This Article is From Aug 22, 2009

In drought, water blesses farms here

Bedo Block, Ranchi:

The sweet sound of running water when the rain gods have been merciless. For farmers fighting drought across Jharkhand, this may sound like a mirage. But in this cluster of villages near Ranchi, it's a reality.

Farmers go about sowing their paddy, thanks to 75-year-old Simran Oroan. Fifteen years ago, he built a three-kilometre canal here, with no help from the government or other villagers. He spent three years digging this canal with an axe. Day after day, till NGOs noticed him. And helped with a lakh, which he used to cement the canal.

A gigantic accomplishment, by any standards, but  Simran says just he did what he had. He's a farmer, after all. "I realised that the villagers were facing a lot of trouble. So I looked for a place to build a canal."

Simran's canal gets its water from a pond and a government dam, three kilometres away. It's the only source of water for seven villages nearby. Baleshwar, a farmer, exhales with relief: Earlier we used to be dependent on the Rain Gods. But now, we have this."

Forty seven per cent deficiency in rain for Jharkhand. That's the official statistic. Made irrelevant here by one man.

.