Mhow (Madhya Pradesh): Hundreds of tribal people gathered at Damali village falling under Pipliya panchayat of Mhow and took part in the tribal tradition of Halma on Sunday. Using spades and pickaxes they started digging soil on Damali pond bed to allow maximum water to be stored during rainfall in the monsoon season.
The local tribals of Pipliya panchayat had given a call for Halma after they faced acute water scarcity during the current season for the first time in the history of the village. Dr Deepmala Rawat, subject specialist on tribal affairs at Raj Bhavan, Bhopal also took part in this Halma programme.
Halma is a tradition for inviting tribal brethren in the event of an extremely difficult situation for tribal farmers. It is an age-old tradition of tribal communities that are natives of Malwa, Nimar areas of Madhya Pradesh and certain areas of Mewar in Rajasthan.
Halma is so unique and distinct that the people who come to assist their tribal brothers, bring food and water along with all other goods of need with themselves so that the affected farmer doesn’t have to bear any cost in lieu of the help”, Dr Rawat said.
Pipliya village panchayat secretary Vinod Sharma said that the area received very less rainfall last year resulting in severe water problems as the pond could not be filled, due to which it got dried up in December itself. This resulted in an acute water crisis in the village having a population of nearly 400 and they could not take their second crop. This made them give a call for Halma and the work done today will ensure that more water is collected this year.
