A Village Lost to the Nation (Panorama--Lesson 5)

A Village Lost to the Nation

Krishna Chandra Pujari is an occasional journalist who has written the article ‘A Village Lost to the Nation’ to the Indian Express in 2009. The author relives the loss of his home to the Hirakud dam constructed by the government. Due to the construction on the Mahanadi River, more than 400 villages were submerged and people were displaced.

The author highlights the other side of development and the tragedy that unplanned development can ensue. He describes the feelings of the people, who lost their village for nation’s well being.

The author belongs to a village Rampalle, the original name of which was Ramya Palli. It means, ‘The enchanting Hamlet’ (the charming village). It was on the bank of the river ‘Ib’, a major tributary to Mahanadi and hence was among the first to vanish. The remnants of this village pop up when the water level drops in peak summer.

The author has heard a lot about their village from his parents and hence decides to go with his family to the submerged village after 52 years. They leave their vehicle at a distance and walk a long stretch of slush and sand and reach their village. They trace their house with the age old temple structure as reference. The author and his brother move excitedly tracing the Kabaddi and cricket grounds where they used to play as kids. The author’s father is choked with emotion surveying the land which once belonged to him. The author notices his mother sitting on that slushy ground where their bedroom used to be. She calls to her husband and both of them sit close to each other. The author says that they would surely have talked about how they met for the first time after their marriage, how they have got their children into this world, how they have grown them up despite the odds and ends, how they have taken pains in giving them the best education and how they have protected their children from the dreadful diseases—malaria and cholera.

The author recollects how the families used to leave the place with heavy hearts. He thinks about the villagers who made their last walk out of it, decades ago. He feels that the village is just an outline of its remainings and their childhood. He experiences a sense of loss and is choked with emotion. He justifies that his parents would have felt the same sense of loss but would have consoled themselves that this loss is for the benefit of the nation. Nehru’s wisdom has made the nation prosper.

It is because of this Hirakud dam, many villages were saved from floods, many fields are being irrigated and much of electricity is being produced.

So, a bit of suffering can be taken by the people keeping in mind the progress of the nation. It is definitely a loss to leave one’s hometown forever, but the pain has its positive end when seen in larger arena.

About the Hirakud dam

The Hirakud dam is one of the longest damns in the world which is about 26 kms in length. It is built across the Mahanadi River in Orissa. It is the longest major earthen dam in India. It also forms the biggest artificial lake in India. There are two observation towers on the dam one at each side. One is ‘Gandhi Minar’ and the other one is ‘Nehru Minar’. Both the observation towers present breathtaking views of the lake. The Hirakud Reservoir is 55 km long used as multipurpose scheme intended for flood control, irrigation and power generation. It was one of the major multipurpose river valley projects after Independence.

Before the devastating floods of 1936, Sir M. Visveswararya proposed a detailed investigation for storage reservoirs in the Mahanadi basin to tackle the problem of floods in the Mahanadi delta.  Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru laid the first batch of concrete on 12 April 1948. The dam was completed in 1953 and was formally inaugurated by Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru on 13 January 1957. The total cost of the project was Rs.1000.2 millions. Power generation along with agricultural irrigation started in 1956, achieving full potential in 1966. A commemorative stamp and a hundred rupee note were also released with the Hirakud dam on them.

The dam regulates the flow of the river and produces hydroelectricity through several hydroelectric plants. It helps control floods in the Mahanadi delta and irrigates 75,000 square kilometers of land. Hydroelectricity is also generated.

The main purpose of the Hirakud Dam was to check the massive floods that were affecting a large part of coastal Odisha. But, the construction of the dam greatly affected the natives of the western part of Odisha. Nearly 1,50,000 people were affected by the Hirakud project and nearly 22,000 families were displaced. Nearly 200 temples were submerged by the dam; about 50 of them are visible during summer when water recedes back.

The dam with the channel provides an ideal environment for the wildlife. The Debrigarh wildlife sanctuary is located here. Several species of migratory birds visit the reservoir during winter.

Cattle Island is located in one of the extreme points of Hirakud Reservoir, a natural wonder. It is completely inhabited by wild cattle, without any trace of humans. The island is a submerged hill, and before the construction of Hirakud Dam it was a developed village. During the resettlement period, villagers left some of their cattle behind; when the dam construction was over, the cattle settled on the hilltop. With the passage of time the nearby area filled up with the reservoir water, turning the hilltop into an island. Being away from mankind, the cattle are now wild, very swift and not easily caught. Living on a hilltop with dense forest, they are larger than tame cattle, almost all of which are white in colour. Though descended from tame cattle, these animals provide a contrasting picture of this breed of animal returning to life in the wild.