from Wilson D’Souza
for Daijiworld Media Network – Kundapur (SM)

Kundapur, Sep 20:  The Canara Organisation for Development and Peace, Mangalore and Watershed Committee organised a workshop on concept of Self Help Group at St Francis of Assisi Church Hall, Tallur, near here recently.

Fr Onil D'souza, director, CODP, presided over the function.   

Delivering the keynote address, Fr Onil D'souza said “Dakshina Kannada, Udupi Districts in Karnataka and Kasargod in Kerala,  have a bitter-sweet relationship with rain. India being an agrarian economy with a large percentage of its citizens engaged in agriculture, the failure of rains can have a crippling effect on the economy of the state. It also leads to other social issues like suicide of farmers. Due to crop failure, the farmers will not be in a position to repay the loans they had taken for agriculture. As a result, few of them take an extreme step of suicide.”
 
Apart from the benefits in agriculture, residents of watershed project areas  have availed other benefits of rainfall using scientific methods. The importance of rainfall is such that Karnataka sometimes had to resort to costly artificial methods like cloud seeding in order to induce rain artificially.

Rainfall is also crucial to recharge the depleting ground water. CODP has come up with innovative methods of rainwater harvesting in order to solve the scarcity of drinking water.
               
Judith Mendonca proposed the vote of thanks.

Fr Benjamine D'souza, parish priest, St Francis Assisi Church, Tallur, Peter Paul, Benedict John Mendonca, Cyprian Mendonca, president, Watershed Committee, Tallur, Joyel Luis, Vasant Shetty, Arun Mendonca, vice-president, Watershed Committee and Judith Mendonca were present on the occasion.