Hope swells as rivers come back to life
Acreative and interesting aspect of water conservation work relates to the efforts to revive some small rivers which have become extinct in recent times due to various factors.
For many years, the residents of Khaniyari village in Seraj assembly constituency of Mandi district of Himachal Pradesh used to feel the pinch for the lack of irrigation facilities in their area.
And now, their collective efforts have yielded the result as the villagers joined hands to resolve the problem and add to the government’s efforts towards water conservation.
The residents along with the Soil Conservation Department of Himachal Pradesh government constructed a dam on small rivulet flowing through the village and now water is being lifted for irrigation purposes in the village.
Kundan Lal, a resident of Khaniyari village said the villagers were suffering due to the lack irrigation facilities.
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“In addition, there was no scope for any such irrigation in the future, keeping in mind the topography of the remote village,” he said. The locals were suffering as their principal avocation was farming and lack of irrigation facilities was resulting in the farmers not being able to take farming of commercial crops.
“Further, it was also resulting in poor harvest of the horticulture crops,” Jabna Chauhan, pradhan of Tharjoon panchayat under which the village comes, said.
“The collective efforts along with the government’s cooperation had made their dreams come true,” Chauhan said, adding they would now be able to improve their economy with irrigation facilities.
The initiative would also go a long way in water conservation as many areas including the state capital Shimla is facing water crisis. And this small water harvesting technique could help in other areas of the state in prosper and overcome water crisis too, she added.
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