‘Atmanirbhar’ village shows the way

Rajkot: A small hamlet, located around 18 kms from Anjar town in Kutch district, is showing how overall development can be achieved by prudent use of tax revenue. Bhimasar village boasts of many amenities that one usually sees at posh localities of urban areas.
The 2001 earthquake had left the village completely ruined. When it was rehabilitated in 2004, the residents vowed to make it a model village. Back to the present, the village has wide roads, flanked by green trees on both sides. Also, it has six community centres, a network of CCTV cameras, sewage line and sewage treatment plant.
In a way, the village is ‘atma nirbhar’ as the entire infrastructure was created without the dependence on government grants. The earthquake that uprooted the village, later paved the way for its panchayat’s income. Many edible oil refineries came up around the village after the earthquake under the central government’s tax relief scheme. The village panchayat earns around Rs 2 crore per year as tax from these refineries and other industries.
With industries coming up around it, the village faced pollution issues. Last week, around 2,500 saplings of native trees were planted in coordination with the forest department to mitigate the pollution problem.
These trees are planted in a way that it will create a canopy when they grow. An automatic drip irrigation system has also been installed which starts watering at 7am in the morning and stops at 9am.
The village has a population of 8,000 which includes around 3,000 migrant labourers who work in the surrounding industrial area.
Dinesh Dungariya, the sarpanch of the village, said, “We have six community halls in the village. Since 2004, we have planted around 10,000 trees. The village has a 400-year-old lake, which we deepened, and it is used for watering these trees.” The village is getting Narmada water which is used for drinking and other household purposes.
After facing a grass deficit, the village authorities created grassland a year ago. Also, no encroachments are allowed on the ‘gauchar’ land. The village has 5,000 livestock including 1,100 cows.
“We don’t want our population to move around with their livestock in search of grass and water during the summer like people of other Kutch villages. We have created our own grassland,” Haresh Humbal, a village leader said.