Previous Year Question

The Mitti Bachao Movement was started in the Hoshangabad district of Madhya Pradesh.

In 1977, the ‘Mitti Bachao Andolan’ was launched by farmers in the Hoshangabad region. The movement was principally directed against the problems of waterlogging and soil salinity caused by the Tawa Dam and its irrigation system.

The Tawa project was intended to increase agricultural production by expanding irrigation facilities, but canal irrigation led to excessive accumulation of water in some areas. Persistent waterlogging raised the groundwater level and affected the productivity of fertile agricultural land.

Along with waterlogging, the problems of salinity and alkalinity also increased. Accumulation of salts in the soil made cultivation difficult in parts of land that had earlier been fertile. This environmental and agricultural crisis mobilised the local farmers.

The objective of the movement was not limited to soil conservation. Farmers also demanded a review of the effects of the Tawa irrigation project, solutions for the affected agricultural land and appropriate action regarding the losses suffered by farmers.

The movement is counted among the early local movements in India against environmental problems such as waterlogging, salinisation and land degradation resulting from large dams and irrigation projects.

The present official name of Hoshangabad is Narmadapuram, but the question uses the historical place-name Hoshangabad in relation to the movement.