Bihar’s famous ‘Canal Man’ has struck (the ground) again. In 2020, Laungi Bhuiyan finished building a 3-km-long canal that he had worked on single-handedly over the course of 30 long years. Its aim was to bring rainwater from nearby hills to the fields of his village, Kothilawa in Lahthua area of Gaya. This time, the goal is mightier: Bhuiyan wants to dig his second canal to bring rainwater from the hills to five villages in Gaya, ANI reported. “I decided to dig the canal by myself & I am very sure that water will reach these 5 villages soon," the news agency quoted Bhuiyan as saying. By bringing water to the fields of these five villages, Bhuiyan hopes poverty will be alleviated in these areas. Fishing would also become possible in the canal, he said. Thus, Bhuiyan keeps up his three-decade saga of building canals, when he would go out to the jungle to tend to his cattle and also dig the ground.
Bhuiyan’s endeavour was single-handed last year, with him telling ANI that at a time when villagers were migrating to cities in search of jobs, he had chosen to stay back. His efforts are now being noticed. In fact, last year, Bhuiyan was gifted a tractor by Anand Mahindra, chairman of Mahindra Group. A journalist had shared a photo of Bhuiyan and tagged Mahindra on Twitter, stating how a tractor was the only thing Bhuiyan wanted. Mahindra had written back, saying it would be an honour to have him use the company’s tractor.
Bihar: Laungi Bhuiyan, the man who carved out a 3-km canal, is digging out another canal to take rainwater of nearby hills to 5 villages in Gaya"I decided to dig the canal by myself & I am very sure that water will reach these 5 villages soon," Bhuiyan says pic.twitter.com/k8xVebJ4eP
— ANI (@ANI) December 14, 2021
The second canal that I am digging right now will provide water to the fields of 5 nearby villages, farming will be possible which will remove the poverty in this area. Fishing can also be practiced in the second canal: Longi Bhuiyan, famous for Canal man in Gaya pic.twitter.com/aNQ32jVLLX— ANI (@ANI) December 14, 2021
This is not the first time that a common citizen has taken matters into their own hands. In Odisha, people of Koshagumuda block have built a bamboo bridge on the Indravati river and it has become the only way of communication between Koraput and Nabarangpur district. For the residents of both the districts, commuting was difficult for lack of a bridge between both the areas and thus Jaydev Bhatra, a sailor decided to build this bridge over the Indravati river near Kantasaruguda village of Nabarangpur district. Jaydev has built this bamboo bridge with his own resources even at the cost of selling his own land. The length of the bridge is about 110-metre and its width is 6-feet. More than 600 bamboos, plastic wire, nail were used to built the bridge. More than 60 labourers were deployed to make the bridge. Jayadev has incurred all expense from his own hard earned income.
Read all the Latest News, Breaking News and Coronavirus News here.