'Water Man' digs thirty years to supply his village with water. He was declared a fool by his fellow villagers and even his own wife tried to stop him, but Laungi Bhuiya from Kothilwa (India) continued. For thirty years he dug out an irrigation canal almost three kilometres long, to provide his village with water for growing crops. And not without results; this year the farmers from Kothilwa were finally able to grow grain. All thanks to their new hero, “Water Man.”

Just a village idiot
“One day I bring water to this village”, those were the words with which Bhuiya announced his project. The other inhabitants of Kothilwa village — a poor and remote village — laughed at him and soon Bhuiya was put away as 'just a village'. His wife Devi watched powerlessly as her husband spent all his time on a seemingly impossible dream. She even denied him his supper in an attempt to involve him more in the family, but Bhuiya was determined: if he could divert the water in the hills surrounding the village, then the peasants could turn the dry land into fertile fields and finally provide for their first need for life: food.

Water for the village
The village, where some 750 dalits — or untouchables — live in mud huts, lies in a rough and dry area in the eastern Indian province of Bihar where almost nothing grows. The Dalits are a group of people who are at the bottom of the social ladder in India and even outside the caste system. The population is often discriminated against and living in severe poverty. Bhuiya, who owns a piece of land himself, was convinced that a better life would be ahead of him if he could grow his own crops. Water would give not only him, but all his fellow villagers a view of a better life.
Simple tools and superhuman devotion

So, seventy, thirty years ago, Bhuiya went to the Bangetha Hills to embark on a project that would take up much of his life. No less than three decades he worked the hard ground with simple tools to make his big dream come true, leaving his wife desperately behind. “There was never money and almost never food, but nothing stopped him from going to the hills every day for years to dig.” His son even took him to the village shelter for an exorcism, but Bhuiya was determined. While three of his four sons migrated to larger cities to seek work, Bhuiya stayed where he was in the hope of one day making his own village a place of employment.
Source of inspiration

Bhuiya was inspired by Dashrath Manjhi, who became famous decades ago for manually chopping a way from his village to the nearest city with a hammer and a bite. After 22 years of chopping, he shortened the distance between his village and the city of Gaya from 55 to 15 kilometers, making it easier to generate revenue. “Whatever he can do, I can,” thought Bhuiya.
The first harvest

Bhuiya's performance came to light when a local reporter got wind of the story and made a report. Bhuiya had managed to cut a three-kilometer canal, but was still one kilometer short to lead his irrigation channel to the village. Because his story went through Bihar like a walking fire, Sanjay Jha got wind of the story. He let the remaining mile out, so that Bhuiya's big dream could finally come true. Not only that, also a brand new tractor to work his piece of land was part of his reward. But Bhuiya's biggest success came this year, when the villagers successfully cultivated grain for the first time. All thanks to 'Water Man' Bhuiya and his' impossible 'dream. #bijzonderemensen #waterman