Karaili (Munger), July 3: The Maoist raid yesterday in which six persons were killed has a link with the watershed project, which brought prosperity to several villages of Bangalwa panchayat, including Karaili, believe social workers working in the area.

“This area had a feudal set-up where the Yadavs dominated the tribals. Many Yadavs have now joined the CPI (Maoist) and they targeted Karaili village to send a message to the tribals, who have become economically sound after the successful implementation of the Karaili watershed project,” said Kishore Jaiswal, a social worker.

Karaili watershed project, a Rs 48-lakh Nabard-sponsored scheme, was launched here on July 12, 2006. Under the project, two water reservoirs were built in the area. Villagers fetched water from the hilltop of Karaili, a part of Kharagpur range, to the hamlet through an 800-foot-long pipeline.

The interesting feature of the project was the effortless approach of the villagers, who dug the pipeline without charging any remuneration for the labour.

Though the watershed project has not been completed yet, its partial completion has proved beneficial to the tribals, who are now able to cultivate on 25 acres, which was once barren.

It has also helped them to shift from mono-cropping to multiple-cropping on the land.

Jaiswal said the prosperity of the villagers did not go down well with their tormentors, who hatched the plan to take revenge by branding the villagers as informers of police.

Jaiswal has been instrumental in implementation of five other watershed projects, including Basmatiya, Koula, Sakhol, Barmanni, Amarasani in Bangalwa panchayat.

Another social worker, Jaya Devi, echoed Jaiswal and claimed that Maoists had opposed the watershed project from the beginning and villagers had to struggle to implement the project.