layman's space

Thursday, 31 May 2018   |   AJIT PANDA   | NUAPADA | in   Bhubaneswar         The Vana Suraksha Samiti (VSS) of Chindaguda village held a meeting on Monday to discuss about the status of forest growth inside the Gadrasani forest located in the north of the village. The forest spreads over an area of about 55 hectares in four patches. The villagers of Chindaguda and Mudosil have been protecting the forest since last 20 years. The protection started in 1996 as a one-man endeavour by Buti Majhi of Chindaguda village.He restricted entry of people and animals into the forest by guarding it day and night accompanied by his wife. In ten years, the forest grew, but at the same time, it became the target of smugglers. Majhi, thus, approached the villagers to form a committee and the VSS with the support of the Forest Department was constituted in the year 2009. The members decided in the meeting that they should hold a walk inside ...

Saturday, 26 May 2018   |   AJIT PANDA   | NUAPADA | in   Bhubaneswar 1 2 3 4 5 Tribals of Boden block of Nuapada district under the leadership of Congress leaders Bhakta Das and Adhiraj Panigrahi held a demonstration in front of the Boden police station condemning police atrocities on tribals in the name of fighting against Maoists. They demanded release of the tribals arrested from Kholi Bhitar village of Boden block on Tuesday. They further demanded that Sukal Sai Paharia, who has been missing since April 19, be traced if he has not been detained by police. People of the Paharia community have been claiming that Sukal has been detained by police. Two tribals, Chatur Chinda and Bidya Chinda, of Kholi Bhitar village were injured on Tuesday due to police firing. Police had taken six tribals of the village into custody after the firing. The police alleged that the tribals were injured when there was an exchange of fire bet...

Thursday, 24 May 2018   |   AJIT PANDA   | NUAPADA | in   Bhubaneswar 1 2 3 4 5 Tweet The Soil Conservation Department in Nuapada district had constructed a Water Harvesting Structure (WHS) in Sargimunda village of Boden block in 1989. The structure irrigated about 200 acres of crop land and benefited hundreds of small and marginal farmers. But, a three-day continuous rain in 2017 that resulted in a flash flood washed away the sluice and the adjacent bund. The farmers now are running from the lowest rung of the administration to the highest level with desperation to have that repaired. “It was a beautiful structure and was an assured source for irrigation for our farmers. Several small revulets that drain runoffs from the Pati dongar and Chahalia dongar in the south of our village transform into  Durkadhap stream near Kirejhola village. A WHS was constructed across that stream and the water was diverted through t...

Friday, 18 May 2018   |   AJIT PANDA   | NUAPADA | in   Bhubaneswar 1 2 3 4 5 Tweet All development works in Khariar block have come to a standstill due to a lack of better coordination between the BDO and the elected representatives of the Panchayat Samiti. Projects under the Gopabandhu Gramin Yojana (GGY) which were approved by the District Planning Committee in February 2018 are yet to be started. By the time the BDO instructed the concerned staff for opening case files of GGY, the tenure of the Village Level Leaders (VLL) had expired. The process to select new VLL is going on and no one knows when the process will end. The Western Odisha Development Council (WODC) funds for the year 2017-18 are yet to be allotted because the feasibility report and estimates for the projects have not been sent to the district planning office. “The JEs in the block are preoccupied with housing scheme and MGNREGS, where is time to see ot...

Wednesday, 16 May 2018   |   AJIT PANDA   | NUAPADA | in   Bhubaneswar 1 2 3 4 5 Mahendra Nauri is a 30-year-old man of Kerandiguda village in Rayagada district. He is a farmer but with a difference. What he says about his farming is about his passion for maintaining the biodiversity of the area -- the land and forest around him, which forms a part of the Niyamgiri Hills. Mahendra has two acres of land in his village, where he cultivates three varieties of traditional rice -  bahurupi, lalboro, badana andbanjibuta. In addition, his land also cradles a variety of vegetables, pulses, oilseeds and millets - as many as 70 in number. And, all varieties are local. “We never depend on market for food,” says Mahendra. His father, Lokanath, is his guide and teacher who has long 50 years of experience of traditional farming. Chemical fertiliser and poison have made inroads into the remote tribal villages of the area, some tr...

Saturday, 28 April 2018   |   AJIT PANDA   | NUAPADA | in   Bhubaneswar         Tweet Taking cognizance of a news report published in The Pioneer of April 21 about the plight of a seven-year-old girl child of Nuapada district, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has issued a direction to the District Child Protection Officer (DCPO) of Nuapada to conduct an inquiry and submit a report. The story was about a girl named Torani of Boldha village under Borden block, who migrated to Ahmedabad with her elder sister and the latter’s husband after the death of their parents. Villagers had informed that Torani lived in the village for a few months being fed by them and later she migrated. The girl is taking care of the children of her elder sister in Ahmedabad while her sister and her husband work in a construction site. This correspondent had submitted a clipping of this newspaper story as a compla...

Thursday, 19 April 2018   |   AJIT PANDA   | NUAPADA | in   Bhubaneswar 1 2 3 4 5 Torani (7), an orphan girl of Boldha village of Nuapada district, didn't have any option but to accompany her elder sister and her husband to a place near Ahmadabad to take care of their two small children when they work as labourers in a construction site. "It was a good decision. She had no one to support her in the village, neither had she a shed over her head," informed the villagers, showing a roadside dilapidated mud house, which once happened to be a home for Torani and her parents a couple of years ago. "Torani probably does not remember her mother's death but she wept a lot when her father died. On the day of her father's death, she came running to me and pulled me to his cot to know why his body was still,” said Mitu Nial, Torani father’s elder brother. According to the villagers, Torani's mother after suffering from ...