ONCE ‘SORROW' FOR FLOODS, NUAPADA RIVER IS DRY
ONCE ‘SORROW' FOR FLOODS, NUAPADA RIVER IS DRY
Ahilat, a seasonal river flowing in the southern part of Nuapada district, is totally dry now. For the villagers living on the banks, the sight is very uncommon this year; the riverbed is full of weeds and shrubs. There is no water in July, when it should have been flowing full.
Different small streams cascading from the hills of Patdarha forest block in Sunabeda wildlife sanctuary form river Ahilat near Khadupani village of Boden block. It covers a distance of about 50 km before merging with river Udanti, which is a tributary of river Tel. The villages along the river Ahilat are regularly affected by gushing water when it rains heavily causing agricultural lands to be washed away very often.
“When it rains for a few days after arrival of monsoon, this river breaches embankment, but this year it is totally dry,” say the inhabitants of Kulingamal village. According to them, the river in last few years is frequently breaching the banks. “The frequency of breaching has increased in last two decades,” they say.
Laxman Majhi of Kulingamal village had got 0.50 acres of land on ceiling from the Government on the Ahilat river bank. He was cultivating ground nut, arhar and paddy. “The income was enough to manage my family for 6 months,” says Laxman. However, the river engulfed the land in 2014. Laxman has again become a landless.
Bhairab Singh Deo of Kampur village had 8 acres of land on the river bank in Kulingamal mauza. “More than half of my holding has been washed away, including an orchard yielding mango and guava, which was a major source of income for us,” reveals Bhairab.
The river has engulfed about 25 acres in Kulingamal mauza. “The impact was more in 2007; and in 2014, it became worst,” say the affected villagers. “The flood in 2014 inundated the whole village for about two days,” they add.
The river breaches embankment in many places like Jamgaon, Rajpur, Karngamal, Suklibhata, Kulingamal and Babebir villages . “We have appraised the district administration as well as the State Government to construct stone embankments on both sides of the river, but they don’t respond,” they complain.
However, for the people, the matter is of much concern due to erratic and scanty rainfall these days. “It has been more uncertain since 2014, which has resulted in consecutive drought for last three years.
You can see, the river is totally dry this year in August,” they appraise.
The villagers say that the situation this year is exceptional. “We face trouble during flood, but can manage that. We need this river to flow at least during rainy and winter,” they say. “It provided water to our crops till last year during the dry spells,” reveal the people of Padiabahal village. They have installed 20 lift irrigation points which irrigate about 200 acres of Kharif crop, but the pumps are dysfunctional now as Ahilat is dry.
Kulingabahal and Jamgaon villages have installed four lift points each, which benefit 100 acres of land. People do not understand how to cope with the situation.
Nuapada district is one of the first districts in the country to get fund under the National Climate Change Action Plan to mitigate the climate change effect. However, no one in the public is aware about this, not even the elected representatives. The Government officials could not say what steps are going to be taken under this plan to address the climate problems.
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