Bareilly: After a dam built during the British period was damaged in 1990, farmers of over 25 villages in Baheri have been facing irrigation-related problems for over two decades. However, after waiting for the government to do something about it, the farmers came together and collected Rs 70,000, while a few other villagers contributed in kind.
They started constructing a 'kutcha' dam on Monday with mud and sand bags, 98 feet long and 20 feet wide.
The dam will be ready by Friday.
Chief development officer (CDO) SS Awasthi said, "From the British period to 1990, the district administration used to construct a kutcha dam here every rabi season. This dam used to be damaged every year during the monsoon and was remade just before winter. However, the dam construction was stopped here after 1990 due to increased input cost. We had sent a proposal to the state government in 2014 for constructing a 'pucca' dam here but it is still pending."
Awasthi added, "The villagers have informed us that they are constructing a dam with public participation at Tehra village and also start the same work at neighbouring Khamariya village from Friday. I will inspect the dam soon."
The CDO said that the district administration will again take up the matter with the state government for constructing a pucca dam here.
Farmers of over a dozen villages have faced problems in irrigating their crops after the dam was damaged in 1990. "The quality of crops deteriorated as we failed to provide an adequate amount of water. We made several requests to the administration and politicians for over two decades but our pleas fell on deaf ears," said Rampal Singh, a farmer at Tehra village.
However, things changed when former MLA and chief of Kisan Kalyan Samiti, Jaideep Singh Barar, persuaded villagers to come together to construct a dam here on their own.
A few villagers contributed in cash while others helped in kind.
The villagers managed to store water here on Thursday and the dam will be ready by Friday.
"When we had met officials earlier, they had told us that we would not be able to make a dam here on our own. But we proved them wrong. After Tehra village, which is nearly 60 km from Bareilly, we will now construct a dam at Khamariya village," said Barar.
Sukhbir Singh, a farmer from Naogava village said, "The dam will now benefit farmers of many villages. Though we have constructed the dam, we want the administration to ensure its safety." Another farmer, Khalil Ahmad, added that officials never paid attention to their requests for over two decades and now were visiting the site after the dam had come up.
They started constructing a 'kutcha' dam on Monday with mud and sand bags, 98 feet long and 20 feet wide.
The dam will be ready by Friday.
Chief development officer (CDO) SS Awasthi said, "From the British period to 1990, the district administration used to construct a kutcha dam here every rabi season. This dam used to be damaged every year during the monsoon and was remade just before winter. However, the dam construction was stopped here after 1990 due to increased input cost. We had sent a proposal to the state government in 2014 for constructing a 'pucca' dam here but it is still pending."
Awasthi added, "The villagers have informed us that they are constructing a dam with public participation at Tehra village and also start the same work at neighbouring Khamariya village from Friday. I will inspect the dam soon."
The CDO said that the district administration will again take up the matter with the state government for constructing a pucca dam here.
Farmers of over a dozen villages have faced problems in irrigating their crops after the dam was damaged in 1990. "The quality of crops deteriorated as we failed to provide an adequate amount of water. We made several requests to the administration and politicians for over two decades but our pleas fell on deaf ears," said Rampal Singh, a farmer at Tehra village.
However, things changed when former MLA and chief of Kisan Kalyan Samiti, Jaideep Singh Barar, persuaded villagers to come together to construct a dam here on their own.
A few villagers contributed in cash while others helped in kind.
The villagers managed to store water here on Thursday and the dam will be ready by Friday.
"When we had met officials earlier, they had told us that we would not be able to make a dam here on our own. But we proved them wrong. After Tehra village, which is nearly 60 km from Bareilly, we will now construct a dam at Khamariya village," said Barar.
Sukhbir Singh, a farmer from Naogava village said, "The dam will now benefit farmers of many villages. Though we have constructed the dam, we want the administration to ensure its safety." Another farmer, Khalil Ahmad, added that officials never paid attention to their requests for over two decades and now were visiting the site after the dam had come up.