Clicktivism? Maharashtra farmers go online for funds
FollowIn the drought-stricken village of Horti in Maharashtra, over 700 farmers have come together to renovate a canal through an online crowd-funding campaign which has fetched them Rs 1.9 lakh in less than a week.
According to the Times of India, the farmers are working towards widening, deepening and desilting an 8 km long canal in their village to increase its water holding capacity. The farmers say that the cost of work is approximately ₹6 lakh, out of which they have already collected ₹3 lakh and rest will be collected through the online campaign.
These farmers are also being helped by MK Kulkarni who is a retired government employee and also a native of the village. "Most of the farms are lying idle since the last two years due to insufficient water supply, but even in this situation of despair villagers have contributed small amounts so that the work could begin," said Kulkarni.
He also said that the work, which began on May 17, is almost complete and would have taken longer if they had depended on the government. The canal once used to have water throughout the year, but the capacity has reduced drastically in recent years because of a lack of maintenance by the government.
“The work was conducted in 3 shifts and every farmer would inspect the work near his farm," added Kulkarni.
The farmers of the village are very satisfied with their work and are amazed how they have bonded over the renovation of this canal. "While executing such a massive project, it was expected that villagers may have had differences in opinion, but this time, not a single person had any issue and the work will be completed in record time," a farmer said.
"Villagers are stunned to see that people who don't even know them are coming ahead and contributing for the canal. We are hoping to meet the funding targets in another week," said Ranganath Thota from the crowdfunding platform, Fueladream.
