Impact evaluation of watershed management programmes in Siwalik Himalayas of Haryana, India

Watershed management is a holistic approach to address the problem of land degradation and to maintain ecological balance. Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate the impacts of watershed management programmes in Morni Hills of Siwalik Himalayas, India. A pretested structured questionnaire was administered on 120 randomly selected respondents from eight villages. Data were collected by personal interviews, group discussions and field observations. The respondents were questioned about their perception of different socio-economic, agricultural and livestock and environmental aspects. Descriptive statistics, chi-square test, independent sample t test, one-way ANOVA and satisfaction index were applied for data analyses. The result shows considerable improvements in the socio-economic, agricultural and livestock and environmental conditions. Increased employment opportunities, wages of labourers and per capita income had reduced the poverty and improved the living standard of local community. Increased agricultural productivity and yield had led food security in this area. Approximately 80% of respondents believed that watershed development programmes are prime requirement for the sustainable development. The overall satisfaction level of respondents’ was about 56% by performance of management practices. This lower value of satisfaction level suggests that watershed managers should consider local people’s knowledge about existing problems, their needs and obstacles in application of management practices. It is believed that findings of this study will be beneficial for watershed managers for effective execution of future projects.