JULY 2014

our first success which was later supported
by the then minister for Irrigation and
Principal Secretary Ram Lubhaya, who
sanctioned Rs 50 lakh to help construct
a safety wall at one end of the reservoir to
protect the adjoining hamlet’s mud-houses
from being washed off with the overflow
of water. Of those Rs 50 lakh, Rs 25 lakh
was utilized to construct the safety wall,
which now protects many mud houses from
collapsing and paths getting flooded during
monsoons. Just this year (2014) we have
had Hindustan Coca Cola Beverages Pvt.
Ltd. fund a portion of our main reservoir.
JCB is supporting our initiative of reviving
another section of the reservoir and helping
in protecting our pastureland that will see
plantation on a large scale this year. With
the support of Akaar Charitable Trust, two
check dams have been constructed in two
different reservoirs to conserve rainwater.
With the initial success of reviving the
reservoir and, quality of work visible the
faith the villagers had in me was further
strengthened. It helped me mobilize villagers
to be more participatory and provide
We have formed various clubs such as:
women’s club, children’s club, youth club,
adolescent girls’s club, farmer’s club and
a neighborhood family club to provide a
platform for dialogues and to raise concerns
freely. These work as mini gram sabhas/
ward sabhas and have helped improve
community interactions and even had
people come together to contribute towards
finding solutions to common issues such as
water logging of common paths etc.
support in various other initiatives such
as removing encroachments on their own
accord from common passages to construct
concrete roads with drains. We planted trees
and tried to educate the villagers to stop
cutting trees and work towards maintaining
an ecological balance. We even appointed
a security guard in the designated forest
area who would water the new plants and
protect the area. The funds for this were
raised through the fishery contract: the 2010
monsoon was beneficial for it.
We noticed that nearly 70% of the health
issues were caused due to intake of
contaminated water and poor sanitation;
construction of toilets was next on our
agenda. Owing to lack of toilets women
suffer the most seeking shelter of darkness
to relieve themselves in the barren lands.
Thus, often meeting with accidents, snake
bites and waiting up to 14 hours to protect
their dignity. To reduce costs of the dry pit
toilets, we procure raw material in bulk,
manufacture cement cylinders (for the pits)
within the village and work with an NGO
(whom we requested to come and work
with us in Soda) that helps us monitor the
progress and mobilize the villagers. Our
village youth joins us in mobilizing villagers
and shares information on how to construct
the toilet. People have contributed in form
of labor to construct toilets in each of their
houses. Had the district disbursed the
funds efficiently we are certain all of our
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