DHENKANAL: Vegetable farmers of Majhi Sahi village, 10 km away from here, have been eking out a tough living as a watershed project lies defunct since 2015. The tribal village under Saptasajya panchayat with a population of around 300 used to supply vegetables to Dhenkanal town, Athagarh and Bhubaneswar. But after the project went defunct, a large part of population is now involved in daily wage labour for livelihood.
The people are forced to walk five km to catch bus or auto-rickshaw and then travel rest five km to reach district headquarters town to earn wages, said 60-year-old Sundar Barsha of the village.Sources said in 1986-87, the soil conservation wing of Agriculture department had set up a watershed project over a natural stream flowing from Saptasajya hills to irrigate around 300 acre land in the village. A bund was also constructed to store stream water for the purpose.
With the help and support of a voluntary organisation Samajika Seva Sadan, villagers were encouraged to start vegetable cultivation round the year. Within a few years, the village became popular for supply of fresh vegetables like tomato, brinjal, potato, ladies finger and greens to urban markets. Even vendors and vegetable wholesalers were directly procuring their produce from the farm fields.
While the reservoir has lost its water retention capacity because of accumulated silt, water failed to reach tail-end due to non-renovation of canals and pipeline, forcing farmers to stop cultivation in 2015, said farmers.
Another farmer Bhanja Tudu said their economic condition has started deteriorating due to non-functioning of the watershed project. The piped-water supply system has been damaged and its regulators are not functioning at several places. Despite several requests to the Sadar Block Development Officer (BDO) and irrigation officials, no step has been taken to restore the project, he added.
Sources said the district administration has sufficient funds under the Modified Area Development Agency (MADA) which can be utilised to renovate the project but to no avail.District Welfare Officer (DWO) M R Mishra said, “We are not aware about the plight of the farmers. The project will be revived soon with the help of a self-help group.”Dhenkanal Sub-Collector S M Pradhan said he is not aware of MADA fund. However, he assured to look into the matter.