Tanju Devi is a member of the Tharu tribe and she lives in a forested area in West Champaran along the Indo-Nepal border. She comes from a community which has had to face a long history of abuse, neglect, and degradation at the hands of other communities. Having witnessed injustice at such close quarters all her life, she worked hard…

Tanju Devi

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Agriculture communities across many villages depend on natural resources to support their farming. The sustenance of these resources is never the priority of the administration. Natural resources may soon be on the brink of extinction.
Lachnauta Jumi is a water source situated near Domat village. This water is used for drinking, bathing and irrigation. A few years ago, Ramchandra Manjhi & Jeetan Manjhi from Dharampur took over the land and have begun farming there. They have been slowly shutting all access to the water sources.

-Since when has this water been flowing?
-The water source has been there since primeval times. It used to be surrounded by trees and plants. And the water just has been flowing naturally ever since.

- What problems are you facing because of them?
- Four persons have taken over the land for farming.
- Where are they from?
- Dharampur. They got some people to cut trees, level the ground, filled all trenches and have now begun farming.
- Have you'll taken any action?
- Many a times. We went to the block officer and later to the city of Narkatiyaganj. We had even met with people in Betiyan.

-What do you want now?
-The community would like to see more trees planted on that land and the land be admeasured and fenced properly. This would help us get a better access to water.

I too am a farmer from this community. I too use similar irrigation methods for farming. This is why I wish to see the sustenance of these natural resources. I wish to see villagers from Domat village get access to water resources. Land, for this reason, must be preserved to help sustenance of natural resources.

Please call the circle officer on +91-9431826712 and ask him to take appropriate action so that irrigation facilities remain available to the farmers of this community.

I am Tanju Devi reporting from Bihar for IndiaUnheard.

This video was made by a Video Volunteers Community Correspondent. Community Correspondents come from marginalised communities in India and produce videos on unreported stories. These stories are ’news by those who live it.’ they give the hyperlocal context to global human rights and development challenges. Take action for a more just global media by sharing their videos and joining in their call for change.