environmental science

ENVIRONMENTAL

SCIENCE

VILLAGE CASE STUDY: ADALAJ VILLAGE

SUBMITTED TO:

MR. MANISH BHARGAVA

SUBMITTED BY:

SHUBHAM SINGH

SRISHTI KUMARI

SURABHI SRIVASTAVA

TANIYA BHARDWAJ

TANUSHREE AGARWAL

VIDYOTAMA SANDAL

PREFACE

This is a detailed field study of Adalaj Village near

Ahmedabad. By field study what we actually mean is to

visit the village and get to know about their social,

economic, political, cultural and environmental

backgrounds in detail. We get to know people through

their lifestyle, occupation, family life, religious beliefs,

rituals, customs, food, communities, etc.

We interacted with the villagers, conducted surveys which

included questions related to their families, profession,

life as a villager, etc. It was a good experience in order to

interact with people who did not belong to a back ground

similar to us, did not share the same problems and the

same mind set. We even came to know that some of the

practices such as child marriage which had been abolished

from the cities were still prevalent in the village, yet

giving credits to the change in mentality. People had

abolished the dowry system, allowed education for the

girl child and supported development.

Such a field trip is just not academically related but also

provides an all round development of the students. It

changes their stereotypical thinking about villages and

their people. Photographs and documentation have solely

been based upon our understanding and the circumstances

we came across with. The statistics mentioned have been

mentioned as close to the reality as possible, taking aid

from officials and their documents on the village.

Overall it was an enthralling four day long experience for

all of us making us more capable in understanding people,

their thinking, their village functioning and as well as how

to become amateur cartographers.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

In order to produce the following document, we as a

group were never enough. A lot of outside help was

needed in order to understand the precision required in

producing the document. First of all, we would like to

thank our honourable director, Mr. Arindam Das for

making it possible for us to go for this field study. Our

faculty has an important role in the framework of this

document. We are also grateful to our mentor, Mr.

Manish Bhargava for guiding us through every minute

aspect of this trip. We are immensely grateful to Mr. P.P.

Puriya (the Sarpanch) for letting us conduct this survey

and for providing us with all the necessary statistics

related to the village. Last but not the least, we would like

to thank each and every person who had the patience to

answer all our queries, guide us through the village, tell us

about their lives in so much detail and to welcome us with

open arms.

CONTENTS

About the Village

Demographics

Education

Administration

Occupation

Milk Co-operative

Medical Facilities

Sweet Care Prathmik Shala

Central Bank of India, Adalaj

People

Cluster Study: Shopkeepers, Businessmen and

other Professionals in the Market Place.

The Prajapatis: A Micro-study

Tobacco Factory and Illegal Liquor

ABOUT THE VILLAGE

Adalaj village is located 18 kilometers away from

Gandhinagar. It is designed around the Adalaj Stepwell

which is also one of Indian heritage sites. The stepwell

was built in 1499 A.D. by Queen Rudabai.

This stepwell is five storied and had three entrances. It is

believed that Queen Rudabai committed suicide by

jumping in the stepwell (“Vav” as it is known in

Gurjarati) because she could not get married again as she

was a widow.

Adalaj is famously known as the “Heritage Village”. It is

a dwelling for rich mythological history. Tourism is

abundant here with people welcoming them with ardor.

DEMOGRAPHICS

The village has a population of 11,957 people with 51%

males, 49% females and 15% children below the age of

six.

The village has a variety of people living in it with

Hindus being the most dominant, i.e. 90% of the

population and the remaining 10% includes Muslims and

Jains.

EDUCATION

The village consists of a majority of literate people. The

literacy rate of the village is 61% with 51% males and

49% females.

The education received by English is mainly in Gujarati

and Hindi. Yet, there are English medium private schools

around along with a few other colleges.

SCHOOLS IN ADALAJ

AMBA SCHOOL FOR EXCELLENCE

It was started in the year 2009-2010 and is a Gujarati

medium school. It is affiliated to CBSE and is a co-

educational school.

DIVINE CHILD INTERNATIONAL

This school was started in 2008 on 13 acre land. It is

affiliated to CBSE and is an English medium school.

SWEETCARE

It is a private co-educational school. It is a Gujarati

medium school and was founded in the year 1997.

MANEKBA

It was founded in the year 2000. It is a Gujarati

medium co-educational school which is affiliated to

CBSE.

GOVERNMENT GIRLS SCHOOL (ADALAJ

KANYASHALA)

It has 430 students with elementary education. It is an

all girls school with the facilities such as e-teaching,

mid-day meal, playgrounds etc.

ADMINISTRATION

There are a total of 21 wards in the area. Out of all the 21

ward members and a Sarpanch, a total of 33% is reserved

for women. All of the above stated form the Gram

Panchayat of the village.

The Gram Panchayat is financially aided with a total

capital of 15 lakh rupees per annum which comes from

different sources such as Zilla Panchayat, Taluka, MLA

and MP funds and the rest from basic revenue collection.

The last election held was in the year 2011 and the village

is awaiting an election this coming December.

SARPANCH: Mr. P.P. Puriya who is not a

native of Adalaj and belongs to a tribe.

DEPUTY SARPANCH: Mr. Jay S. Patel

who is a native of Adalaj.

PATWARI: Ghansham Patel who is a native

of Adalaj.

SUPERVISOR: Sandeep who is also a

native of Adalaj.

OCCUPATION

There are about 4500 homes in the village. In the past,

agriculture was one of the main occupations of the people

as most of them owned good arable land. But, with time

as poverty grew and demands increased, people sold away

most of their land and switched to shop keeping plus

business start-ups.

GANDHINAGAR URBAN DEVELOPMENT

AUTHORITY (GUDA)

In order to bring about development in terms of

infrastructure, GUDA bought about 85% land in area.

This land was all around important places leaving the rest

with the families and developing the bought for building

roads, town planning and other facilities.

Some welfare schemes have also been announced for the

people like CCTV Surveillance, a complaint register etc.

especially for the wage earners which form 51% of the

working population.

MILK CO-OPERATIVE

It is a unit of Gandhinagar District Co-operative Milk

Producer’s Union and is properly known by its brand

name i.e. “Madhur Dairy”.

The name of the franchise holder is Ms. Subhadra Ben

who is single in the family and is 58 years old. She has

attained education up to the 7th grade and has been living

in Adalaj for the past 40 years.

Milk is supplied to the dairy by 150 houses from

adjoining areas and that too twice a day. This is done

mostly by Thakurs and Prajapatis.

The dairy is 20 years old and the main products of the

dairy are milk and ghee. After collection, the milk is

transported to Gandhinagar by vehicle of Madhur Dairy

i.e. a mini truck.

There are 4 staff members. Sanjay Bhai is the computer

operator who maintains the database of the suppliers by

registering entries of each supplier every day as per as the

milk supplied. His salary is Rs.5000 per month and the

other three helpers get Rs.2000 each.

The timings of the co-operative are 06:00 a.m. to 07:30

a.m. in the morning and 05:45 p.m. to 07:15p.m. in the

evening.

PROCESS TO SEGREGATE MILK

Milk is segregated using a machine which works

according to a parameter of taking the amount of fat into

consideration. Amount of fat is directly proportional to

the amount paid, i.e. more the amount of fat, more is the

payment.

The machine works on a scale of 1-10 and Rs.7 is paid

per scale reading. For example, 10 fat is for Rs.70 and 5

fat is Rs.35.

Milk of different quantities is mixed and then sold at a

recalculated price. The different types are:

GOLD (more fat)- Rs.25

SHAKTI (less fat)- Rs.22

Every time a supplier gives milk, a token is generated and

given. This token includes fields like name, amount of

milk(litres), quantity of fat and price to be paid. Payment

is done accordingly at a gap of 10 days regularly.

Amount of milk supplied differs from customer to

customer such as the big suppliers give 40 litres at a time

and the small suppliers have about 2-3 litres at a time.

At the moment the co-operative has no revolutionary

future plans and is content with its functioning.

MEDICAL FACILITES

In order to take care of more than 4500 families, good

medical facilities are required. Thus, Adalaj village has a

number of doctors working at its service in private

dispensaries and a government hospital. A number of

chemists were spotted in and around the market area.

GOVERNMENT HOSPITAL ADALAJ

This hospital provides free of cost daily check-ups

and caters to more than 100 patients per day. It has a

number of Public Health Care Centres (PHCC) which

are in service since 25-30 years. It has a well-

equipped Pathology Laboratory with 8 doctors, 3

computers, a superintendent and a MCD specialist.

There are a total of 2 stretchers, an ambulance and six

beds. All major schemes like “Pulse Polio” have been

implemented. This hospital manages to take of day-

to-day health problems but, is not able to handle

serious casualties on its own. It has a good service

record for pregnant women and babies.

A LOCAL AYURVEDIC DOCTOR

Name: Dr. Ashwin N. Shahiwala

Gender: Male

Age: 62 years

Years of Experience: 37 years

University: Akhandanand Ayurvedic College,

Ahmedabad

Degree: BSM (Bachelor of Surgery and Ayurvedic

Medicine)

Year of graduation: 1974

Home town: Ahmedabad

Clinic Timings: 10:00 a.m. to 07:00 p.m.

Take on the local people: People in the village

belong to every sort of financial background, most of

them maintain a good hygiene level, less casualties

and more general problems and they have faith in the

doctor.

Nearby private hospitals: Satyamev Hospital and

Indus Hospital which are able enough to handle

severe casualties.

Fee charged per regular check up: Rs.80- Rs.100

Number of Attendants: No attendants.

Income: About Rs.20,000-25,000 a month.

Availability of medicines: it is low as compared to

the needs.

Take on facilities available: Happy with the

ambulance service, clean water and electricity.

Name of the clinic: It is known by the doctor’s name

itself since years.

SWEETCARE PRATHMIK SHALA

This private school was established in the year 1996-

97. It provides education up to 10th grade and has a

total strength of 840 students.

Students come from every area in and around Adalaj,

Jundail and Paur. The school works in different shifts

i.e. 07:00 a.m.- 12:30 p.m. : 6th – 10th grade

12:30 p.m.- 05:20 p.m. : Nursery-5th grade

12:30 p.m.- 04:00p.m. : pre-nursery

The school is equipped with 12 computers in the

computer laboratory. It does not provide any

transport for its students, only private vehicles are

seen dropping and picking students.

The school is affiliated to Gujarat State Board. There

are about 21 teachers who come from areas around

the school. It is a Gujarati medium school with

subjects such as English, Hindi, Gujarati,

Mathematics, Science, Computers, etc.

Sai Vidya Mandir is the trust that provides funds for

the proper functioning of the school. Mr. Patel Ashok

and Mr. Shah Ashok work in the office of the school.

CENTRAL BANK OF INDIA,

ADALAJ

Manager: Mrs. Manjula Patel

Age: 69 years

Degree: Bachelor in Science from Surat

Family: a husband and a daughter

Number of Account Holders: 12,000

Loan Amount on the Bank: 35 crores INR

Deposit amount in the Bank: 51 crores INR

Housing Loans: 90% of the loans granted

Education Loans: 8 crores INR

Mortgage: land and assets for agriculture

Investment: investments in Ahmedabad and

60% investments in Baroda

PEOPLE

A variety of people reside together in Adalaj Village. All

of them live together in harmony with each other,

celebrate festivals together, share their happiness, stand

by each other in bad times. Along with having so much

tourism being attracted to their place, they manage their

daily lives proficiently and dream big.

CASTES

The castes in the village are Thakurs, Patels,

Prajapati, Brahmins, Kutchi,etc.

RELIGION

90% of the population is Hindu and the remaining are

Muslims and Jains.

CLOTHING

Generally, people prefer materials like georgette,

chiffon, and polyester. Women wear suits, jeans,

tops, ghaghra choli, sarees, etc. before getting

married but after marriage, all of them prefer wearing

sarees. Males prefer trousers and shirts, jeans and t-

shirts, the natives wear dhoti kurta.

FOOD

An all time favourite among people is Bajra ki roti

and saag (chapatti and spinach) which is cooked

almost in every family. The other popular food items

include samosas, jalebi, pakore, khakhra, gol gappas,

dabeli, vada pav, etc.

FESTIVALS

All the festivals are celebrated with equal enthusiasm

like any other but the most popular ones are Diwali,

Makar Sakranti and Navratri.

TEMPLES

i. Adalaj Stepwell

ii. Cheher Mata Mandir

iii. Chahu Maa Mandir

iv. Hanuman Mandir

v. Ramdev Mandir

vi. Kali Maa Mandir

vii. Armaan Mandir

viii. Vishat Maa Mandir

ix. Vashetsi Mata Mandir

x. Shree Badiya Dev Mandir

xi. Jain Mandir

CLUSTER STUDY: SHOPKEEPERS,

BUSINESSMEN AND OTHER

PROFESSIONALS IN THE

MARKET PLACE

1) TAILOR

Name: Dashrath Bhai

Age: 40 years

Name of the Shop: Vishva Ladies Tailor

Experience: 20 years

Popular Demands: suits and sarees among

married women and jeans among young girls.

Clothing Materials: polyester, georgette, velvet,

chiffon.

Types of Sarees: Kanjivaram, Banarasi, Kutchi

Number of Family members: 10, three sons

along with their wives, a married girl, two

unmarried girls and wife.

Religious beliefs: has faith in Isht Devi and

Krishna

Take on the village facilities and

administration: Content with the working of the

administration and Sarpanch. Happy with the

facilities like water and electricity.

2) JEWELLER

Name: Ramesh Bhai

Age: 60 years

Profession: Jeweller


Article best sold: Pajeb and Mangalsutra

Weight of the Pajeb: 500 grams

Cost of the Pajeb: Rs.10,000

Where do you get your products designed

and made from: two attendants help design and

carve who stay at Ahmedabad

Metals usually used: Silver and gold

Take on the families: normally lower middle

class forms the majority, they buy Pajeb for their

daughters and daughter-in-laws the most. People

used to earn money by farming earlier but then in

order to clear debts they sold their land and most

of them started working in the brick kiln.

Future Plans: Content with their present

condition and facilities of the village

Income: Cannot be told as it totally depends

upon the demand and sale of the jewellery, the

marriage or festival season provides a boost to

business while the off season is slow to make

income.

3) CONFECTIONER

Name: Babu Bhai

Age: 50 years

Years of experience: 30 years

Home town: Adalaj

Family: A wife, two children

i. Ronak

First child, 17 years, studying in 11th grade

ii. Khushi

Second child, 13 years, studying in 8th grade

Both study in Manekba School, Adalaj.

Vehicles: 2 bikes, a tempo

Years at Adalaj: 30 years

Education:10th grade pass out

Attendants:2-3 attendants at the shop

Side Business: Catering

Salary to workers: Rs. 300 to females and Rs.

500 to males.

Timings: 08:00 a.m. to 08:00 p.m.

Take on getting his kids married: 22 years is

the perfect age to get married and believe in

arranged marriage.

Salary: depends up on the sale and the season of

festivals or marriages.

Take on Village Facilities: Content with the

present facilities.

Aspirations: Want to expand their business to

other places but do not have enough money to

support the plan.

Best sold: Samose

4) WORKERS AND SHOPKEEPERS

Name: Nathi Ben

Age: 70 years

Current Professional Status: not working

Total Members in the Family: 4 members

Name of the Son and details about his family:

Rasik Lal (40 years old) stays at home along

with his wife Rupa (35 years old) and a daughter

Shivani who is 19 years old and is studying at

Manekba College

Family Profession: work at the mineral water

plant, own two shops in the main market and

have hands in salt business.

Take on Village Facilities: Content with water,

electricity and transport facilities available.

Favourite Food Items: Roti, Saag, Rice

Take on school facilities: have got better with

years.

Status of women in the family: Do not work

outside, handle only household chores.

Property owned: 2 tubewells and some land

Favourite Festivals: Diwali

Religious Beliefs: Have faith in Chaamunda

Mata and celebrate her festival, “Aatham” with

full zest.

School to which kids are sent: Manekba

Vidyalaya

Electric Appliances at home: Fridge,

Television but no computers.

5) VENDORS

a) Name: Rahul Bhai

Age: 60 years

Type of Vendor: Masala Thela

Work Experience: 30 years

Home town: Adalaj

Family Members: 4 members

A wife and two sons along with him. His wife is

a home maker and the sons are working in

Ahmedabad.

Income: Depends upon the sales

Problems: The shop and its commodities have

to be wrapped up as soon as the village

Panchayat comes for inspection.

Education: 7th grade pass out.

Aspirations: To open more shops.

Profit: Rs.100- Rs.150 per day.

Attendants: No attendants

Timings: 05:00a.m.- 08:00 p.m.

b) Name: Naresh Bhai

Age: 30 years

Type of Stall: Pani Puri Stall


Location: Opposite Mosque

Home Town: Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, in

Adalaj since a year.

Family Members: 2 brothers, 2 sisters, a wife,

an elder son, a daughter.

Income: Rs.200-Rs.500 per day

Profit per Day: Rs.50 – Rs.100 per day

Public Favourite: Pani Puri

Education: 5th grade passout

Problems: Not enough income to expand

Timings: 05:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m.

Age when got Married: 15-16 years

Electrical Appliances at home: Only a

television, no fridge, no computer.

6) GROCERY AND RATION

Name: Kamal Bhai

Age: 34 years


Years in Adalaj: 15 years

Native Place: Rajasthan

Family Members: a wife and two sons

Income: 2.5 lakh rupees per annum

Demands: Rice and Pulses

Take on Facilities: Satisfactory according to

the village, good water and regular electricity

supply.

Stock: Brought in from Ahmedabad.


Children Education: Studied in Sweet Care

Transportation: Good and feasible

availability of public transport.

Timings: 08:00 a.m. – 08:30 p.m.

Age when got married: 24 years

Vehicles: one Scooty

7) FLORIST

Name: Beekha Bhai

Age: 60 years

Years of experience: In business since

childhood

Native place: Adalaj

Family Members: A son, his wife and his 3

children.

Demand: Marigold and Rose

Vehicles: 1 car

Problems: Content with the facilities

Source of Stock: Jamalpur Phool Bazar,

Ahmedabad.

Education: 9th grade pass out.

Income: Totally depends upon the festival and

marriage season.

Attendants: 2 attendants which get paid

according to the demand at work.

Timings: 08:30 a.m. – 08:00 p.m.

They carry out deliveries only above a certain

limit of ordered flowers otherwise the

customers pick up their required stock from

the shop itself.

8) COSMETIC STORE

Name: Sanjah Bhai

Family Members: 6 members

Public Demand: Cosmetics

Problems: No problems as such, content with

present facilities.

Stock: Available from Ahmedabad


Aspirations: No future plans about the shop.

Income: Rs. 30,000 per month

Timings: 08:00a.m.- 09:00 p.m.

Age when got married: 21 years.

Vehicles: a bike and a car

9) POTTER

Name: Ram Bhai

Age: 65 years

Caste: Prajapati

Wife: Sam Ben

Age: 62 years

Family:

Raju Bhai Vishnu Bhai Sailesh Bhai

40 years 35 years 34 years

Vasanti Ben Pushpa Ben Jagriti Ben

38 years 30 years 33 years

Tailor Factory worker Electrician

1 daughter 2 sons 2 son

Ambika,19 Rahul, 14 Tushar, 14

Prince, 4 Krishna, 7

1 daughter 1 daughter

Darshana, 11 Devanshi, 10

Children are studying in Kanyashala and Sweet

Care School.

Years spent by family in Adalaj: 90 years

THE PRAJAPATI’S : A MICRO-

STUDY

MADHU BEN

(65 YEARS)

KETAN

PRAJATPATI

(40 YEARS)

GEETA

PRAJAPATI

(36 YEARS)

VINOD

PRAJAPATI

(35 YEARS)

RAMILA

PRAJAPATI

(30 YEARS)

JUHI

(17YR)

11TH

DRASHTI

(14YRS)

9TH

MEGHA

(13 YRS)

8TH

HARSH

(12 YRS)

5TH

HONEY

(6 YRS)

1ST

HETH

(4

MONTHS)

Name: Madhu Ben

Age: 65 years

Name: Ketan Prajapati

Age: 40 years

Wife’s Name: Geeta Prajapati

Wife’s Age: 36 years

1st Child: Daughter, Juhi, 17 years

2nd Child: Daughter, Drashti, 14 years

3rd Child: Daughter, Megha, 13 years

4th Child: Son, Harsh, 12 years

Education: Ketan Prajapati is a 10th grade pass

out and his wife is an 8th grade pass out. Their

children study in Manekba School.

Age at the time of Marriage: 20 years

Name: Vinod Prajapati

Age: 35 years

Wife’s Name: Ramila Prajapati

Wife’s age: 30 years

1st Child: Daughter, Honey, 6 years

2nd Child: Son, Heth, 4 months

Education: Vinod is a 10th grade pass out and

Ramila a 9th grade pass out. Their daughter

studies in Manekba School.

Age at the time of Marriage: Vinod was 27 and

Ramila was 22 years old.

Vehicles: A motor bike

Festivals: They celebrate all festivals according

to Hindus but their favourite is Navratri.

Faith: They have put their faith in Durga Maa.

Languages: Gujarati and Hindi

Marriage: Happens according to the Hindu

Rituals and take blessings from the Adalaj

Stepwell Temple after getting married.

Caste: Prajapati

Women of the house: Go for training in the

block to conduct medical surveys.

Years in Adalaj: All the members have been in

Adalaj all their lives.

Income: As they say it, their shop of selling

electrical appliances in the main market is

enough for their needs but less to make any

significant profit or savings.

Food: They love Bajra Roti and cooked

vegetables to have along with it.

Property: They own 5 acre land in the village.

Sanitation: The women of the house take

special care of hygiene in the house; with 2

bathrooms and washrooms they maintain a good

level of cleanliness and the washrooms are

equipped with American style seats with a proper

sewage disposal pipeline system, proper supply

of water and regular cleaning.

Take on their own Village: They are spending a

happy timee in the village. They have no qualms

against the administration and do not feel dearth

of any facility such as water or electricity.

Source of Income: They sell electrical

appliances like water geysers, fridge, induction

cook tops, kettles, etc. along with water purifiers

at their shop which is opposite the Post Office

and is named “Cheher Enterprise”. Both the

brothers work together.

Clothing: The males of the house wear trousers

and shirts to work and the ladies of the house

stick to their sarees around the year. The children

wear casual clothing like jeans, t-shirts, suits and

shirts.

Vegetables: Every seasonal and perennial

vegetable are bought by the ladies of the house

and the vegetables are always fresh and clean

making lesser of a threat to health.

Marriage: Adults get married by 22-23 years of

age and daughters are born to become home

makers as they can not study outside the village

at all and do not work in order to earn a living.

Have a perception about Thakur’s marrying off

really early, for instance, their neighbour’s son

was in 8th grade and his marriage was scheduled

for the 7th of February of this year itself.

Problems: The family openly told about the

illegal alcohol being made and sold in the

village. They pointed out at the corruption of the

area and how they bribed policemen. It was

difficult for the shopkeepers to attain proper

licensing without paying a bribe to the

authorities concerned. Primary education was not

at all a smooth sailing ship in the village and

they felt the need to teach their children English

as a language properly.

TOBACCO FACTORY AND

ILLEGAL LIQUOR

As already known, Gujarat is a dry state i.e. the

manufacture, selling and consumption of alcohol

in the state is a solemn crime and is penalized

gravely. But, as a result of greed for money,

corruption and demand, illegal liquor factories

and selling outlets are available around the state.

Adalaj Village is no exception to this trait. As

the practice of selling liquor is illegal we could

not really get to the roots of it but yes, we did

meet people who could supply alcohol to you on

the go once you enter their part of the village.

Alcohol is made, bottled and sold out from small

homes which on the outside look like any other

household, what a few say is the large scale

nexus functioning inside. It has its roots so deep

inside the system that almost every one knows

that even the law does not exercise power over

the illegal practice.

The tobacco factory is situated towards the

western outskirts of the village. It is situated

away from the households, 1 km away from the

highway. It is owned by Shah Kalidas

Premchand and Company. There are about 25

workers in the factory. The tobacco is grown

locally and the products are sold outside the

village. The business is not illegal but products

are dangerous, yet it makes a huge profit for the

owners.