Where We Work
The Prakasam–Bapatla–Guntur corridor in coastal Andhra Pradesh — a three-district zone with high agricultural dependence, significant climate exposure, and the institutional infrastructure to make a 36-month integrated development model viable.
The three-district corridor
SARD operates across three contiguous districts of coastal Andhra Pradesh: Prakasam, Bapatla, and Guntur. This corridor was chosen for its combination of characteristics — high unmet development need, strong existing government scheme delivery infrastructure, active SHG/SERP institutional presence, and SARD's existing community relationships from prior work in the region.
The corridor spans the transition between the Krishna–Guntur irrigated delta (relatively water-secure, with higher baseline infrastructure) and the southern semi-arid Prakasam tracts (drought-prone, fluoride-affected groundwater, lower infrastructure baseline). This variation within the corridor is intentional — it allows SARD to test the adaptability of the methodology across different agro-ecological and economic conditions.
District characteristics
Each district presents a distinct development context. SARD's village selection within each district is informed by baseline infrastructure deficits, scheme convergence potential, and community readiness.
Semi-arid, drought-prone, with significant fluoride risk in groundwater across multiple mandals. Lower baseline infrastructure coverage relative to the other two districts. High agricultural distress exposure. Strong candidate for the full seven-pillar methodology with particular emphasis on WASH, environment, and livelihoods resilience.
Coastal district straddling the Krishna delta and the semi-arid transition zone. Cyclone exposure in coastal GPs. Relatively higher baseline infrastructure in delta villages; larger infrastructure and WASH deficits in inland mandals. Active SERP SHG network provides a strong livelihoods institutional base.
Largest of the three districts by population. Mix of irrigated delta villages and rain-fed upland mandals. Strong agricultural infrastructure baseline in irrigated areas; significant education and health gaps in upland clusters. Higher FPO density than Prakasam and Bapatla, supporting livelihoods convergence work.
Selection rationale
Why this corridor was chosen for the demonstration
SARD's methodology is designed to be replicable in other semi-arid, smallholder-agriculture-dependent regions of India. The Prakasam– Bapatla–Guntur corridor was chosen as the demonstration site for reasons that make learnings transferable.
Scheme delivery infrastructure
Strong government systems to converge with
Andhra Pradesh has one of India's most advanced Panchayati Raj implementation infrastructures, an active SERP/NRLM SHG network, and relatively high scheme delivery efficiency. This makes it an effective site to test convergence-first methodology — where scheme infrastructure exists but is underutilized at the GP level.
Agro-ecological representativeness
Semi-arid conditions common across peninsular India
The agro-ecological conditions of Prakasam — drought exposure, fluoride-affected groundwater, smallholder paddy and chilli cultivation, declining water tables — are representative of large parts of peninsular India. Methodology developed here is transferable to comparable semi-arid zones in other states.
Institutional readiness
SARD's existing community relationships
SARD's prior work in the corridor established community trust and working relationships with local government officials, Block Resource Centres, and SERP District Programme Management Units. These relationships reduce the entry friction that delays effective community planning in the VDP process.
Replication pathway
Corridor-level replication within Andhra Pradesh
A methodology demonstrated credibly across multiple GPs in three districts can be adopted by the AP government as a GP capacity building framework. The corridor is large enough to produce evidence across diverse conditions, but compact enough for SARD's field team to maintain oversight quality.
Active and pipeline villages
Village-level programme data — active Gram Panchayats, programme stage, and baseline conditions — will be published on this page as villages progress through the VDP adoption stage and community consent processes are complete.
Disclosure of village names and GP-level data is contingent on Gram Sabha adoption of the Village Development Plan, which formalises SARD's presence in the village. This is a programme integrity principle, not a confidentiality restriction.
Programme tracking and geographic data will be available here. Forthcoming