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twentieth century (1910–1920), and subsequently the area experienced streams of
in-migration. The earliest settlers like the Bodos and the Madahis sustained their
livelihoods based on the local forest products, cattle grazing and rain-fed farming.
The natural resources including the land available in the area were sufficient for the
sustenance of the tribal communities. However, the demand for food started increasing gradually with the growth of population, and consequently the inhabitants
started practising wet rice cultivation to get more output. Another serious constraint
for the inhabitants was the scarcity of drinking water as there was no perennial
drinking water source in the village. They had to walk a long distance to fetch drinking water from some springs (bhumuk) and streams in the downstream. Thus, the
geo-hydrological condition of the area compelled the inhabitants to evolve some
water management system at their own to cope with such an adverse situation. The
Madahi people, who were the earliest settlers of this village, had developed the idea
of designing canals, called dong, and check dams, called bandh, to divert the
Pagladiya river water to their agricultural fields through community participation.
The subsequent settlers also joined them in managing the water resources to serve
their purpose. Since then, the dong-bandh irrigation system has been in practice
among the communities irrespective of their social, cultural and religious backgrounds. Thus, besides supporting agricultural development, the dong-bandh system has become an effective instrument for social integration among the diverse
communities inhabiting this marginally located area of Assam.
For managing various activities, such as construction and repairing of dongbandh, distribution of water, dispute resolution, etc., the villagers formed a water
user association (WUA) called No.1 Group Chowki Pagladiya Dong-Bandh
Committee in the year 1921. Presently, this committee covers 1382 households
across 33 hamlets of the area. One person from each of these hamlets is selected as
a representative member of the committee called Captain or Halmajhi. The captain
acts as a coordinator between the committee and water users of respective hamlets.
They mobilise the labourers to participate in the works and supervise the distribution of water. Importantly, in the year 1946, the committee adopted a written constitution for governing the activities relating to the dong-bandh system. This committee
is again monitored and controlled by a regional and a central committee. During the
lean season, when water becomes scarce, all the villagers share water on rotational
basis at some time interval (panir pala).
16.5 Traditional Dong-Bandh Know-How
Diversion of fast-flowing river water by constructing check dams and draining water
into the productive areas of the villages is not an easy task. It has evolved through a
long process of trial and error performed by the indigenous people based on their
traditional know-how. The local people, based on the traditional knowledge and
understanding of the geological structure, morphological characteristics, slope,
hydrological conditions of the locality and the traditional skills developed by them
16 Traditional Water Management System and Agricultural Sustainability…
twentieth century (1910–1920), and subsequently the area experienced streams of
in-migration. The earliest settlers like the Bodos and the Madahis sustained their
livelihoods based on the local forest products, cattle grazing and rain-fed farming.
The natural resources including the land available in the area were sufficient for the
sustenance of the tribal communities. However, the demand for food started increasing gradually with the growth of population, and consequently the inhabitants
started practising wet rice cultivation to get more output. Another serious constraint
for the inhabitants was the scarcity of drinking water as there was no perennial
drinking water source in the village. They had to walk a long distance to fetch drinking water from some springs (bhumuk) and streams in the downstream. Thus, the
geo-hydrological condition of the area compelled the inhabitants to evolve some
water management system at their own to cope with such an adverse situation. The
Madahi people, who were the earliest settlers of this village, had developed the idea
of designing canals, called dong, and check dams, called bandh, to divert the
Pagladiya river water to their agricultural fields through community participation.
The subsequent settlers also joined them in managing the water resources to serve
their purpose. Since then, the dong-bandh irrigation system has been in practice
among the communities irrespective of their social, cultural and religious backgrounds. Thus, besides supporting agricultural development, the dong-bandh system has become an effective instrument for social integration among the diverse
communities inhabiting this marginally located area of Assam.
For managing various activities, such as construction and repairing of dongbandh, distribution of water, dispute resolution, etc., the villagers formed a water
user association (WUA) called No.1 Group Chowki Pagladiya Dong-Bandh
Committee in the year 1921. Presently, this committee covers 1382 households
across 33 hamlets of the area. One person from each of these hamlets is selected as
a representative member of the committee called Captain or Halmajhi. The captain
acts as a coordinator between the committee and water users of respective hamlets.
They mobilise the labourers to participate in the works and supervise the distribution of water. Importantly, in the year 1946, the committee adopted a written constitution for governing the activities relating to the dong-bandh system. This committee
is again monitored and controlled by a regional and a central committee. During the
lean season, when water becomes scarce, all the villagers share water on rotational
basis at some time interval (panir pala).
16.5 Traditional Dong-Bandh Know-How
Diversion of fast-flowing river water by constructing check dams and draining water
into the productive areas of the villages is not an easy task. It has evolved through a
long process of trial and error performed by the indigenous people based on their
traditional know-how. The local people, based on the traditional knowledge and
understanding of the geological structure, morphological characteristics, slope,
hydrological conditions of the locality and the traditional skills developed by them
16 Traditional Water Management System and Agricultural Sustainability…