Paladka: A new lease of life has been given to the agriculturists and commoners alike in the small town of Paladka in Moodbidri. The leadership of one man “close to God” and the earnest work by several villagers have yielded a miracle turning Paladka into the Biblical “Promised Land”.
The Vicar of St Ignatius Loyola Church in Paladka is an ardent believer of social service as he quotes, “Your goodwill alone is my capital” while he invokes the spirit of service among the localites sans the barrier of community or religion.
Paladka also known for its communal harmony and accord has a 300-year-old dam built by a zamindaar which is 30 feet above the three kilometers long canal. But the dam had laid in ruins for over a decade. Owing to this, the borewells had dried up and the wells had very little water in them which led the agriculturists to give up on growing maize for a living and their descendants moved out of town.
Rev Fr Ivan Michael Rodrigues who came to town in 2013 saw a major scope in developing the land to its erstwhile glory. Not only did he rebuild the dam with his like-minded service-oriented crew but together they lived like a family cooking and serving food while they were working.
It all started when Fr Ivan got the Christians of the land to contribute towards the renovation of Loyola Church, adoration chapel and a three-storey English medium school as a part of the centenary jubilee celebrations. It was later found by Fr Ivan that there was an abandoned canal which had depleted ground water levels in town.
So, Fr Ivan summoned 15 locals to help him re-build the canal and on October 3, these 15 people irrespective of their religious affiliations, started working on this noble project. Fr Ivan also had noted that since the past 15 years, the people themselves had been de-silting the canal and dam so as to obtain water.
Taking inspiration from a handful of folks striving to make Paladka a better place, more and more people joined in and a task that was supposed to have taken three months to complete was narrowed down to a mere 20 days. The count of 15 locals on the first day increased to 150 in just a matter of few days, and on the ninth day after the 10-fold increase in labour, the task was complete.
With the willingness of the locals to help out on the renovation project, Fr Ivan managed to collect a lakh and half Rupees within ten days after the beginning of the project to meet the expenses of 15 labourers and food.
On the 12th day, a water level of 5 ft in the dam was achieved and water equivalent to the output of a 20 horsepower water pump flowed into the three kilometer long canal also raising the water level by an average of ten feet in each well.
Thus agriculture in this land was rejuvenated and those who had sown maize have planted their third crop of the year knowing that there is no water shortage anymore. For taking an innovative initiative in reconstructing the dam using wood of areca trees, Fr Ivan is being held in high regards and called “Paladka da Dever” (God of Paladka) by all the religion followers alike.
After this dam, locals of Markaja and Nekkare villages in Paladka have informed Fr Ivan about two dams in these areas that need to be fixed. He has happily given them a nod and work is expected to begin soon.
