Chronically drought prone, Jhabua district bordering Rajasthan and Gujarat was once regared as the "Kalahandi of Western India". Today, this once barren and unproductive parched terrain sports a green cover and the district - notorious for its crime rate is being touted as a example of how the most hopeless of situations can be improved by empowering locals to manage their own environment. All this was made possible after villagers wer taught to arrest water "where it falls and not allow it to run-off with their precious soil".