Kalahandi District

Covid-19 will have major implications in rural areas where the Foundation for Ecological Security (FES), a non-profit organisation has been working towards conservation of natural resources through collective action of local communities. Experience indicates that the complete lockdown to contain the spread of the disease has resulted in loss of rural incomes.

The Niyamagiri hills in the Eastern Ghats is peopled by indigenous groups such as the Dongria and Kutia Kondhs -- or 'primitive tribal groups’ in official phrasing. For them, these hills which spread over 300 sq kms in Rayagada and Kalahandi districts in southwestern Orissa, is the sacred abode of Niyamraja, their God.

Dongria Kondhs win the mining battle

Forest Advisory Committee rejects the controversial Tipaimukh and Dibang hydro-electric projects

Courtesy: Anchalika Jana Seva Anusthan (AJSA), Odisha

A map showing AJSA's area of operation in Odisha

To combat water scarcity and socio-economic deprivation through the effective use of water resources in Dudkarenga and Barbandha villages in Odisha, AJSA launched a Diversion Based Irrigation(DBI) initiative in kalahandi District of Odisha,to bring sustainable livelihood and address food security and climate justice in M.Rampur block of Kalahandi.

Now the DBI systems are providing irrigation to the earlier unirrigated area’s and has become the main source of livelihood to generation of people who have had land.  It is also providing wage employment to the landless also.

Article and Image Courtesy : One World South Asia

Author : Madhusmita Hazarika

The study attempts to advance the understanding of regional drought phenomenon in the Kalahandi district of Orissa and present mitigation strategies. The dry spells during the monsoon crop growing season and wide variations in the quantum of rainfall from year to year result in frequent failure of crops in Kalahandi and as a result the district is categorised as drought prone.