Dilip Mohanty

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It’s a guided migration. Of bovines tended by humans. Every year, the
milkmen of Odisha’s Jagatsinghpur district steer large numbers of domesticated
water buffaloes across the River Devi. This happens during the hot summer
months when seeking fresh grazing pastures on the other side. And then they
swim back. It isn’t quite the migration of Serengetti National Park. But an
extraordinary sight nevertheless.
 
 I witnessed this exodus one day near the Naharana
 
 gram
 
 panchayat.
The village is located on the banks of the Devi. The river flows through the
Jagatsinghpur and Puri districts of coastal Odisha, and is a principal
distributary of the Mahanadi.

Many fishing communities live in the villages surrounding the Naharana gram panchayat. The Devi Nadi (river) is their main source of livelihood.
This coastal area is also home to a large community of milkmen. Many other
households own cattle, and that gives the families an additional income.
 The Odisha State Cooperative Milk Producers Federation
is well-established here. The milkmen and others who own cows and buffaloes don’t
have to worry about finding a market for their produce – the federation procures
it from them.

The estuary is barely 10 kilometres from Naharana, and
because the mouth of the river is wide, numerous deltas have formed in the
villages. Locals who have, over time, lost their farmlands to the river, use the
deltas for sparse agricultural activities and temporary habitation. These
deltas are also the greenest grazing pastures in the area.
 In Patarapada village in the adjoining Bramundali
 
 gram
 
 panchayat,
a milkman’s family sells the milk of the 150 water buffaloes they own. For such
families, traditionally not landowners, it is not easy to maintain a cattle-shed
and find grasslands for so many buffaloes. The banks and deltas of Devi Nadi come
to their rescue. The buffalo-owners pay a hefty Rs. 2 lakh every year to the
owners of the delta grasslands for allowing their buffaloes to graze. During the night, the buffaloes rest on the
river banks under the casuarina trees. During the day, they swim over to the delta
to graze. This continues until the deltas form freshwater bodies in the monsoon,
which the buffaloes can use to quench their thirst.
 
 The accompanying images depict the one-way journey of
the buffaloes in their daily pursuit of greener pasturelands.

Dillip Mohanty works for a
sports broadcast network but harbours varied interests,
ranging from rural India to photography.

Swimming to migrate in Odisha

ओड़िशा: चरागाहों की तलाश में नदी पार करने वाली भैसें

ஒடிசா: மேய்ச்சல் நிலம் தேடும் நீச்சல் பயணம்

ओडिशात स्थलांतर तेही पोहत

ଓଡ଼ିଶାରେ ସ୍ଥାନାନ୍ତର ପାଇଁ ସନ୍ତରଣ

چراگاہوں کی تلاش میں بھینسوں کا ندی پار کرنا

Naharana

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Swimming to migrate in Odisha

In Odisha’s Jagatsinghpur district, buffaloes swim across the local river every day during the summer, seeking fresh pastures

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