Automatic Water Pumps Bring Relief to the Hill Communities

In Jhenaigati, Sreebardi and Nalitabari, near the Garo hills of Sherpur, the water level has fallen far below normal because of climate change. Yet water keeps flowing from the automatic water pump, which locals call “Autokal,” with no oil or electricity. Thanks to this “magic tap,” some hill villages now get water easily. Experts believe the system can spread across the whole hill region. Villagers use the water for drinking, household work and farming. Tribal leaders and experts say that fair use of this water could grow crops on thousands of acres of unused land.

In the villages of Rangajan, Balijuri, Christianpara and Officepara, near Meghalaya, 5,000 to 6,000 people depend on farming. In the past, the hill river Someshwari held water even in the month of Chaitra. Farmers used that water for Boro and Aman rice and for vegetables. But the Someshwari dried up because of climate change. Later, when people were setting up a tube well in Rangajan village, they hit water after boring just 60 to 80 feet. Water began to rise nonstop from the hole. Thinking it was a miracle, villagers did not set up the tube well. They began to use the water for drinking and household work as it was.

People in Officepara, Christianpara and Balijuri villages began to draw and use water in the same way. Because the automatic water pump flows all year, farmers grow rice and vegetables with its water. For 10 to 15 years, several hundred villagers have enjoyed its benefit. It can be seen in about 60 percent of homes and crop fields. Locals said setting up one costs only two to three thousand taka, just for the mechanic. After the boring, the pipe is pulled out, and water keeps rising through bamboo and plastic pipes. At present, rice and vegetables grow on about two to three thousand acres with this water.

Mr. Pranjal M. Sangma, a tribal leader of Hariyakona village, said the hills once had many springs. Their water flowed down and filled the Someshwari river. Now the springs are gone and the river has no water. It dries up even before Chaitra. So the automatic water pump is now their hope for growing crops. He said that if the government managed this water well, farmers could farm a huge amount of land. Locals believe rice and vegetables can grow across the whole hill region with this water. Where there is no automatic water pump, they say, digging canals to store water for irrigation could grow crops on thousands of acres. An NGO has already built a tank in Christianpara to store the water.

According to the district agriculture office, Sreebardi upazila alone has about 20,000 hectares of crop land. Farmers there grow high yielding rice, Boro, Aman and various vegetables. An engineer of the District Public Health Engineering Department in Sreebardi upazila said water layers like this often come out naturally at the foot of hills. He said the water can be saved through pipelines and supplied to towns. He said he will inform senior officials about the matter.

Ms. Farida Yasmin, the then Deputy Commissioner of Sherpur, told Daily Inqilab that she would look into whether anything can be done.