NALBARI, Feb 27 � A number of highly-degraded beels (wetlands) in Nalbari and Baksa districts that had shut out the livelihoods of thousands of families are getting a fresh lease of life � thanks to a novel initiative at restoring these lifelines through community participation.
The wetlands fed by rivers originating in the Bhutan hills have suffered extensive degradation over the last couple of decades following silt deposition and stagnation of the channels linking the beels with the rivers. The fishing community and agriculturists were the worst hit.
A change now is perceptible with hundreds of local people engaging themselves in a drive to remove the deep layers of silt and water hyacinth � and restore both the wetlands and the lost channels � by contributing manually. A voluntary organisation, Gramya Vikash Mancha, has lent financial and technical assistance to the endeavour with support from Jamsetji Tata Trust.
�The most important part was motivating and mobilising the people, making them believe in their own abilities. They now realise the power of community participation for effecting the desired changes,� Prithibhusan Deka, president of the Mancha, says.
The results � even at the midway stage of the drive � are nothing short of the extraordinary. Along with the clearing of dying channels such as Ghograjan, Kawoimari, etc., vast tracts of farmland have become fit for cropping after a gap of 25 years, giving back the inhabitants their livelihood.
This has became possible after long stretches of the channels linking the wetlands were restored, with the locals dredging them, besides removing the silt from the wetlands. Fishing has also started in the water bodies.
The project of the Mancha involves five clusters, i.e., Jaha, Saulkhowa, Pagladia, Barali and Diring. �Dredging work is on in all the clusters, with progress so far been made on stretches of 20 km (Pagladia), 2.5 km (Saukhowa), 2 km (Barali) and 7 km (Diring). Around 3,000 families inhabit each cluster and once they complete the job they will transform their own lives,� Deka said, adding that the cumulative impact of the entire exercise on the local economy would be staggering.
Baharul Islam, a resident of Dehar Kalakuchi village, echoes the sentiments of the beneficiaries when he says, �Restoration of the Satir Kur and Kawoimari channels has come like a blessing for many like me. We will be able to resume our fishing and farming and stop going to the towns for jobs. Our children will also start attending schools again.�
According to Deka, sensitising the community on the need to protect and preserve the water bodies including rivers, river channels and wetlands is critical to long-term success of the community venture.
�We have constantly been interacting with the locals, motivating them not just for the restoration work but for the overall preservation of the water bodies and the environment,� he said and added that improved farm practices were also introduced among the cultivators.
The process of degradation of wetlands started in the mid-1980s, thanks to rampant deforestation which made the rivers carry more silt that ultimately found their way into the beels and paddy fields. The riverbeds too got shallow and the rivers� behaviour became more unpredictable.
Deka said that with their means of livelihood once again becoming secure, peace and harmony was slowly retuning to these areas which had in the recent past earned notoriety for strife and anti-social activities. �Many of these areas were virtually conflict zones, perpetuated mainly by the lack of employment avenues,� he added.
Along with ridding the blocked channels of the water hyacinth, the local communities are also taking to the profitable enterprise of making household products using the hyacinth with technical assistance of the Mancha. Earlier treated as a waste material, it has suddenly turned into an asset for the villagers, supplementing their income.
