This man changed the fortunes of a barren land using traditional water wisdom. The story of Dhun-1

00:00 - Before and after footage
00:22 - Introduction
00:42 - Floods led to land degradation
02:11 - Using community knowledge
02:51 - Constructing a tank to store water
05:18 - Water changes the landscape
06:37 - More water harvesting structures
07:30 - Land rejuvenates, biodiversity returns

The Dhun series is divided into two parts.
The first part of Bringing water to the barren land can be found here.

Story of Dhun:

This dry and dusty piece of 500-acres of land on the outskirts of Jaipur
once hardly had 30 trees on it. But today, the same land has over 120 species of birds, 70 species of native trees and thousands of animals.
This land in the Phagi district once had plenty of life in it. But a devastating flood ruined the topsoil and left the land to die and be part of the desert.
The fate of the land changed when Manavendra Singh Shekhawat, a hotelier from Jaipur saw the land back in 2013.
Instead of selling the land in parts, Manavendra aspired to do something different with the land, to create an alternative ecosystem to live in, to build a unique business model while keeping the land away from the unscientific and destructive practices.
And the first step for his dream project was to bring water to this dry land and using traditional water harvesting practices the land today has more than 8 waterbodies in it.
The water also has completely transformed the life and economy of the neighbouring villages as well.
With the water feeding the land and with 100s of trees and buzzing wildlife, Manavendra is now stepping on to build an alternate living space here.

Look out for part 2, where we will show you how Manvendra along with the community converted this barren land into a lush green forest.

You can follow Dhun's work here.

[Labroidas]

Greetings from Austria, this seems very similar to the work of the Paani Foundation in Maharashtra. This recent movement of Indians using science and revitalizing pre-colonial knowledge of land- and water management to stop desertification and to make India a green garden in the wake of climate change is hugely inspiring. You guys are people of action who take matters into their own hands, in my country we can learn a thing or two from India.

[jordanweber]

I’m from Canada but I know of a ranch in Montana USA that did something similar by introducing beavers to the small creek. Started as a desert, 30 years later it’s a forest.

[vijaymeena]

My village😊 It is great to see this, apart from this pond there was nothing here, today Manvendra ji and his father Shri Meghraj Singh Shekhawat ji together have made this place a heaven and have provided a healthy and beautiful environment to our village.Thank you very much sir

[ExpeditionOfMit]

Great!!!!
In Rajasthan we always thought that there is nothing that we can do for lack of water
But after watching this! I am inspired to build pond like that in my Village where it rains lot
But there is nothing to store rain water but now i will do my best to store rain water and start Rain water harvesting so i can make my land prosperous!!! Greetings from Gujarat!!!

[luciacindy]

Incredible India 😍❤, Greetings from Europe, this is the Dream of good People on our continent

[kristijantadic]

Traditionelle Indian wisdom is the gratest in the world. Keep the Globalist out and keep your Tradition

[dennissuano]

I never get tired of watching this. please help those lands and countries with severe drought God bless! ❤️🇵🇭

[ReviewBoard-uynv]

It’s amazing how resilient the land is in India. Within a year, such great improvement. I hope other districts will learn from their amazing work

[babureddy]

Technology that goes hand in hand with local wisdom can bring about enormous changes in our lives. Well Done!!!

[rogersmith]

So great to see people pulling together to help each other rather than blaming everyone else for their problems- if only this can spread across the world?

[PC-tzrw]

Brought tears to my eyes!
How beautiful my mother earth looks with all her children frolicking !

[steveascension]

What a beautiful story! It's great to see the locals working together with modern science people to re instate a land that was once productive, that turned desert, but now is transformed back to the green land it was meant to be. People need the land as the land needs good people. A story that brings hope to our world.

[shefalisharma]

Entrepreneurs of all sorts .. India has no dearth of potential .. just one person is needed who has a vision and rest becomes history..!!! Very proud of you Mr Manavendra Singh Shekhawat and your team .. the much needed environmental change and rejuvenation of natural resources as well as of birds and animals .. God bless ‘Dhun’

[mughalkhelkhan]

I am really impressed with the way you guys have understood the needs of the land un such a timely manner and helped the land to become alive where the land would not have been able to come alive by its own. The soil that you helped repair will never forget you and it will bestow upon you and your generations to come with its bounties. It will spread its chest to comfort and sustain you. This is how God uses its good people and keeps so many benefiting for millions of years.
I am Kamran Gul Mughalkhel from Bannu, Pakistan. Wishing and praying for all the best for you guys. Great work.

[davidschmidt]

I like the ending where it talks about tuning into nature and away from cities.... they're not evil but they can't fulfill us spiritually....only God and mother nature can( in my humble opinion)....man this is sooo cooool....this guy took a barren piece of land and turned it into something beautiful that takes care of itself....from what was already there....no huge amounts of concrete and steal....just moving some dirt around and directing the water into a beautiful pond for birds and fish and I hope this really becomes a worldwide movement that permanently ends world hunger....may it be so O'Lord Jesus 👏👏👏

[buzzabuzza]

Huge respect to this man behind this.What a transformation for everyone and nature👏👏👏👏

[hedgehog]

Happened to just get this recommended out of nowhere but this is an incredibly interesting example of climate restoration. It kinda reminds me of a local project where I live, an area that had been drained to become farmland had the pumps turned off and was turned into a huge freshwater lake instead and it became a massive source of biodiversity and stopped the issues with oxygen deprivation in the local bay. With just a bit of a helping hand it's amazing how much damage nature can undo and how big the benefits can be to all of us.

[jennodine]

What a wonderful and inspiring story. Humanity is waking up to the enormous value of our ancestors’ knowledge.

[bobjackson]

I love watching videos like this, so amazing to have people working together for the common good. India leads the world in this type of thing.

[nickpoolsaad]

Living efficiently life enough not destroyed
As a senior citizen (who continues to garden and can), this video of what you’ve accomplished in just a few years is heart warming. Best wishes to y’all in the coming years!