The Hindu : Karnataka News : What collective effort can do

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Friday, May 06, 2005

Karnataka

Karnataka

What collective effort can do

Alladi Jayasri

Villagers unite to rejuvenate tank

BANGALORE: It was once the Vegamugaparigitthe neella oddu (the stream that rushes with great speed), and the villagers had a waste weir built in the middle of the tank to let the excess water out. But even the elders of K. Raguttahalli village of Chintamani taluk in Kolar district have heard of those green times from their grandfathers, and they are not part of living memory.

Today the Paraganoddu tank, built by a local chieftain, Cheemaraja, is bone dry, the farmlands are parched and the villagers say the last drop of water dried up several years ago. Water is available in the tank only for a few weeks, if there is a good monsoon.

Economic lifeline

K. Raguttahalli's economy revolves around this tank, which has an expanse of 5.52 hectares. The farmers grow paddy and onion, potato and beans and other vegetables.

A fortnight ago, as the K. Raguttahalli tank users' cooperative society members stood atop the weir along with representatives of the Jalasamvardhane Yojana Sangha (JSYS), the Rs. 650-crore World Bank-aided community-based tank development project, there was hope and a sense of pride over what the villagers had achieved.

The cooperative's president, Srinivas, said the villagers, tired of the ceaseless cycle of drought, dried-up tank and financial losses each year, decided to take a leaf out of the book of several other villages in Kolar. On the advice of the local Kolar Grameena Bank officer, they got talking to JSYS, and soon, with the promise of Rs. 15.4 lakhs funding, and the community contribution of Rs. 1.04 lakhs, they began preparing the Paraganoddu tank for the next monsoon.

In the process, the entire village got involved in an integrated development project that addressed women, farmers, the young and the non-literate, to enable them to harness the benefits of participating in community development. The women help in maintaining accounts and the Swashakti groups and self-help groups have emerged as a strong support source for the community, as activities such as poultry and dairy farming have helped mitigate the losses that farmers have become accustomed to.

What the villagers have achieved in the past year is a study in the success of collective effort. After land records were surveyed and 25 acres was found to have been encroached upon, the guilty were eager to yield the extra land so that the tank may get a new lease of life. When the canals from the waste weir needed to pass through farmland, the owners had no qualms in giving up the strip of land for the common good.

Guardians

Once the boundaries of the tank were established, the villagers assessed the ways in which the tank could once again become the life source. The protection of the tank is entrusted to a family or two that owns sheep and goats. They will be allowed to graze their animals on the far side and, in return, they have to guard the tank and the newly growing greenery.

The tank is ready to receive water, but the villagers now look skywards, wondering when the rains will come and bring the tank to life once again.

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