Wednesday August 26, 09 : More than half of the country is dealing with a crippling drought and farmers are fast losing hope of any relief. Jharkhand was one of the first states to declare a drought across all its districts.

But from a state so stricken by calamity, also comes a story of hope in these times. It's the story of a humble villager whose initiative is helping a set of farmers to overcome the crisis.

Farmers across Jharkahand are grappling with a severe drought with a 43 per cent shortfall in monsoon, but a small cluster of villages near Ranchi is not affected, thanks to 75-year-old Simran Oroan. Fifteen years ago he built this 3-kilometre canal almost single-handedly with no help from the government or other villagers.

"I realised that the villagers were facing a lot of trouble. So I searched for a place to build a canal," says Simran.

Baleshwar, another farmer, explains how the canal has helped them. "Earlier we used to be dependent on the rain gods. But now with the canal, seven villages have benefitted," he says.

Simon 's effort is an example of how a little micro-management can vastly improve the lives of farmers during calamities like the drought. The question is - will the government take a leaf out of Simran's enterprise?