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A man in Bihar's Gaya district has dug a 5km-long canal single-handedly to bring irrigation water to the fields in his village.
It took Mr Loungi Bhuiyan 20 years to finish the task.
His achievement is reminiscent of the toil of "Mountain Man" Dashrath Manjhi, who cut a road through a hill near his village in Bihar after working for over 22 years.
Mr Loungi, a resident of Kolithwa village on the border of Imamganj and Bankebazar blocks, was pained by the migration of youths from his village, which is drought-prone as it does not get sufficient rainwater for irrigation due to its geographical location.
The village is about 80km from Gaya city and surrounded by forests. Since there were no job avenues in the village except agriculture, a large number of youths migrated to bigger cities in search of jobs.
Mr Loungi was unhappy that mostly women and children were left behind in the village.
"In August 2001, he decided to dig a canal from a natural water source in Bagetha Sahwasi forest to the village," said village headman Vishnupat Bhokta. "The villagers took their cattle generally to that source for watering and it also provided sustenance to the animals living in the forest area.
"Loungi knew that the water source was enough to irrigate the agricultural land of the villagers. However, it was a great challenge to bring water to the village."
According to Mr Bhokta, Mr Loungi did a survey of the land and marked out the canal route.
"After working relentlessly for 20 years, he managed to dig the canal that is four feet wide and three feet deep," said the village headman.
"Just like Dashrath Manjhi, he was called mad by the villagers when he went daily to dig the canal with traditional digging equipment.
"Given his Herculean efforts, the district administration also came forward to support Loungi."
The district authorities have now named the canal after Mr Loungi, who also dug a small pond to store water in the summer for irrigation and domestic consumption.
"It took me 20 years to dig this canal which takes the water to a pond in the village," Mr Loungi told ANI.
"For the last 20 years, I would go to the nearby jungle to tend my cattle and dig the canal. No one joined me in this endeavour. Villagers are going to cities to earn a livelihood but I decided to stay back."
Mr Manjhi cut a road through a mountain near his village Gehlaur, located in Muhra Tehsil of Gaya district, with just a hammer and chisel in 1982 after 22 years of hard labour.
Due to his untiring efforts, the distance between Gehlaur and Wazirganj, the nearest town, was reduced from 55km to just 15km.
Mr Loungi's effort has won all-round praise, with Indian multinational vehicle manufacturing corporation Mahindra Group gifting him a tractor last Saturday.
"Mahindra Group chairman Anand Mahindra in a tweet had promised to deliver the tractor to Loungi which was immediately fulfilled," said Mahindra's Bihar head Ashish Srivastava.
"We are fortunate that a warrior like him will use a Mahindra tractor to complete the remaining task."
Mr Mahindra was notified of Mr Loungi's feat by freelance journalist Rohin Kumar, who tweeted: "Loungi Bhuiyan of Gaya spent 20 years of his life digging a canal. He still doesn't want anything, except a tractor. He told me that if he receives a tractor, it will be of great help. @anandmahindra I reckon Mahindra would feel proud to honour this man."
The Mahindra Group chairman immediately replied: "It would be my honour to provide him with a tractor. As you know, I had tweeted that I think his canal is as impressive a monument as the Taj or the Pyramids. We at @MahindraRise would consider it an honour to have him use our tractor."
A visibly happy Mr Loungi said the widening of the canal can now be done easily and quickly with the help of the tractor.
"He has been carving out the canal for the last 20 years. This will benefit a large number of animals and irrigate the fields as well," said Mr Patti Manjhi, a resident of Kolithwa village.
"He is not doing it for his own benefit but for the entire area."
Mr Ram Vilas Singh, a teacher from the same village, praised Mr Loungi for his hard work: "A lot of people will benefit. People are now getting to know him because of his work."
Indo-Asian News Service
"It took me 20 years to dig this canal which takes the water to a pond in the village. For the last 20 years, I would go to the nearby jungle to tend my cattle and dig the canal. No one joined me in this endeavour. Villagers are going to cities to earn a livelihood but I decided to stay back." - Mr Loungi Bhuiyan
