needed it.

In February 2000, the pump house was constructed. The small

concrete structure located outside the main village, houses the pump,
generator and chlorinator that supply the water tank via 530m of
piping. The well, located next to the pump house, was completed in
May 2000. With a diameter of 6.80m and depth of 9.50m, the well is
capable of supplying over 400 litres of groundwater per minute. By
July 2000, 2.5 km of PVC piping has been laid, thereby completing the
water distribution network in Punawali. In March 2001, construction on
the water tank ended.

Due to the recent completion of the water distribution system, it is too

early to say how effective it has been. However, tests done on the
system over the past few months have indicated that it operates well
and community opinion is high.

The Sanitation System

Providing sanitation facilities to the village was part of the Swajal

Project’s mandate. As a result, over 200 latrines were built in the
community. This represents almost one latrine for each household in
the village. Residents were required to contribute 2% of the capital
cost for construction of the small concrete outhouses. Each ‘owner’
was then given basic instruction on how to maintain the system and
conduct repairs.

The simple structures are essentially septic systems where human

waste is allowed to decompose in a soak pit and then filter through the
underlying soil. The benefit of this kind of system is that it requires
little infrastructure or water for flushing. This is particularly important
in the semi-arid region in which Punawali is located. For the most
part, the latrines have been well-received and are used by the
villagers.

The Future

Having access to water and sanitation will greatly improve the lives of
the residents of Punawali. Training programs on technical matters and
financial management have already provided much needed support to
the residents, who must maintain and manage their water supply and
sanitation systems themselves. In addition, training courses on
diverse topics such as candy-making, stitching, recycled paper-
making, etc., have allowed community members to learn new skills so
that they may invest the extra time saved during the day in income-
generating activities.

Overall, the project has been successful in bringing water and

sanitation to Punawali, and residents are looking forward to making
full use of the system once all construction work is completed. No
longer subject to the vagaries of the monsoon, the future finally looks
bright for this one small village in the Bundelkhand.
Bibliography

1. www. Google .com /ecosystem lake of

punawali

2. www.livesearch.com/issues of punawali