MISSION ACCOMPLISHED: The natural drain in Saidapur village in Jewargi taluk in Gulbarga from which silt was removed under the NREGS, resulting in the reclamation of water-logged agriculture land.

GULBARGA: Two hundred hectares of water-logged agriculture land that had become unfit for farming for the past several years in Jewargi taluk of Gulbarga district has been reclaimed under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS). This comes as a blessing for people in Saidapur village in Kuknur Gram Panchayat.

Although the minor irrigation tank in the village irrigated nearly 500 hectares of land, it had also resulted in the cessation of agriculture operations on more than 200 hectares of land. The accumulation of silt in the natural drain of the tank had resulted in seepage of excess water from the tank to downstream areas resulting in water logging and salinity of fertile agriculture land.

Chief Executive Officer of the Gulbarga Zilla Panchayat P.C. Jaffer, who was instrumental in motivating the Jewargi Taluk Panchayat officials and the Kuknur Gram Panchayat to take up removal of silt, told The Hindu here on Saturday that the situation had changed with more than 95 per cent of the water-logged land being reclaimed and farmers taking up farming on the land after many years.

Mr. Jaffer said the twin objectives of providing employment and creating a permanent asset as envisaged in the guidelines of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme had been achieved.

The scheme to remove silt in the tank provided continuous employment to nearly 150 people every day for six months at a cost of Rs. 4.05 lakh. Mr. Jaffer said the work was entirely employment-oriented and not a single machine was used in the entire operation.

The authorities used the opportunity to expand the drain up to 15 ft wide and 6 ft deep to carry water to a length of about one km. He said income from agriculture in the village was likely to increase by about Rs. 10 lakh a year.

This initiative, Mr. Jaffer said, has successfully reversed the initial tendency of giving more stress for roadwork under the NREGS in the district and shifted the focus to water conservation projects which were the need of the hour in the water-starved district. The district has submitted the utilisation certificate and audit reports to the Union Government and sought Rs. 73 crore from the Union Government under the NREGS for 2007-08. The first instalment was likely to be released in April, he said.

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