It was celebration time for the women Azadpur, a small village on the outskirts of Kalaburagi. Every house wore a festive look on Tuesday to commemorate their remarkable achievement of protecting a traditional tank of the village from the encroachers and reviving the tank by taking up desilting activities.
The women who toiled in difficult conditions braving wild pigs and snakes to clear the thorny bushes and the silt which had accumulated in the water body over the last three decades were in a happy mood, wearing new clothes, as they made a beeline to the desilted tank in the outskirts of the village to share some happy moments.
“I am amazed by the success of the women in this village. Hats off for the resolve to achieve this task. I only wish such acts are replicated elsewhere in the State,” said Chairperson of the Karnataka State Women Commission Manjula Manasa.
“This is a memorable function and I will not forget the time spent in Azadpur,” she said.
Writer and vice-president of the Janawadi Mahila Sanghatane K. Neela, who along with women’s activist Meenakshi Bali, played a pivotal role in motivating the women in the village to take up the work of reviving the tank when the men of the village failed.
The women had to stave of the repeated attempts of land grabbers in the village who had made repeated attempts to grab the prime land on the side of the main road leading to the village and the landlords who feared that they would not get farm hands to work in their field if the desilting work is taken up.
They toiled for five long months and the government had to spend Rs. 27 lakh as wages under the MNREGA to remove all the silt and open up the channels of the rainwater to the tank, which had also clogged up with silt. Now the tank is all set to get water during the ensuing rainy season. Senior leaders of the Janawadi Mahila Sanghatane including Kiran Moge, All India Secretary of the AIDWA, State Secretary K.S. Lakshmi, vice-president K.S. Vimala and Chief Executive Officer of the Zilla Panchayat Anirudh Sravan were among others who participated in the celebrations.
