During the British administration in India, the worst-ever famine kniwn as Na’nka that prevailed in Odisha was in 1855-56, when ten lakh people equal to one fourth of the population of the region died due to starvation.
Social reformers like Madhusudan Rao, Madhusudan Das, Radhanath Ray, Fakir Mohan Senapathi, Bhagaban Chandra Das and many others undertook massive responsibilities to force the British Government to take positive steps to overcome the situation and prevent such type of disastrous situation in the future.
Climatic hazard is not new to tropical countries. The Britishers were the pioneers in handling such types of calamities. After 1865/66 famine, all the major canal systems, mainly for irrigation of cultivable land, were constructed in coastal Odisha. They also met the daily need of water for human consumption, fisheries, and vegetable and cash crop cultivation in coastal villages. Over and above, when fire broke out in villages, the canal water nearby came handy.
Even now most of the houses of rural Odisha and India are mud houses with the roofs either of straw or earthen tiles and slates which are very vulnerable to fire. The writer is a man of coastal Odisha and experienced thoroughly the ferocity of fire accidents when houses in coastal villages turn into ashes. The canal and pond water of the villages used to be the main sources to extinguish fire.
Seasonal crop failure should not be taken as a matter of ill-luck and farmers should not lose heart and commit suicide. The poor peasants need moral support and should be provided with financial assistance to overcome the crisis.
If the water and land management, including the agro training of rural croppers, are carried out scientifically, the disastrous situation of climate change can be tackled easily. Due to the blessing of the British administration, more than 60-70 per cent of coastal plains of Mahanadi, Bramhani and Baitarani basin directly or indirectly are irrigated throughout the year. River and canal routes were major way of transportation in past, which was cost-effective and pollution-free. At present the State and Central Governments are thinking sincerely to mechanize such routes.
Odisha is having maximum fertile land in the coastal plains where all the high profile cities and suburbs are situated but here our innocent peasants are committing suicide invariably due to crop failure.
The western Odisha too has registered a huge number of farmer suicides due to crop loss. The region was having barren and fallow land until the construction of Hirakud irrigation cum hydro electricity project. The dam and its irrigation potential ushered in a green evolution in the western Odisha. It is very strange that the peasants of the locality are committing suicide. The matter needs investigation.
All the suicidal cases may not be due to crop failure. It is a fact that many unlawful moneylenders are lending money to the rural poor under the very nose of the administration.
They are taking quite unreasonable rates of interest from the poor peasants in the rural belt; at times they are duping and exploiting the illiterate and poor people. Such practices are also going on in urban slums (basties). This is all due to failure of State administration and lack of awareness of public on availability of institutional loan.
In western Odisha, Nuankhai is a major autumn festival. Everybody, irrespective of cast, creed, age and sex, participate in the festivities with great warmth. During this period, the poor people, mostly of rural areas, become the victims of exploitation. The moneylenders grab the opportunity in both hands and exploit the people by extending loan.
In the event the crop fails, the debt-ridden farmers either have to fall Gotis or migrate far- off places to earn so that they can pay off loan at home. However, as distress daily wagers they have to face untold sufferings at the hands of their employers. When unable to repay loan, they simply bow to the lapse of their mortgages which could be a farm land or ancestral house and the like.
Desperation drives them to commit suicide. The administration should come to terms with the peculiar situation of the distressed farmers.
The Bhulbani tribes produce agricultural products like ginger, turmeric, kandula, tamarind etc after hill cultivation. They also collect minor forest produces. However, these innocent tribals fail to make money as the middlemen and moneylenders make the most by cheating them.
Apart from this, certain bad habits of the people also drive them to the brink of penury. Gambling is one such. The people of south Odisha play gambling and make high bets during Dussehra or Diwali which render them paupers.
Other social factors like use of drugs also play a role in perpetuating the misery of the people. Wine consumption also becomes the root of many crimes. Social reformation is needed to save these people from such habits.
The people of Kalahandi are most efficient in proper management of water, land, crop and human resources. The river Tel and its tributaries and other associate streams act as life lines of this land of hills and river basins. Not only they do the seasonal paddy which completely depends on rain water, but also raise all types of vegetables, pulses, upland paddy, cotton, sugarcane, dairy and fishery to make their lives sustainable. The case of suicide was very remote once in this land, but the situation has changed now.
The financial exploitations of the rural people by the unscrupulous traders must stop to provide a relief to the distressed agriculturists.
(The writer is a former senior forest officer and an environmentalist. Tel no 9937460649)