Tarun Bharat Sangh has built over 8500 earthen dams in 1081 villages that have ensured round-the-year water availability for some of the most arid regions in the country. The result has been financial development for over 10 lakh people. Additional fallouts have been that 5 seasonal rivers have turned perennial, girls are now in school as they no longer need to travel to fetch water, and interestingly, the tiger population has actually increased in Sariska from 5 to 27 as poaching has reduced because tigers have a lot more watering holes that poachers can’t easily cover.

The organization has created mindset shifts in the villages it interacts with. The major thrust is on creating self-sufficiency and a shift from water and environment being the government’s responsibility to the village’s responsibility. Villagers take charge of water regeneration by contributing funds and labor for the construction of johads and check dams. Every family in the village contributes money, food or labour. As a part of social responsibility, villages also conduct padayatras to spread awareness of benefits and learnings across neighboring villages.

Another shift is the awareness of the importance of ground water vis-à-vis surface water. Earlier villages used to battle over the use of surface water of rivers and streams. Today the realization is that ground water recharge is far more important for year-round water availability.