Suryakant Koli

Agroecologist with 1.5 acres in Koutha B, near the Manjra. He set out to dig a dabri on a slope where, by local word, a spring might lie (ilijaaru), and spent seven months breaking basalt by hand along its cracks until water came in at 14 feet and the dabri became a well. The farm now holds more than 1,500 trees, hebbevu, mango, guava, cashew, tamarind and amla among them, planted close in his own way. His story appears in the book Belakina Tene. Suryakant is a M.Tech graduate and was a lecturer in a college in Hyderabad until 2020.