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‘Madman’ digs for two decades to bring water to his parched Indian village

4 min read

Good Stuff
Source: YouTube/IndiaTV/ANI

Using nothing but traditional hand tools, a 70-yo man spent twenty years singlehandedly carving out a 3-km-long canal to bring rainwater from nearby hills down to the dry fields of his village in Bihar, India.

Bihar man digs 3-km canal to bring water to his village

Reminding us once again what a lone-yet-determined person can do if they just refuse to give up, a man a remote corner of India’s eastern state of Bihar has dug, by hand, a 3-km-long canal over the past 20 years to bring irrigation water to the parched fields in his village. Despite the taunts and mockery of villagers, and even his wife accusing him of being “mad”, he toiled away every day to dig the canal four feet wide and three feet deep (1.22m by 1.0m). When news of his Herculean effort got out, praise and rewards came his way, including cash and a brand new Mahindra tractor with which to continue expansion of the canal.

For years, Bhuiya headed out for the hills to dig every day – a feat reminiscent of the epic efforts of Dashrath Manjhi, another Dalit from Gaya, decades ago.
No one joined Bhuiya in his endeavour. For years, Bhuiya headed out for the hills to dig every day – a feat reminiscent of the epic efforts of Dashrath Manjhi, another Dalit from Gaya, decades ago. Source: YouTube/IndiaTV/ANI

now everyone is benefitting from the fruits of his decades’ long labours

Loungi Bhuiya, a resident of India’s drought-blighted Gaya district in the eastern state of Bihar, had become increasingly distraught as more and more farmers—including four of his own sons—left Kolithwa for greener pastures. Bhuiya, now 70, had a vision and was determined to make that vision a reality by single-handedly bringing water to his village in hopes of transforming the barren land into arable acreage.

Inspired by the earlier exploits of “Mountain Man” Dashrath Manjh, who, with just a hammer and chisel, spent 22 years carving a road through the mountain near the village Gehlaur from 1960 to 1982, Bhuiya set out to dig an irrigation canal by hand to the closest water source in the Bangetha Hills. 

“I had heard about him and I thought if he can do it, why can’t I?” Bhuiya told Al Jazeera. “They all thought I was mad.”

Despite the taunts and mockery from his family and fellow villagers, the now 70-year-old Bhuiya toiled every day to make the four-foot-wide by three-foot-deep canal a reality. It took him 20 years to accomplish his goal, but now everyone is benefitting from the fruits of his decades’ long labours.

Bhuiya, whose reputation as a neighbourhood eccentric has since been transformed into local hero, was recently rewarded for his efforts with a brand-new Mahindra tractor, which will be used to expand the canal.

Source: GoodNewsNetwork 

The villagers took their cattle generally to that source for watering, which also provided sustenance to the animals living in the forest area. Loungi knew that the water source was enough to irrigate the agricultural land of the villagers. However, it was a great challenge to bring water into the village.
In August 2001, he decided to dig a canal (Paain in local language) from a natural water source in Bagetha Sahwasi forest to the village. The villagers took their cattle generally to that source for watering, which also provided sustenance to the animals living in the forest area. Loungi knew that the water source was enough to irrigate the agricultural land of the villagers. However, it was a great challenge to bring water into the village. Source: Twitter/ANI

Bhuiya is being recognised for his Herculean effort

Over the 20-year period, Bhuiya was able to dig a canal 3km (1.86 miles) long but hadn’t been able to bring it all the way uphill to Kothilwa, and was forced to stop digging just a kilometre away from the village.

However, as news of his efforts spread, Bihar state’s Water Minister Sanjay Jha came to know about it and ordered the extension of the canal to Bhuiya’s village, according to AlJazeera, who had a reporter on the scene.

The day Al Jazeera visited Kothilwa, a man from a neighbouring village had walked into Bhuiya’s courtyard and was making a speech about the failures of the government.

A placard with an enlarged image of a cheque for 100,000 rupees ($1,365) presented to him by Mankind Pharma, an Indian pharmaceutical company, hung outside the door of his house.

On the same day, Bihar’s former Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi visited the village and promised Bhuiya he would be recognised by the Indian president. Villagers present asked Manjhi for a hospital and a road to be built and named after Bhuiya.

That evening, Bhuyia, resplendent in a white kurta and dhoti with flowers in his hand, went to an auto showroom in Gaya where a tractor decorated gaily with balloons stood waiting for him.

It was a gift from Anand Mahindra, chairman of the auto giant Mahindra Group, who had heard through a local journalist’s tweets that Bhuiya was now dreaming of owning a tractor after having dug the irrigation canal.

“We used to think he is possessed,” his son Brahmdeo said.  “Things have changed now. We have some money we got because of his work.”

Source: AlJazeera

A cheque for 100,000 rupees ($1,365) presented to Bhuiyan by Mankind Pharma, an Indian pharmaceutical company, and he was given a brand new tractor by Anand Mahindra, chairman of the auto giant Mahindra Group.
From local eccentric to local hero. A cheque for 100,000 rupees ($1,365) presented to Bhuiyan by Mankind Pharma, an Indian pharmaceutical company, and he was given a brand new tractor by Anand Mahindra, chairman of the auto giant Mahindra Group. Source: Twitter/ANI
Meet Laungi Bhuiyan, a man from Bihar who digs out canal single-handedly In Bihar, a A man has carved out a 3-km-long canal to take rainwater coming down from nearby hills to fields of his village, Kothilawa in Lahthua area of Gaya. Source: YouTube/IndiaTV