Lakhimpur Kheri is famous for its forests, especially Dudwa Tiger Reserve, and also for lush green sugarcane fields. This is why the region is also known as the sugar bowl of Uttar Pradesh. But, these sugarcane and rice fields are water guzzlers as well, resulting in dried-up ponds and wells. Surprising for the district located in Himalayan foothills on the Indo-Nepal border. But, not anymore. The dried-up ponds, rivers, and rivulets are brimming with water, thanks to an imaginative and hardworking official, Mr. Arun Kumar Singh who as Sub-Divisional Magistrate revived the almost-dead water bodies of the district.
In an exclusive interview with Indian Masterminds, he opens up about the course of the initiative, how he managed all of it and what were the challenges that he had to face.
“Talab Khojo, Talab Bachao”
The initiative of saving and reviving water bodies commenced under the name of “Talab Khojo, Talab Bachao” which translates to “Find a pond, save the pond”. The initiative was launched on 29 th November, 2019 and was divided into four stages:
- The first stage consisted of going through all the revenue records that existed after 1951. The records enlightened them about the number of water bodies there existed back in the day.
- The second stage took them to the location mentioned in the records to see if that water body still exists.
- The third stage brought along the elimination of illegal quarries and mafia groups. “There are various sections under the Revenue Court through which we were able to eliminate all the unwanted and illegal mafia gang’s names from the place. We also filed an F.I.R. against the people involved,” Mr. Arun told Indian Masterminds.
- The fourth stage brought back the water bodies into their original, thriving state. “Ponds were de-silted, wells were dug and the rivers were cleaned to make the water bodies as glorious as they initially, were”, he says.
People’s Involvement
The officials of the district were provided with a list of names under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) who helped them in bringing back the dead water bodies to life.
Mr. Arun explained how each water body has its own name and own story connected with it. Some of them exist since ancient times. There are a lot of mythological anecdotes which can be linked to these water bodies.
“In order to involve people, we collected the names of the water body and the story connected with it, and whenever we went to a particular pond or lake, we used those special names and stories to bring interest to the people, and it worked”, he stated.
Work during lockdown
When the nationwide lockdown commenced, the worst hit community was that of the migrant workers. But Mr. Arun had work for them too. He employed them into revamping the water bodies as they returned to Lakhimpur. Along with the support of the district’s Chief Development Officer (CDO), they went on to work on those water bodies first, that were close to a water-providing source.
“We chose ponds close to Rivers or lakes, so we could use the water from it to fill the small scale water bodies around. And once the digging up and filling of water was done, we planted trees surrounding the water body to give it a final look” he told Indian Masterminds.
Not just little ponds or lakes, Mr. Arun also revived hundreds of acres of a river, whose bio-diversity was totally destroyed. “There were long miles of barren lands and no river in sight, but through our hard work, we’ve now brought back the river into its former state, and people have even started using its water for farming. It was a great achievement!”
Other measures taken
A government office is always imagined like a place full of broken furniture, musty smell and lazy ‘babus’ disinterested in their works. Mr. Arun was well aware of the image that a typical government office holds. He decided to bring about a change in its persona.
He took steps to change the ‘government office’ culture into one that a Multi-National Company holds and for this step, he has received ISO: 9001 certificates as well as ISO: 14001 for logical management.
“We provided all the sub-officers with a proper sitting area, which didn’t exist formerly so that the public doesn’t get confused about who to reach to get their work done. We organized a proper and systematic area of work which made things easier for everyone,” he told Indian Masterminds.
Challenges faced
The only challenge he had to bear was the brunt of the other officials’ disagreement. “I had to really go out of the way to motivate them into taking part but as soon as they understood the purpose of the initiative, they willingly pitched in to help it succeed” he explains.
Mr. Arun Kumar Singh has done a wonderful job by revamping so many water bodies in Lakhimpur-Kheri. Indian Masterminds wishes him the best for all his future endeavors!
