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dam-l LS: Orissa village builds small dam for self reliance
Source: Economic Times, March 28, 2000
Cyclone-ravaged Orissa village gets self-reliant
after building a dam
Jatindra Dash
BHUBANESWAR 27 MARCH
UNDETERRED by the havoc wreaked by last year's super
cylcone, residents of a tiny Orissa village have in a remarkable
self-help effort constructed a dam on a river whose waters are
irrigating nine villages in the area.
The residents of the Betali village in the Bhadrak area have
constructed the 400 metre-long and 6.1 metre-high dam on the
Baitarani river which is helping irrigate 10,600 acres
of cultivable
land in the area, say villagers. "No funds were received either
from the government or from any voluntary organisation to
construct the dam, says Chittaranjan, convenor of the
Lokmandal, an organisation of social activists which has been
teaching villagers how to solve their problems on their own.
"We are also raising prohibition issues and issues of land
belonging to tribes people, he says. The organisation has
around 22,000 members, most of whom work in 16 districts in
coastal and tribal Orissa. "We had gone to this village soon after
the cyclone last year to offer food for work, says Mr
Chittaranjan. "We saw people there are very energetic and hard
working. Since they did not have other sources of income for
their survival we suggested ways in which they could make a
living. We had given the idea of a dam which when constructed
on the local Baitarani river could provide them with bread and
butter. They raised the money and contributed physical labour,
he said.
"They started the construction on December 22 last year and it
got completed and became operational on January 27, within 36
days. Every day more than 800 people from the villages worked
together day and night. People of Betali, mostly farmers, were
starving after the devastation caused by the cyclone, says Mr
Chittaranjan. "The crops were washed away and the houses
were damaged, says Dibakara Sahu, 55, who had to take care
of an 18-member family. "The construction of the dam came as a
big help to us, adding that he had been able to grow vegetables
on his four-acre land because plenty of water had been made
available from the dam. We earn Rs150 to Rs200 every day by
selling vegetables in the local market, he claims. Sahu is not
alone. Most villagers in Betali and its eight
neighbouring villages
have reason to smile as they know they will survive even without
government help. "Before the construction, our lives were in
danger and we were almost without hope, but now we are
happy, Mr Sahu says.
"My one-and-a-half acres of land would have remained infertile
but for waters from this dam, says Sahadev Jena of Betali. "The
land is now being used and we have been producing vegetables,
he says. IANS
"While people are migrating in large numbers to other states in
search of jobs, the villagers of Betali have shown how to be
self-reliant and live with dignity," says Mr Chittaranjan. "Now
people of Betali and its neighbouring villages have come together
and decided to make it a permanent construction by raising
funds on their own, without depending on anybody," he says.
"Villagers in large numbers are coming forward and are trying to
live with out depending on government help, says Bijoya Parida,
a former village council chief.
"The government has been spending millions of rupees but the
return is zero. People can solve their own problems and that has
been proved by the Betali experiment, he says.IANS