E-Paper
Pond revival infuses enthusiasm
For us their achievement may not count so much. But for the inhabitants of village Golhaiya, it is a giant step taken towards the revival of their culture and instilling in them the spirit of unity, fraternity and cultural bonding. They also paved way for the success of the new tradition of 'volunteering'.
For us their achievement may not count so much. But for the inhabitants of village Golhaiya, it is a giant step taken towards the revival of their culture and instilling in them the spirit of unity, fraternity and cultural bonding. They also paved way for the success of the new tradition of 'volunteering'.
Not giving in to the dire conditions and other obstacles, the villagers rejuvenated a pond which was in non-usable condition for the past ten years.
They made this achievement through 'shramdaan'. However, the initiative to motivate and guide them goes to Dr Suneet Singh, research associate at GB Pant Social Science Institute, Jhunsi and a group of students of MBA rural development programme of the same institute.
"We all are familiar with the importance of pond in a village.
It forms the very axis around which the varied culture and customs thrive besides their significance as an important source of water. We chose the village Golhaiya under our project of rejuvenation of ponds. We had already achieved success in the case of Biharia village where we worked last year", said Dr Singh.
The mission began with community mobilisation. "We had a meeting with the members of village panchayat and self-help groups. It was evident that they were suffering on account of lack of any water body in the village. Besides further probe revealed that a fair was held every year near the pond but it was not being organised for the past ten years. A temple was also situated at its bank", he added.
Through another meeting with the villagers, a group of 70 volunteers gave positive replies to extend a helping hand in the rejuvenation of the pond.
"Surprisingly we had many female volunteers and people of all age groups irrespective of their caste and religion got ready for the cause", said Dr Singh.
Thus started the tedious task of clearing the pond of all its weeds a month back. Besides, the obstacles on the way of source of water leading to the pond was also cleared. Now with yet another phase of 'shramdaan' a few days ago, the entire scenario has changed. The pond has been rejuvenated and fit for use.
"The villagers are very excited. They are planning to associate the pond with further development of the village. They will now beautify the area by planting trees and the construction of ghat. Now they are making plans to organise their traditional fair on a large-scale to measure it up from tourism point of view. They will also send a proposal to the government for repairing the approach road", added Dr Singh.
Further expansion of the pond is also underway so that water stays for a longer period and doesn't go dry during summer. "The pond has provided a new lease of life to the villagers as they are keen for undertaking further development works," he said.
