NO SCHOOL, HEALTH CENTRE IN N’PADA TRIBAL HAMLET
Wednesday, 09 September 2015 | AJIT PANDA | NUAPADA | in Bhubaneswar
The people of Marguda village in Nuapada district are trying to make a structure across the Giribar stream to divert its water to a /30-acre patch of land. They propose to cultivate paddy in that patch during Rabi season with the water.
The structure they are making is not a cement or concrete structure; rather the materials used here are bamboo, wooden poles, straw and a polythene sheet. A bamboo woven frame of about 8 feet high and 20 feet wide has been laid across the stream as a wall.
Six cone shaped bamboo frames filled with boulders and bound to wooden poles placed on the downstream side provides support to the wide frame to stand straight. Polythene sheets and straw have been spread over the wide frame to check water from running down.
“Water diverted from the stream through a canal will be stored in the Raital Sagar (Raital reservoir) of our village and the reservoir water in turn will be utilised to irrigate about 30 acres of land for cultivation of paddy during the Rabi,” says Jagdish Sabar, one of the tribal farmers of the village.
Maraguda village consists of 33 tribal households. Although located at a distance of merely 20 km from the district headquarters town of Nuapada, the people here are deprived of their basic needs. All the households here are poor but none of them is BPL. There is no Anganwadi Centre or school. The nearest facility for immunisation and health check up for pregnant women or the new born children is available at a distance of 12 km. Thus neither the pregnant women nor the children get facility of immunisation. No one is also benefited under any other social security schemes like old age or widow pension. All the households of Maraguda village are displaced people of an old Maraguda village which was submerged under water of the Patora irrigation dam constructed across the river Jonk two decades ago. As they were landless households in old Maraguda village, they did not get any compensation or assistance. “We thus decided to settle here to eke out our living by fishing in the river and swamps,” say the villagers. The present village is located at a higher elevation above the dam.
“We live like animals here; there is neither an Anganwadi centre not MDM for our children. Health facility is also not available,” says Pilu Majhi of the village. Pilu’s three-year old child Basudev is sick since his birth but Pilu is unable to treat him due to poverty.
“Perhaps the Government does not consider the village as a human settlement. The people here are deprived of their basic rights,” contends Mahendra Bag, a worker of the organisation SAI, which is working with the people of the village for last two years. There was no drinking water facility in this village until SAI intervened and mobilised the district administration to instal a few tube wells last year.
Maraguda was considered to be the capital of the south Koshala once upon a time. Archaeological ruins in and around the village Maraguda reveal that a very rich and developed civilization flourished in this region between 5th century AD and 13 century AD. There are signs of efforts to divert flood water to the cultivable lands. Raital Sagar, the 110 acre water reservoir, is considered to be one such effort of early medieval period made for harvesting water for enhancement of food production. But with the passage of time, due to invasion of outsiders, the civilisation perished. But, Raital Sagar and the ruins of buildings, temples, coins and clay seals found in this area still carry the reflections of that period.
“In old Maraguda village, the Raital Sagar irrigated hundreds of acres of land and it was our life. Although it was acquired by the Irrigation department, it did not submerge. But, after the construction of the dam, the Sagar was transferred to the Forest Department which is prohibiting us to use the water. We are not even allowed to take bath here,” lament the villagers. The 30 acre patch which the people propose to cultivate gets submerged during rainy season.
“The district administration observes “Maraguda Utsav” every year by spending lakhs of rupees to commemorate the past once in a year. But it is unfortunate that it does not care to address the problems of the locals,” says Mahendra. “The Project Director of DRDA, Nuapada has sanctioned houses under Indira Awas Yojana for 33 households, but the work has not progressed as the Forest Department is not allowing the people to collect construction materials like stones and sand,” adds he.
The villagers are not sure whether they would be allowed to use the water of Raital Sagar for irrigation in future. “We are doing it because the officials of the Forest Department are not visiting our village for last few years due to presence of Maoists,” they explain.
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