Bamboo Well An Alternative Source Of Water For Odisha’s Farmers

Rayagada: The Harsha Trust has come up with a low-cost mechanism to ensure an alternative source of water to help farmers in non-irrigated and water-hit areas of Odisha.

The trust began its mission in Odisha with the construction of a bamboo well in the remote Sindhipanga village in Muniguda block of Rayagada district.

Talking about the design, Bhubaneswar Pradhan, a bamboo craftsman, said how many bamboo rings are needed in the inner wall of the well is decided after determining depth of the well. “He said dry bamboo pieces, 8mm iron rods, a GI pipe and a little amount of cement are needed to make a bamboo ring of 8feet diameter and 1.5-2 feet height,” he added.

He also said that before the bamboo rings are placed from the bottom of the well, they are treated with Neem oil for better longevity.

Harsha Trust’s district coordinator Sarat Chandra Sahoo said that the idea was borrowed from a YouTube video. The advantage of the bamboo ring is that its cost is much lower compared to the concrete ring. “While the cost of the bamboo ring is approximately Rs 30,000-35,000, the cost of a concrete well is around Rs 80,000. We’ve been assisted by the Tata Trust and the Telco Together Foundation for construction of this bamboo ring,” he said.