Chhattisgarh village to get a new life

A village in Chhattisgarh housing the indigenous tribals once living without cloths will get a new lease of life with a project soon going to take off to transform it into a model settlement.

On the initiative of the Kabeerdham district administration, Vedanta-controlled Bharat Aluminium Company (Balco) Limited is going to take up a project to change the shape of Daldalli village that houses indigenous tribes of Baiga community. Just five years ago, the tribals staying in the village were living bare body.

“Now, we are going to completely change the shape of Daldalli and the project will get off soon,” Balco’s chief of corporate communication B K Sriwastwa told Business Standard. The group will spend Rs 2.5 crore initially to upgrade the basic amenities in the village.

Balco, which has a major aluminium facility in Korba district of Chhattisgarh, has mining interests in the pocket. The company operates a bauxite mines near Daldalli with the production capacity of 1 million tonnes per annum.

“Of all the works, the biggest will be the eradication of malnutrition in the village,” Sriwastwa said, adding that the village houses about 5000 children and 2400 children among them are malnourished. The Balco has made a committed to free the village from the problem, he added.

The district administration will monitor the project taken up by the company. District Collector Mukesh Bansal has asked the child and women welfare department to immediately appoint a supervisor in Daldalli for effective implementation of malnutrition eradication programme.

A district administration spokesperson said that the district collector along with top officials of Balco and departments concerned visited the village and noted where it lacks facilities. The administration has asked the company to complete the project within six months.

Under the project, Balco will provide all basic amenities in the village that include drinking water, education, health facilities etc. The company plans to set up a rural business hub in the village so that members of the Baiga community can purchase commodities and daily need items at one place.