The Varusanadu valley area is remote and runs into the hills, which the Vaigai River flows from. Many of the hamlets are situated on slopes once covered in dense forest. As people moved into the vicinity, they deforested large areas to make room for villages and provide themselves with land for agriculture. Little care was taken and the area has suffered soil erosion, top soil degradation and a severely depleted water table level. The continued drought has only exaggerated matters and the river wears a decidedly dry look.

As agriculture is the mainstay in this area we have initiated programmes to improve knowledge of sustainable agricultural practices and started tree planting projects to prevent further soil erosion. We initiated a scheme in four villages, giving them seedlings to start with, and then taught them how to grow their own. We gave them training in how to use contour banding to minimise soil erosion and informed them of government schemes that provided assistance and subsidised seedlings. These projects have been a real success and we have had requests from many other villages for similar training. We are also campaigning for the local Kanmai reservoir, built in 1960 but never put to use, to be repaired and utilised. However, powerful land owners have encroached upon the land, planting trees within the reservoir boundary. We have been raising awareness of this issue within the SHGs and through mass awareness programmes and are petitioning for action against these landowners, to stop these encroachments and so allow the reservoir to be put to use.