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People`s initiatives

People`s initiatives STOMPING ON A DREAM
The incomplete check dam at Goudpali village in Naktideul Block of Sambalpur, Orissa, stands testimony to the insensitivity of the laws and the government to the needs of the people. The government has forced work to stop on the check dam being built by people.

Goudpali houses around 100 families. It is cradled on a piece of land surrounded by Sankhanala river that runs around it, demarcating the village boundary on three sides. The narrow corridor of land connecting it to the rest of the world is also cut through by the Kusumpur drain. Goudpali also has a substantial reserved forest area adjoining it. Forest produce supplements the livelihood earned from rainfed agriculture.

During 1984-85 a team sent by the department of irrigation surveyed the village for building a check dam over river Sankhanala. After a thorough mapping and estimation exercise to gauge the potential of the

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