Waterman Of Jharkhand - Simon Oraon.

 

Waterman Of Jharkhand - Simon Oraon.

Came across this amazing personality, felt like sharing. 

Simon Oraon- 84 yr old, Padma shree awardee, transformed lives of thousands of people especially farmers in Jharkhand. 

Oraon himself struggles on the personal front. He along with his wife lives in a thatched house the roof of which leaks during the monsoon. 

But enter his house, one would see Oraon proudly displays all the certificates that he has received over the years and newspaper cuttings on his movement on the wall. 

A large chunk of his income comes from his farming and herbs which he prepares at his home. 

Little has changed in Simon Oraon’s daily routine in the last 60 years. At 84, he gets up at 4.30 in the morning, goes to the fields, diligently checks the saplings he has planted around the village, takes a round of the forest he has grown all on his own while facing great odds, and traces his steps back to his house in time for lunch.

Ironic as it may seem, Jharkhand, known for its lush green forests, is reeling under severe water scarcity. Indiscriminate deforestation and erratic weather patterns are playing havoc in the state, causing crop failures. Faced with all these calamitous conditions, Simon is nonetheless undeterred from his mission of water conservation and forest plantation. His earlier efforts are still alive today. The residents of these 51 villages owe him the agricultural prosperity he brought them through simple water conservation efforts.

He constructed the first dam near his village in Narpatna in 1960. The dam, however, was washed away during the next monsoon. In the starting phase, several dams failed to withstand the monsoon water. Then, after the water resource department intervened, the size and width of the dams were increased and the concrete strengthened.

These dams have not faced any cracks since. In addition to constructing dams in Jharia , Narpatna and Kharia, Simon and his team also built dams in Gaighat, Deshbali and a few other locations in nearby villages. 

All ponds are linked with dams, which act as water reservoirs, ensuring continuous water supply to meet the needs of the villagers.

The ‘waterman’ has now been appointed brand ambassador of the watershed programme by the Rural Development Department, Government of Jharkhand.