While there is no comprehensive survey of the country as a whole, there are different estimates of areas subject to water/ wind erosion and land degradation.

 

SPWD's successful efforts in arresting land degradation spans diverse geographical regions of the country. In Rajasthan, the degradation of the Arravalis, the consequent fuelwood shortage and repeated droughts logically led to the development of commonlands with community participation. The successful results of the work done by these village committees in this area led to several outside villages in the project area requesting for assistance in carrying out similar work on their own village lands.

 

Besides SPWD, inter-cooperation(ICCO) and National Wasteland Development Board(NWDB) also supported such work in new villages undertaken by the village committees.In the Chhotanagpur plateau, denudation of the uplands and frequent failure of the rainfed paddy crop leading to large scale migration were the main problems. The soil improvement programme initiated by SPWD since 1989 in Chhotanagpur region of Bihar and West Bengal has tested a technology for moisture conservation on land of varying slopes resulting in improved productivity and averting failure of paddy crop due to dry spells at different stages. The technology which was validated by an expert group from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kharagpur, may be extended to other such areas about which a dialogue with the concerned state government and NGOs in the region would be necessary.