Deepar Beel helping thousands to earn livelihood

GUWAHATI, February 3: Fishing activities are on their peak in the Deepar beel, the lone Ramsar site, i.e. the internationally recognised wetland, of the State. About 10,000 people of seven villages in the outskirts of this capital city, and about 200 families of Matihari district in Bihar are depending on this beel for their livelihood. For the residents of Keotpara, Natunbasti, Medhipara, Heerapara, Noapara, Hatuapara and Matia near Azara on the western fringe of the city, the beel is their Goddess Lakshmi - the Goddess of wealth. They offer a Ganga Puja to satisfy the beel in the Assamese month of Aghon and offer a Shiva Puja in the Assamese month of Puh, just on the preceding day of their formally entering the beel in a community for fishing purposes. Though fishing activities in the beel continue round the year, the villagers of these villages, who have been maintaining a part of the beel for about 15 years now under the banner of Panchpara Deepar Beel Samabay Samity, have banned catching of big fishes and fingerlings during the rainy season and catching of big fishes start only after the Shiva Puja. The peak fishing season lasts only about four months from January to April. Usually fishermen from three villages of Chand Parsa, Banparbua and Semuapur under Kesharia police station in Matihari district of Bihar, come to the Deepar beel between August and September every year and they use to stay till May the next year. They take out parts of the beel on lease from its lessee Panchgaon Deepar Bell Sambay Samity and earn a net income of between Rs 5,000 and 10,000 per head, during their stay on the Chauris i.e. highland on the beel. The beel has two major chauris - Phukanar Chauri and Garubhaga Tek. The fishermen from Chand Parsa village, who are staying in makeshift structures made of bamboo and hay on the Gurubhaga Tek, have taken this time about 40,000 square metre area of the Beel on lease from the Samabay Samity against an amount of about Rs 10,000, said Sambhu Sahni (36), a fisherman from Chand Parsa. The technique used by these fishermen is relatively superior to that of the local fishermen. These fishermen come only with some leaves of the kusha reed, besides some money. With the help of the bamboo sticks and kusha leaves they prepare some traps to catch fishes of various sizes. The young ones of the local fishermen are also learning this technique gradually, said Raghav Das (27), a BCom, of Keotpara, who, along with his three brothers, has been sticking to his family's traditional profession. Auphuli Das, mother of Das said that her family has only a residential plot measuring about 3 kathas of land. The family has no arable land. "We brought up our five sons and two daughters, educated them and married the daughters depending on the beel. It maybe mentioned here that three of her sons Prasanna (30), Bhagawan (24) and Amulya (22) have passed the HS examination, while Raghav, the BCom and Rajeswar, the youngest, the HSLC examination. Rajeswar, a budding footballer, is now staying in the New Field Sports Authority of India (SAI) hostel here. Auphuli Das and her husband late Marmeswar Das managed for all these solely with the help of their catches in the beel. There are hundreds of Auphuli Das and Marmeswar Das in the seven villages mentioned above and in other villages to the east, west and south of the Deepar beel, who have been depending on the beel for not only earning their mere bread and butter, but also for the education of their offsprings. While the men folk of these villages row deep into the beel in search of the catches, the womenfolk usually help them with the supply of food and doing the other onshore work like Giribala Das, Padumi Das, Niru Das and Ratne Das, all in the age group of 25 to 35 years, of Keotpara. Some of these people are yet to obtain the results of their offsprings, held up for their failure to clear the school fees, said Padumi Das. The boys of these families usually do not attend their classes in January as they remain busy with their parents during the month so as to help their parents earn more for procuring their own school items, said Raghav Das. Similarly, Sambhu Sahni, Jawaharlal Sahni (55), Rambabu Sahni (28) and Biswanath Sahni (36) and their like from Chand Parsha, Banparbua and Semuapur, are also arranging for the education and marriage of their children with the help of amounts they earn from the beel. According to Sambhu Sahni, they have now 15 graduates, 15 matriculates and 10 to 12 school going boys and girls in their Chand Parsa village. Two of the matriculate boys Sakal Sahni and Lalan Sahni are now staying with their co-villagers on the Garubhaga Tek for fishing purposes. However, the summer days are the toughest days for the local fishermen here and during these days some of them even fail to keep their hearths warm, said Ratne Das.