GANGA Rajpoot from Chhatarpur district of the parched Bundelkhand region successfully waged a two-front battle against superstition and reviving a dry pond in her village to win a National Award for Water Warriors on Saturday.

Rajpoot was one of the three ‘Jal Sahelis’ of the Bundelkhand region awarded by President Draupadi Murmu and Minister for Jal Shakti Gajendra Singh Shekhawat for water conservation at a function in Vigyan Bhavan. A total of 36 women were facilitated during the function in various categories.

While her Chaudharykhera village in Bhoyra panchayat was in the grip of acute water scarcity, the local pond was kept dry because of the superstition that whoever tries to revive it, will lose his/her progeny and future generations.

Rajpoot faced an uphill task as she tried to persuade her apprehensive family members on one hand and sought the support of villagers who were not forthcoming to join her on the other. “I thought it was better to die than to live without water,” she said. After much efforts, she convinced two dozen women of the village and neighbouring areas to come forth to revive the pond, according to Ganga.

Working through the days, the women removed filth deposited in the pond and excavated it to bring it to its former glory. Finally, their efforts bore fruit in the Monsoon season when the rainwater filled the pond to the brim and brought to fore, a successful revival story led by women. “The Jal Sahelis movement conceived and launched by Parmarth Samaj Sevi Sansthan in 2011 has 1,100 active women participants in seven districts in the Bundelkhand region of the country who work towards reviving old, dilapidated water bodies and conservation of water,” Sanjay Singh Secretary Parmarth Samaj Savi Sansthan told PTI. Sharda Devi, another Jal Saheli awarded on the occasion, raised an earthen dam using sand in sacks with the help of three dozen women on the dry Barua river near her Vijaypura village in Lalitpur district.

“Only men used to take decisions in the family. I could not live without ‘purdah’(veil) but in spite of everyone’s opposition we came out and built a check dam with the help of three dozen women of the village with us,” she said.

Geeta Devi of Manpur village in Babina block of Jhansi was awarded by the minister for repairing an ancient pond of the period of Chandela Kings. Her efforts saw a revival of the pond which is now being successfully used for irrigation purposes in her village. “The success of the Jal Saheli model is inspiring women from other parts of the country to participate in the water conservation efforts. My dream is at least one woman in every village of Bundelkhand should be an active as Jal Saheli,” Singh said.