Monsoon rains regularly pummel Maharashtra state. With the support of a $50,000 global grant, the Rotary Club of Mumbai Down Town Sea Land oversaw construction of five check dams that will help farming families manage flooding in the Palghar district. “The majority of the rainwater runs off the surface, as the land is mostly rocky and consists of hard soil,” says member Chandraprabha Khona, who directed the project in cooperation with the Rotary Club of Colombo, Sri Lanka. A nearly $30,000 contribution from Shabbir Rangwala, a past president of the Mumbai club, was instrumental. The new concrete dams will allow farmers to expand irrigation and cultivate additional crops, as well as store water for sanitation and top off bore wells. Khona adds that the project will lead to “an exponential jump” in farmers’ income.