Bihar villagers change course of river, get set for rains

PEOPLE POWER: Villagers are trying to control River Mashan's flooding by dredging its bed.

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Keywords: Villagers, Dam

Patna: Monsoons are still a couple months away but people in a village in Bihar are already preparing for it. They are trying to change the course of a river.

A group Bettiah district of Bihar is on a herculean mission. They're working to change the course of River Mashan, a river that spells disaster every rainy season.

And this is what the group announces when they want the villagers to gather around and start working: "Aaj ye elan bahut aham hai ki Hindu ho ya Muslim, Mashan nadi par chale" (Today we declare that everyone, Hindus or Muslims, should come to River Mashan.)

When this announcement is made, men, women and children all assemble at the local mosque, all ready to move to the battlefield, holding on to their 'weapons' — spades, baskets, whatever they can lay their hands on becomes their tool.

One of the villagers, Mohammad Jawed says, "Pichle saal ye Mashan nadi jo pagal nadi kahlati hai, apne dhara ko badal kaar haamare goan ke taraf mud gayi hai, jis se saat goan prabhavit hain aur lakho log prabhavit hai. Goan katne ka khatara hai." (Last year, River Mashan or the mad river as it is also known changed its course and turned towards our village. Seven villages fall in that direction and lakhs of people will be affected. There is a fear that the villages may submerge.")

Due to silt deposition over the years, River Mashan keeps changing its course, eating away land and damaging houses. Now, villagers are trying to control the flooding by dredging the river bed.

A civil engineer from the village who is now working in Saudi Arabia, Irshad Alam says, "Goan walo ne hame inform kiya ki nadi ka dhara goan ke taraf ho gaya hat. Iss saal dam nahi bandha gaya to goan puri tarah se kaat jayega. Hum naukri se emergency leave le kaar aye hai. do-teen log aur hai. Hamari team iska nirikchan kaaar rahi hai. Hum log goan ke sahyog se iss kaam ko kaar rahe hai." (The villagers informed us that the river has changed its course and that if we don't dredge it, then the whole village may submerge. We took emergency leave from our work and returned home to oversee this work with the help of the whole village.")

They are aware that the work has to be finished fast, before the monsoon rains, and are working hard so as to finish the mammoth project in time.

(With inputs from Sahboob Alam in Betiah)