nPalamu and Lohardaga constituencies are set to go to polls on April 29 in fourth phase ((State’s first phase) of election, have unaddressed issues that voters are yet to get relief from. Perennial water crisis, drought continues to haunt Palamu, while lack of development especially agrarian crisis such as finding markets and storage facilities for agricultural produce have remained major concerns in Lohardaga. Apart from these, the two districts are Left Wing Extremism affected districts as various splinters groups operate in the districts.
Budhna Ram, 46, a farmer in Palamu’s Hariharganj block said, “Water supply has always been a problem in my area. Summers particularly remain dry, causing major challenges for farmers.” He said as farmers depend upon on monsoon for irrigation, construction of canals and check dams have remained the long pending demands of farmers. The water crisis is more serious in Garhwa district. For past five decades various governments had announced to construct reservoir/dams on North Koel river, but all these promises have remained only on papers.
The Mandal Dam project is a glaring example. The Project on North Koel River flowing through Palamu and Garhwa districts in Jharkhand was started in 1972. The project, however, was stopped mid-way by the forest department, Bihar in 1993.
However, in January this year the project saw a ray of hope as on January 5, Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation of North Koel reservoir also known as Mandal Dam project. The project would see the light of the day after almost 50 years, which would benefit both Bihar and Jharkhand. The project once completed is expected to irrigate 1.11 lakh hectares of land, including over 91,000 hectares of land in Bihar and 20,000 hectares of land in Jharkhand. Also once constructed there will be water supply through pipeline to quench-hit Palamu and Garhwa.
Most of the blocks in Palamu were declared drought-hit last year. Farmers here are still recovering from last year’s jolts and expecting their new MP to ensure better irrigation facilities.
Lohardaga, hardly 70 Kilometers from State Capital, is yet to see the dawn of development. The small town, cramped by cluttered, narrow roads and small residential colonies, is surrounded by rural landscape. Once a Maoist hotbed, the constituency is gradually inching towards freedom from Left Wing insurgents. However, families and businessmen in some parts of the constituency still live and work in fear of attacks and demands of levy by splinter outfits, they say.
“Even though the condition has improved over the years, rebels are still active in many parts of the constituency, making it difficult for business to flourish,” said Swapan Chatterjee, a businessman based out of Lohardaga town.
The other major problem in Lohardga is agrarian crisis such as finding market for agriculture produce and storage facilities for agricultural produce. The Mandar and Bero block which falls under Lohardaga constituency are said to biggest producers of vegetables in the region, but due to unavailability of proper markets, the farmers are not getting correct value of their agricultural produce. Darshan Mahto, a farmer in Bero said, “As there are fewer cold storage facilities for storing vegetables, most of the times we are left with no other alternative but to sell the produce at lower price.”
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won both the constituencies in 2014 riding on the Modi wave. This time, however, Mahagathbandhan has put a challenge. Lohardaga MP and Minister of State for Tribal Affairs, Sudarshan Bhagat will defend his incumbency against former State president of Congress party Sukhdeo Bhagat, while Rashtriya Janata Dal’s Ghuran Ram is set to challenge former IPS officer turned politician VD Ram in Palamu.