Khariar: Fed up with the apathy of the administration, farmers of Balipati village under Khariar block in Nuapada district took upon themselves and dug up a temporary canal to irrigate their farmlands, reports said.
The villagers collected money from their own pocket and labored themselves to dig the 200 metre long canal. The move came after repeated pleas of the villagers to dig a canal fell on deaf ears of the officials concerned.
Despite repeated pleas, the officials failed to expedite the work on the Sahakata small irrigation project near the village following which the villagers decided to do it all by themselves without any help from the administration.
According to sources, most farmlands in the village had almost dried up and developed cracks due to water scarcity. The villagers had demanded the block administration to dig a canal for irrigation purposes, but to no avail.
“Because of the administration’s apathy towards the demand for the irrigation project, as many as 50 farmers decided to work together for the canal,” stated a farmer adding that it was due to such combined effort, the villagers could bring water to their farm land which had almost dried up and developed cracks due to water scarcity.
“All the farmers joined hands to dig the canal as our crops were getting affected due to water scarcity. We are hopeful of a good yield now as the canal has been connected to our farmland,” said another farmer.
It was after the enormous effort of the farmers, that the administration opened its eyes. The administration officials then lauded the efforts made by farmers and assured to construct a concrete canal soon.
“I congratulate the farmers for digging the canal. If they support us, the administration will make it concrete, said Prabhakar Mohanty, executive engineer of the Khariar Small Irrigation division.
PNN
