Kalmane Kamegowda

Kalmane Kamegowda spent his days taking sheep and goats up a hill near his village in Mandya district, Karnataka. He noticed there was no water there for the animals to drink. Over the years he dug ponds to solve the problem himself, so that rainwater would collect on the hill.

The shepherd and the hill

Kamegowda lived in Dasanadoddi village, in the Malavalli taluk of Mandya district ^[2]. He grazed his flock on a hill close to home. When he found there was nothing for his sheep to drink, he began to dig small ponds to catch the rain ^[2].

He kept at it for years, digging on his own farmland as well as on the hill ^[2]. By 2020, by the Prime Minister’s count, he had dug 16 ponds through his own hard labour ^[1][2]. The ponds fill during the rains and, according to the Deccan Herald, stay full even in the hottest part of summer ^[2].

With rainwater held on the hill, his sheep and goats had water even in the dry months, which was the very problem that first set him digging ^[2].

Praised on Mann Ki Baat

On 28 June 2020, in episode 66 of Mann Ki Baat (the 13th episode of its second series), the Prime Minister spoke about water conservation as the monsoon arrived. He described Kamegowda as an ordinary farmer with an extraordinary personality, and an elder in his eighties who still took his animals out to graze while building new ponds ^[1]. He said the ponds might not be big, but the effort behind them was huge, and that they had given the whole area a new lease of life ^[1].

The mention brought him attention from across India, and many people came to know him as the “Pond Man” ^[3].

Remembered

Kamegowda received several honours for his work, including the Basavashree award for water conservation ^[3]. He passed away on 17 October 2022. When his death was reported, the minister in charge of Mandya district offered condolences, and the report described him again as the man who had built 16 check dams ^[3]. He was survived by his wife, two sons and grandchildren ^[3].

(Reports name his village slightly differently: a 2020 report says Dasanadoddi ^[2], while a 2022 report says Basavanadoddi ^[3]. Both place it in Malavalli taluk of Mandya district.)

His story is a simple lesson in what one determined person can do for the land, the animals and the neighbours around him.