How voluntary work keeps traditional irrigation system going alive for farmers on Assam-Bhutan border

Every Wednesday morning, farmers in Guwabari and at least 15 adjoining villages in North Assam's Tamulpur district converge with a common cause. After a few minutes of discussion at the community hall at Guwabari, the farmers with spades and daos in their hands walk towards the adjoining Bhutan hills. Soon, they get busy in cleaning the mud or repairing the damaged portions of the dongs, the traditional irrigation channels that bring the water from the Bornadi river flowing from the Bhutan hills.

The villagers have been doing this for years now. "If we don't clear the debris, the channels get clogged and flow of water reduces," Gopal Barman, a farmer at neighbouring Mohendra Nagar told DH as he sat in the community hall at Guwabari with a few other farmers.

Faced with a severe water crisis and lack of government irrigation system, 700 villagers had united back in 1968 and constructed a dam on the Bornadi river in Samdrup Jongkhar district in Bhutan to divert the water into the traditional irrigation channels. "Initially we had to pay Rs 250 every year as tax to the Bhutan government. But they (Bhutan government) remitted the tax from 2000. This was done as part of India-Bhutan friendship gesture," said Haren Kalita, a 75-year-old farmer at Guwabari.

However, the flood in 2005, had badly damaged the irrigation system. The villagers moved the Assam government after which the construction work started in 2013 and completed in 2018. Gramya Vikash Mancha, a local NGO also helped the farmers on how to maintain the dongs and keep it flowing.

Meanwhile, Shramdaan or voluntary work every Wednesday has become compulsory to keep the community-run traditional irrigation system flowing. "Someone remaining absent in the work must show a genuine cause, failing which the committee imposes a fine of Rs 300," said Rati Ranjan Mandal, advisor at Akoldonga Bornadi Asoma Oronga Bundh Dong Committee.

The irrigation system has not only solved the problem of irrigation but also the drinking water crisis. "Many farmers in the past had even left the villages as they could not grow anything due to lack of water," said Kalita. "Earlier we had to dig 60 to 70 feet to get water in a well. Now, since the water in our irrigation channel keeps flowing throughout the year, groundwater gets recharged. Now we get water just 30 feet deep," Mandal said.

Revival of the traditional irrigation system has benefitted at least 6,000 residents in 16 villages. Some of the villages are: Ekrabeel, Bhaoraguri, Kombhirjar, Jaipur, Notunkhuti, Bogorikhuti, Bimala Nagar and Mohendra Nagar. The farmers mostly grow paddy, mustard, betel nut and vegetables.

The villagers also follow a unique practice to pay remuneration to the secretary of the committee and two guards. They pay 20 quintal of paddy to the secretary and 16 quintal of paddy each to two guards every year as remuneration. "The villagers having up to four bigha of land contribute 20 kg paddy every year. Those above four bigha give 25 kgs. This has been fixed by the committee," Mandal said.

The bank erosion in the Oronga, another river that flows almost parallelly from the Bhutan hills, however, has become a worry for the farmers. "The erosion may wash away the dam and destroy our entire irrigation system. The government must do something to help us to stop further erosion," Barman said.