Residents of Borpada village in Madhya Pradesh’s Jhabua district revived the Bhil tribal practice of Halma on May 6, 2026, to clean and restore a contaminated public well at the centre of the community.
The well’s protective parapet had never been completed, and monsoon runoff had filled it with silt, stones and debris over roughly three years. Villagers said repeated appeals to the panchayat did not resolve the problem.
At a meeting of the Gram Swaraj Samuh, supported by the organisation Vaagdhara, members decided to hold Halma rather than wait longer for government action. Halma is collective unpaid labour among Bhil communities, carried out without wages or formal contracts.
On the morning of the work, traditional instruments sounded and halma songs were sung as residents removed mud and stones. Some climbed into the well while others passed baskets from above. Community leaders described the effort as restoring both a water source and a tradition of mutual obligation.
Halma is practised across Bhil communities in Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra, often for water structures and forest protection. Organisers said Borpada’s effort showed how local collective action can proceed when formal repair timelines stall.
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Sources:
https://vajiramandravi.com/