Pond built by landlord for wife 150 yrs ago still serves as lifeline for Chhattisgarh village

Durg: A pond built by a landlord for his wife 150 years back at a village in Chhattisgarh's Durg district has never run dry and is still the lifeline for residents, providing them with daily water needs and facilitating irrigation, locals claim.

Situated in Kandarka village, around 25 km from Durg city, 'Bade Talab' (big pond) serves as a crucial source of water for local residents and six nearby villages when other ponds and resources in the area dry up during the summer season, they say.

Durg Lok Sabha member Vijay Baghel also said the pond has never dried and a plan will be prepared for its conservation and rejuvenation.

Local resident Jeevan Lal told PTI that his maternal great grandfather Gurmin Gautiya, who was then a zamindar (landlord), got the pond built for his wife.

Kandarka faced water shortage 150 years back and locals had to go to nearby villages to meet their water requirements, he said.

Gautiya's wife had to walk to another village, located 2 km away, to take bath. One day, while she was taking a bath, some villagers laughed at her, saying even a landlord can't arrange water for his wife in his own village, Lal said.

"She immediately returned to her village, with mud stuck on her head. Watching his wife in such a condition, the landlord asked the reason. She narrated the incident and told her husband that hence, she returned with an incomplete bath," he informed.

The landlord's wife was so hurt by this incident that she decided not to take bath till a pond was built in her own village.

To fulfil his wife's wish, the landlord planned to construct a pond, but the problem was where to dig it as there was no underground water source in the village, Lal said.

"It is said that God helps those who help themselves. After a few days of struggle, the landlord spotted mud and grass on some cattle that were missing for two-three days in the village. He thought when there is no source of water in the village, how did mud and grass get stuck on the bodies of the cattle.

"The next day, when Gautiya and the other villagers chased some cattle, they landed at a place where there was grass and mud. Subsequently, the same place was dug and they zeroed-in on a small source of water," Lal said.

Before taking up the pond digging work, the landlord persuaded his wife to use the same small source of water for bathing until the entire water body was dug, he said.

Around 100 labourers were called from outside for digging the pond with axes and shovels and the work continued for five months, Lal said.

"Since then, this pond has remained a constant source of water for about half-a-dozen villages in the area as it never dries up," he said.

Another local Narottam Pal also said the pond has never dried up and it helps in irrigating farmlands in Kandarka and nearby villages, particularly in the summer season when other water sources run dry.

The villagers have been conserving this pond for several years and have not allow encroachment around it, he added.

When contacted, Durg Lok Sabha member Vijay Baghel told PTI that the pond, which is believed to be more than a century old, has never dried, and a plan will be prepared for its conservation and rejuvenation in future.

Conservation of ponds is necessary for maintaining biodiversity and recharging the ground water levels, Baghel added.