A panchayat checks migration with a dam

However,ever since the panchayat here built a small check dam on the insistence of villagers,the village has not been short of irrigation water,even in bad summers.

The 30-feet check dam will have a network of 5,000 feet canal; 1,500 feet was constructed five months ago while the work is underway on the rest of the stretch.

Constructed under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Gurantee Scheme (MGNREGS) of the central government,the check dam is located at Bagmija village under Narrah gram panchayat in Bankura block II. It was built in a record time of 45 days at a cost of Rs 8 lakh. Of the 2,000 workers,around 100 labourers were skilled and another 100 semi-skilled. Significantly,the rest of the work force comprised the villagers.

Given the check dam and its intricate network of canals,numerous ponds that dot the Narrah gram panchayat area remain full to the brim. Villagers are tilling their land thrice in a year — with one yield of paddy and at least two to three yields of vegetables.

Jogamaya Chakraborty,a panchayat member of Bagmija village at Narrah panchayat,said,“In 2012,in a gram samsad ( village council) meeting,we proposed the idea to the panchayat pradhan. We did not have any irrigation channels. The ponds used to go dry in summer and in monsoon,floods troubled us. Now we are harvesting rain water in the check dam reservoirs.”

He added: “The panchayat did not have enough funds to build the dam nor pay labourers. The villagers proposed they would build the dam under the NREGA scheme. And our panchayat pradhan agreed.”

Madan Sen,the panchayat pradhan of Narrah,said: “The idea was to provide employment to villagers under the NREGA scheme and also executing a project that will benefit all. And we succeeded in that. More than 100 acres of land which could never be cultivated due to scarcity of water and drought-like situation have given a good yield this time. At least 200 farmer families have returned to farming.”

Mahitosh Mishra,a farmer of the village,said,“I have four bighas of land,which I could not cultivate for almost five years due to scarcity of water. We tried to dig deep tube wells but found big rocks after we went only 20 feet deep. We abandoned farming. I began working as a construction labourer. This year,however,I have grown paddy and vegetables on the same piece of land.”

The efforts of the panchayat has also been acknowledged by the state panchayat department that has listed it as one of the ten best village panchayats of the region for execution of welfare projects.