Bidar Zilla Panchayat has begun a Shramadana programme across the district. This is being done through the MNREGA scheme in which farmers and farm labourers can enrol. Enrolled workers will be paid wages even if they work on their own farm, to clean wells or to create water harvesting structures like farm ponds. Open wells on public or
private land will be taken up for desilting or cleaning.
The project was launched on Sunday and the first well to be cleaned up was in Sirgapur village in Basavakalyan taluk.
Sharat B., zilla panchayat chief executive officer, got down into the well and began removing stone, silt, garbage and weeds from the bottom of the well. Other district officers joined in the effort. The well was cleaned after four hours of labour. Heavy rains had breached the Sirgapur tank bund last year, carrying silt and small stones into the wells of the village.
“We are using village heralders to spread the message. We are urging village residents to utilise the facility and get job cards. This will help the community to help each other,” Mr Sharat said.
Work on desilting of 36 of the 120 major tanks is under progress on
the same lines.
Scarcity
One-third of the 600 villages are suffering from water scarcity in Bidar district that has received only 60 per cent of the aggregated annual rainfall this year. Most of these villages have drinking water schemes or locally available ground water source that can be harnessed. Existing borewells will be flushed and cleaned to increase yield. As a last resort, new borewells will be dug, said the CEO.
According to a report sent to the State government, the district has 826 rural drinking water schemes. They consist of large cisterns in which water from nearby borewells is filled. Water flows through gravity to mini-water tanks in different residential areas.
The problem however, is that only 322 of these schemes have power supply connections. The other 504 are not electrified. Taluk panchayat executive officers have requested GESCOM to provide power supply to these units. “The power distribution agency has approved only 74 requests till now. We are pushing for more approvals,” said a ZP
officer.
Fodder is in short supply. Veterinary department officials estimate that standing green grass and fodder stock can last only up to six weeks. “We have plans to set up fodder centres and cow sheds in case of fodder scarcity,” officials said. An action plan of around Rs. 20 crore to take up drinking water and fodder supply and job creation to stop
migration has been sent to the State government, according to ZP
officials.
