BALANGIR: Once famous as a ‘Town of Ponds’, Balangir today faces acute water scarcity with many of its traditional water bodies dying a slow death. With the district administration and State Government closing their eyes to encroachment, none of them are today fit to meet the water needs of locals.Traditional water harvesting structures were divided into categories of ‘Bandha’, ‘Sagar’, ‘Joar’, ‘Kataa’ and ‘Chahalaa’.
Till seven decades back, Balangir had large water bodies like Maharani Sagar, Karanga Kataa, Ghikundi Bandha, Laxmizor Dam, Pratap Sagar, Rani Bandha, Narsingh Bandha and Geet Sarobar that served as lifeline for people of the town. These water bodies were constructed in a manner that they were connected with each other and provided water for drinking, bathing and irrigation purposes. Since the town does not have a perennial river, the water bodies met the needs of people even during summer.
Over the years, the water bodies got polluted to such an extent that none of them are fit for human use now. When the town expanded and population increased, the water bodies were exploited for all purposes leading to their pollution. The Maharani Sagar was originally 125 acres but due to encroachments, it has been reduced to 50 to 60 acres.
Karanga Kataa, one of the oldest ponds of the town, is on the verge of death due to lack of maintenance. Even several parts of the pond have been encroached by unscrupulous people while Balangir Municipality shows no interest for its renovation. Though there was a provision of police vigil to protect the pond, it has been stopped since long.
Since 1995, these traditional water harvesting structures are being maintained by gram panchayats. They receive sizeable revenue from auctioning the water bodies but are reluctant to spend money on their maintenance. Also, due to large scale deforestation and high siltation, these water harvesting systems have become defunct.
Nimain Panigrahi, a social activist, says 80 percent of the water bodies have been filled up and their catchment areas encroached by people. The town needs systematic planning for revival of these traditional water harvesting structures. After proper renovation, the structures will help in mitigating the water crisis, he added.
HISTORY SAYS ...
● There was a special caste of people - Kuda - who were experts in digging earth. Design of traditional water harvesting structures were prepared by Gond kings and Kudas used to construct them. Gond kings also provided ‘Sagar Rakhya Jagir’, an agreement to protect the water bodies, to them.
● As far as the Balangir district is concerned, it had 9,087 traditional water harvesting structures eight decades back. Many of them do not exist today as they have either dried up or encroached upon.
● Every village had a minimum of five water bodies and they provided irrigation to at least 73 acres of land.
● Eight decades back, 36 per cent of land in the district was irrigated through water harvesting structures. The irrigation potential has now come down to three per cent.