மேற்கு உத்தரப் பிரதேசத்தில் ஷாமிலி மாவட்டத்தில் மல்காபூர் வட்டார விவசாயிகள் எல்லாம் ஒற்றுமையாக ஒன்று கூடி 150 கி.மீ. நீளமான கதா என்ற நதியை திரும்பவும் வெட்டி, சீர்படுத்தி ஆயக்காட்டு வசதிக்காக அரசு, யாருடைய உதவியும் இல்லாமல் தங்களுடைய சொந்த முயற்சியில் புனரமைத்தனர். அவ்வட்டார கிராம மக்களின் கூட்டுறவில் இந்த அற்புத பணி நடந்தேறியுள்ளது. நீருக்காக எதிர்காலத்தில் யுத்தங்களே நடக்கும் என்று சிந்திக்கிற நேரத்தில் தொலைநோக்குப் பார்வையில் உ.பி. விவசாயிகள் தங்கள் வட்டாரத்தில் சில சமூக விரோதிகளாலும், நதி புதையுண்டதாலும் காணாமல் போன கதா என்ற நதியை திரும்பப் பெற்ற முயற்சிகளுக்கும், பணிகளுக்கும் சபாஷ் சொல்லவேண்டியது அனைவரின் கடமை. விவசாயிகள் நினைத்தால் எதையும் நிர்மாணிக்கலாம் என்பதற்கு இது ஒரு சான்று. விவசாயிகளை ஏதோ கடைச் சரக்காக, துச்சமாக நினைக்கும் அரசு பரிவாரங்களை தூக்கி எறிய அஞ்ச மாட்டான் விவசாயி.
A people’s movement in Uttar Pradesh to revive a river
A group of villagers from Malakpur in Shamli district of western Uttar Pradesh are trying to breathe new life into Katha, a 150-km long river which is dead now. With help from a local scientist, farmers are leading the effort to turn a one kilometre stretch of the barren riverbed into a lake.
People from dozens of villages have started digging the river bed to level the surface, and plan to tap nearby water sources to feed it.
The self-made engineering plan is to put up check dams to harvest monsoon water along the one kilometre stretch of the river bed which is 5-40 feet deep. At present, in the absence of check dams, it flows into the Yamuna. Over the last two weeks the villagers have launched a “one house, one pot” water donation movement.
Prof. Umar Saif who leads the initiative, says Katha earlier used to flow between Saharanpur and Rampur but it died in 1830 when East Yamuna came into being, using a 60 kilometre area.
“At present, Katha functions as the drainage pipe of the Yamuna because every time it gets monsoon flows, which at times is a lot, it drains that into that river. What we are trying to do is to pick up one kilometre stretch of riverbed and revive it,” says Prof. Saif, a resident of Shamli and a wildlife scientist.
“Once we develop this lake, it will encourage people to do the same with rest of the 90 km river. So, we will have 90 check dams and 90 bowls of water. ,” Prof. Saif, who heads Dehradun-based Natural History Research and Conservation Centre says.
“Our larger aim is to restore the integrated eco system taking into account the wildlife which is currently declining,” he adds. After seeing two weeks of completely voluntary work by the villagers, local officials assured them that the work on the riverbed can be done through MGNREGA.
“Shivpal Yadav, a Cabinet Minister in the Akhilesh Yadav government, had promised us that the excess water from Yamuna and Ganga during the time of monsoon will be channelised to Katha to revive it. The proposal has been passed but is stuck in official files,” according to Prof. Saif.
The wildlife located on the banks of Katha started declining, the village head Sushil Pradhan argues, because there is no water.
On the restoration of an integrated ecosystem, Prof. Saif says, “Once we develop water bodies, we also plan to develop a butterfly park.”
The district magistrate of Shamli Sujit Kumar told The Hindu that this model of revival of riverbed and water bodies is being tried in other districts like Fatehpur and Shravasti. “I will have to see the technical viability. There certainly is the option of doing it through MGNREGA if it fits the criteria,” Mr. Kumar said.
A people’s movement in Uttar Pradesh to revive a river
People from dozens of villages have started digging the river bed to level the surface, and plan to tap nearby water sources to feed it.
The self-made engineering plan is to put up check dams to harvest monsoon water along the one kilometre stretch of the river bed which is 5-40 feet deep. At present, in the absence of check dams, it flows into the Yamuna. Over the last two weeks the villagers have launched a “one house, one pot” water donation movement.
Prof. Umar Saif who leads the initiative, says Katha earlier used to flow between Saharanpur and Rampur but it died in 1830 when East Yamuna came into being, using a 60 kilometre area.
“At present, Katha functions as the drainage pipe of the Yamuna because every time it gets monsoon flows, which at times is a lot, it drains that into that river. What we are trying to do is to pick up one kilometre stretch of riverbed and revive it,” says Prof. Saif, a resident of Shamli and a wildlife scientist.
“Once we develop this lake, it will encourage people to do the same with rest of the 90 km river. So, we will have 90 check dams and 90 bowls of water. ,” Prof. Saif, who heads Dehradun-based Natural History Research and Conservation Centre says.
“Our larger aim is to restore the integrated eco system taking into account the wildlife which is currently declining,” he adds. After seeing two weeks of completely voluntary work by the villagers, local officials assured them that the work on the riverbed can be done through MGNREGA.
“Shivpal Yadav, a Cabinet Minister in the Akhilesh Yadav government, had promised us that the excess water from Yamuna and Ganga during the time of monsoon will be channelised to Katha to revive it. The proposal has been passed but is stuck in official files,” according to Prof. Saif.
The wildlife located on the banks of Katha started declining, the village head Sushil Pradhan argues, because there is no water.
On the restoration of an integrated ecosystem, Prof. Saif says, “Once we develop water bodies, we also plan to develop a butterfly park.”
The district magistrate of Shamli Sujit Kumar told The Hindu that this model of revival of riverbed and water bodies is being tried in other districts like Fatehpur and Shravasti. “I will have to see the technical viability. There certainly is the option of doing it through MGNREGA if it fits the criteria,” Mr. Kumar said.
No comments:
Post a Comment