Daily Archives: May 10, 2016

A heritage structure waiting to be recognised

Green Initiatives / Environment, Historical Links / Pre-Independence, Records, All
Nostalgic:Kanaka Rajubai (right) recalling her association with anthropologist Christopher von Furer-Haimendorf during the 1940s at Marlavai village in Adilabad district.— Photo: S. Harpal Singh
Nostalgic:Kanaka Rajubai (right) recalling her association with anthropologist Christopher von Furer-Haimendorf during the 1940s at Marlavai village in Adilabad district.— Photo: S. Harpal Singh

An open well at Marlavai village is connected to legendary anthropologist Christopher von Furer-Haimendorf, who conducted anthropological studies here

“You don’t stumble upon your heritage. It’s there, just waiting to be explored and shared,” opined famous Canadian singer Jamie Royal Robertson aka Robbie Robertson, apparently while talking about the importance of heritage.

In the currently parched tribal heartland of Adilabad district, at Marlavai village in Jainoor mandal to be precise, an abandoned open well is waiting to be rediscovered, repaired and recognised as a heritage structure. The open well is connected to legendary anthropologist Christopher von Furer-Haimendorf, who conducted anthropological studies here and designed the Land Transfer Regulation to protect Adivasis from exploitation, during his stay in the village between 1941 and 1949.

Deputed by the Nizam of Hyderabad to look into the problems of Adivasis of Adilabad, especially Raj Gonds, Haimendorf, in his capacity as Advisor to the Nizam on Backward Classes and Tribal Affairs, chose Marlavai to establish his permanent camp on the invitation of Lachu Patel, an articulate Gond from the village, according to Hyderabad-based social anthropologist Urmila Pingle. “It was Lachu Patel who had assured Haimendorf that Marlavai had a good well with sufficient water,” she wrote in her paper titled ‘C.von.Furer-Haimendorf: Half a century of his imprint on tribal welfare in Andhra Pradesh’.

“The Adilabad highlands had water scarcity even in those days, and the open well of which Lachu Patel talked about belonged to late Kanaka Hannu, one of two Gonds who emerged as teachers from the Teacher Training School which the anthropologist established at Marlavai,” said Kanaka Ambaji Rao, the president of Haimendorf Youth Organisation at Marlavai. “All the families in the village supplied water to the Haimendorfs twice daily by turn,” he added. “The couple were given three or four pots of water in the morning and evening, but they had their bath once in three or four days only. They washed their own clothes and linen,” recalled nonagenarian Rajubai, the wife of Hannu master, about the life of the anthropologist couple at her village. “The well was in use until 1986,” recalled Soyam Raju, a farmer from the same village. “It was nevertheless used sparingly as the government had dug an open well in 1962,” he added.

“Though dilapidated, the well located about 200 metre from the village needs to be repaired. It can even be put to use as the level of water in it is about 10 feet deep at this time,” the farmer suggested.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> National> Telangana / by S. Harpal Singh / Marlavai(Adilabad Dist.) – May 09th, 2016

When entire village laid pipelines in 24 hours

Amazing Feats, Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Inspiration / Positive News and Features

April 5 was a red letter day for Malkapur residents when the local youth and women accomplished a challenging task of providing water connection to every household in flat 24 hours.

As part of intra-grid works of Mission Bhagiratha, 300 youth and villagers got together to lay pipelines in the lines excavated earlier. If the local contractor took four hours to lay a 330-metre pipeline, the same was completed in 15 minutes by the locals.

Determined lot

“We all got ready by 9 pm and began carrying the heavy load of pipes to the excavated lines. Carrying 330 metres pipe is no mean task. But, we could do it with our determination. In 4 hours and 18 minutes pipelines measuring 3.5 km were laid. All the households in the village were provided drinking water connections,” pointed out Pitla Karunakar.

Womenfolk in the village are elated at the development. “It was festive mood all around as enthusiastic youth and others vied with each other to complete the laying of pipelines.

Our work has inspired other neighbouring villages to replicate our efforts. After Gangadevunipalli and Ibrahimpur, we have also joined the list of model villages,” said Bethi Shakuntala, self help group leader.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> National> Telangana / by Special Correspondent / Malkapur – May 09th, 2016

Hyderabad to host conference on India’s COP21 commitments

Business & Economy, Green Initiatives / Environment, Nature, Science & Technology, World Opinion

Hyderabad :

The Institute for Sustainable Communities (ISC) has been selected by the United States Department of State to organise a conference focused on implementing India’s COP21 commitments to be held here on June 24-25.

The conference, ‘Future Is Now: India from COP21 to Reality’, would include international experts and practitioners, environmental NGOs, in-country development organisations, finance experts, Indian companies and philanthropic organisations as well as India’s top national and state decision-makers, a media statement from the U S Consulate General Hyderabad said.

“The participants will explore India’s key climate change issues and opportunities in light of India’s Paris commitments,” it said.

ISC is partnering with the Center for Environment and Development to present the conference, which will feature Indian and US experts on topics such as clean energy, energy efficiency, climate finance, resilience, climate mitigation, air pollution and waste reduction, the statement said.

The Department of State’s Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asian Affairs, Nisha Desai Biswal, was quoted as saying, “India is a vital player in addressing climate change and we look forward to increasing our partnership to expand clean energy deployment and access.”

Steve Nicholas, Vice President of Urban Programs at ISC, said, “The Paris Agreement is an incredibly important opportunity to reduce emissions and implement green development projects in India. Connecting US and Indian leaders to each other is critical because those professional relationships will continue to pay dividends.”

“We’re honoured to be working with our colleagues in India to understand their challenges, share what we’ve learned, and talk about what’s possible,” he said.

Conference participants, who may include leaders from local government, industry, NGOs, academics, and national government officials, would have the opportunity to connect with their peers and share challenges, solutions and resources, the statement added.

RS NRB SRY
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Hyderabad / PTI / May 09th, 2016

At Malkanoor, farmers reap the benefits of dairy farming

Agriculture, Business & Economy, Green Initiatives / Environment

Even as acute drought conditions in the State are forcing migration of farm labour in search of employment, this village in Bheemadevarapalli mandal has set an example by overcoming drought by taking to dairy sector as an alternate source of income.

An upland village sans irrigation sources, Mulkanoor has become a role model in the cooperative movement since 1956 with the launch of the Mulkanoor Cooperative Rural Bank and Marketing Society and has farmers who have overcome drought, thanks to the dairy units.

A majority of the population here, comprising about 10,000 people, took to dairy in the past two years to mitigate drought and are reaping the benefits. They supply over 1,500 litres of milk a day to the cooperative dairy and Karimnagar dairy. Besides, some hundreds of litres of milk per day are consumed locally, for a healthy life.

“I was unable to raise any crop on my three acres of land as the well got dried up due to drought since the last two years. I bought two milch animals by taking loan from the cooperative bank and am earning Rs. 200 per day by selling milk after covering input costs of fodder and cattle feed. My animals have stopped my migration from village and I am leading a comfortable life, says Chitkuri Yadagiri, happily.

“The dairy units are a ray of hope for farmers throughout the year. It protects the farmer during the drought and otherwise also by providing nutritious milk and manure,” says Bollampalli Swaroopa, who is rearing a milch animal, that fetches her daily income of Rs. 100 to Rs. 150. Recollecting the olden days where the dairy units were part of agriculture, she called upon farmers to take up dairy units for regular source of income even if there is no drought.

Village sarpanch Vanga Ravi proudly said there was no migration of labour ever since the dairy units have come up. He said farmers had taken to fodder cultivation with available water sources and reaping the benefits. Mulkanoor Cooperative Rural Bank chairman and former legislator A. Praveen Reddy said: We encourage farmers to take up dairy units by providing financial assistance as additional income generating source. Incidentally, they are a hit with farmers repaying the loans too.”

There has been no migration of labour ever since the dairy units have come up / Vanga Ravi, Village sarpanch.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindi / Home> National> Telangana / by K.M. Dayashankar / Mulkanoor (Karimnagar Dist) – May 06th, 2016