Villager honoured for solving water crisis

Kakola, Karnataka, July 27 (UNI) Mr Chanabasappa Shivappa Kombali was presented with 'the Kannada Prabha Getit Man of the Year' award by Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy at a function here today for solving the acute water crisis in his village.

Fortyfive-year-old Kombali had long yearned to see his village in Haveri district get back to its good old days when there was plenty of water. The crisis began after Kakola joined other villages in 1980s to mass-produce seeds to make a fast buck after private seed companies descended there.

The avarice devoured the area of all its water wealth. For the first time, people began to see their wells and tanks dry up. They took to borewells, but that helped little what with groundwater table having sunk.

It was during these depressing times that Kombali came up with his idea on saving water and tried to sell it to his fellow villagers. The hills around the village had made the place an ideal watershed and Kombali suggested that rain water flowing from these hills be diverted to 22 open wells in the village. That, he estimated, could irrigate about 400 acres. But villagers ridiculed his idea.

Kombali ignored them, took up the pickaxe himself and went ahead with his plans of digging canals to divert rain water. Open wells began to swell after rains in 2002, and the men who stayed away needed no more evidence and they joined him.

A few years of single minded devotion to work finally paid off and Kombali's dream came true. He was selected for the award at the end of an elaborate process of nominations, inquiries, formal clearances and a final debate. An eight-member jury finally eventually chose Kombali.

The award comprised a cash prize of Rs one lakh and a citation.

Kombali handed over the cash prize to Mr Kumaraswamy and urged him to use it for the development of Kakola.

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