City institute's bid to end pangs in hunger belt

Amlasole (West Midnapur): You smell hunger in the air of Amlasole. Death, like what happened in 2004 when five people of the Sabar tribe died of starvation, might not be a frequent occurrence. But the humans you see around are shadows of death - ill-fed and ill-clad.
But, there is a In the midst of this frozen picture of horror, you cannot miss a glimmer of hope. A tank here, a pit there and a clutch of green in between.The Maoists have stopped visiting the Sabars and Mundas, the two main tribal inhabitants here. Instead, a new band of workers has started visiting them. These people talk to them about food and water and try to teach them ways of earning a livelihood. Some have decided to trust these babus and are gradually hobbling their way to a semblance of life.
Amlasole is one of the villages that the scientists of Bose Institute have adopted as an experiment to turn them green. There are at least 20 tribal villages in the Binpur II block of the Jhargram sub division, including Kakrajhor and Bhulabheda, that have been selected for this project which is being sponsored by the department of science and technology (DST) under the aegis of the ministry of the same name. Some tribal villages in Purulia, Bankura and Birbhum have also been included in the project.
The idea came from a study conducted by the Bose Institute experts that said even Amlasole, which is considered to be one of the most arid places in the state, gets about 1500 mm rainfall on an average, but this water is mostly lost because of the porous nature of the soil. If the families living here are able to "capture" this water, the age-old problem of lack of water for cultivation leading to droughts can be addressed. The study had also pointed that tribals should not only grow paddy but also other crops have to be weaned out of the habit of growing only paddy and should be trained to grow crops that need very little water for sustenance.
Impressed with it, DST has sanctioned Rs 8 crore to Bose Institute, with which they are turning these villages green. The formula is simple. A 20 feet by 20 feet tank, that is eight feet deep, has been dug to collect rainwater for each family that's willing to let the scientists use its land. The base of the tank has been covered with thick polythene sheets so that the rainwater collected here is not absorbed underground. "Each such tank is about to hold 90,000 litres water - enough for year-long cultivation. Instead of paddy, we are training them to grow crops like pulses, millets and corn and vegetables like different types of gourd, - striped, ridged, bitter and bottle, chillies, tomatoes and onions. But it is in growing fruits that we have made a breakthrough really," said Samir Sikdar as he showed the acres of orchards that have come up in the past one and a half years in different patches of Amlasole. Sikdar, a bio-scientist and the registrar of the Bose Institute.
There are healthy guava, mango, mausambi plants all ready to flower in the next season. A simple formula again has been used to make this possible. An earthen pot with a small pinhole is sunk into the ground next to the plant. Eight litres of water are poured into it. The water seeps in gradually and keeps the ground wet for the plant for a whole week! "We have to do this for one more year. When the plants are two years old, they will sustain themselves," Sikdar explained.
There are many villagers who have been trained to prepare vermicompost and do bee keeping. "I have already started selling my earthworms at 50 paise each and I have sold at least 4000," said Jagadish Munda, an Amlasole villager who has started eating twice a day now.His father has been growing vegetables and selling them in the local haat these days."We used to eat mushrooms that grow in the forest and fall ill most of the time, but now with the help of this water storage tank, we are growing vegetables that are selling well. Seeing us many others are now asking the babus to help," said Lakshmikanta Sabar.
The work is not easy especially because the tribals are extremely wary about changing their cultivation patterns or lifestyle. "We are trying hard to break the pattern...it will take time but we have made a beginning," Sikdar said.
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Size of tank specified : 20 feet by 20 feet by 8 feet (deep)
It can hold 90,000 litres of rain water
This water is enough to cultivate a one bigha plot for the entire year
However paddy cannot be cultivated in this method because it needs a lot of water
The two scheduled tribes in West Midnapur who are being helped are Sabar and Munda
Vegetables and fruits are grown
Tribals are being trained to make vermicompost
Many are also into bee keeping.