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MANOHARPUR, ORISSA
Moving Earth

Let down by the government, Oriya tribals build a canal on their own

By Ruben Banerjee

Life in the area adjoining Manoharpur in Orissa's rural backyard is hard. Stretching on either side of the Keonjhar-Mayurbhanj district borders, it is one of the poorest tribal regions in the state. It was here that Australian missionary Graham Stuart Staines and his two young sons were murdered and the tribal community is split between those who have converted to Christianity and those who haven't. But there are necessities that breach religious divides, and the Santhals, Mundas and Hos have set aside their suspicions and animosity to work together on a unique project.

A deep canal is slowly winding its way across the rocky outback of the region from a springhead on the Sarupani river. For more than two years, around 600-odd tribals -- both converts and non-converts -- have been digging the canal to bring water to their parched lands. The canal is 11 km long now, and about 6 km more remains to be dug. When completed it will bring water to 43 villages in Thakurmunda block of Mayurbhanj district. The canal should be finished within a year, by when the 20 ft by 10 ft trench from Jodambo would have reached its final destination in Akhapalan, connecting villages like Baliposi, Basantapur, Nipama and others on its way.

It is a people's enterprise born out of decades of apathy faced by these hapless tribals at the hands of the administration. The district's irrigation network is abysmal; just 2 per cent of its geographical area is irrigated. When the MLA of the region went on to become the state irrigation minister some years there were hopes. But while grand projects like the Rs 100-crore Deo river project were announced, they remained pipe dreams. Two years ago, the tribals of the region had gheraoed the sub-collector's office in neighbouring Karanjia for five days, demanding a solution to the irrigation problem. The official reaction: a police lathicharge. "We then decided to change our destiny ourselves," explains Manik Rambandia of Hatiguda. So the village elders decided to bring the Sarupani river to their doorstep. As children they had heard of government plans of tapping the river for irrigation. "It didn't happen in our lifetime," says Panchami Das, an elderly tribal woman from Khediaposi, "so we decided to ensure it for our children." Armed with crossbars, shovels, hatchets -- and hope, the villagers started work on the canal.

Every Sunday for the last two years, the tribals have been digging furiously to complete the canal. Monday through Saturday sees most of them working in other people's fields, while others collect firewood and forest produce. But each Sunday, enthusiastic people from the 43 villages converge on the foothills to take the canal further ahead.

Work is hard in the humid heat of the Thakurmunda hills. Huge boulders have to be moved, and most of the 11 km dug so far has been along the treacherous slopes of the hills. But the backbreaking effort has its rewards. "For once we are our own masters," says Sauren Ho. "A welcome change from a lifetime spent working on others' fields."

Being their own employers means there are no engineers or supervisors. The work is left to the literate among the tribals -- who have already drawn up the route the canal is to take. In two years, the canal has crossed the hills and is now poised to descend to the plains. It should be relatively easy going after that.

Nothing has stood in the path of the determined tribals. In the absence of dynamite, they fall back on cruder methods -- like heating the boulders with fire and then pouring water on them to break them up. Even forest officials have failed to stall the work. The canal cuts a path through the Simlipal reserve forest, so some foresters have demanded that the digging be stopped. But the tribals are unfazed. "We are not cutting down any trees. And it is our right to bring water to our own villages," they say in unison.

With every thud of a shovel coming down on the rocky ground, notice is served that the tribals here will overcome the steepest challenges. Given the tough terrain, the canal's progress is slow. But revolutions don't take place overnight, and Thakurmunda cannot be an exception.

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