Community Brings Lift Irrigation to Partumba Village, JHARKHAND

The residents of Partumba village, in Hazaribagh District, Jharkhand, lived in a hand-to-mouth condition by working as daily wagers whenever they could find work. Only 4 acres of land were under cultivation, abject poverty and hunger were the daily lot of the villagers. Through the participatory process initiated by GVT, and aided by the Group Jankar – Mr. Jagarnath Oraon - the village community decided the first priority was to make water available for irrigation through lift irrigation, as the terrain is hilly.
The first activity was to create a pond large enough to irrigate 20 acres of land – 24000sq.ft. and 800 ft. deep. The area selected was an abandoned mica mine that had taken numerous lives in an accident. The 100 year old mine had been closed up. The people now wanted this “killer” place to have a new function – that of sustaining life. Once the pond was created with financial support from GVT and community labour, an 8 HP pump was installed. Since then, farmers have been practicing multicropping of vegetables (as cash crops), irrigating paddy in medium land, and following crop rotation. Their livelihood options have improved considerably, as has their income.