BHILALA TRIBALS often assemble next to what used to be their village, Atursumba of Khargaon district in southeast Madhya Pradesh. Dwarfing them is a 100-feet-wide canal laid high above the ground. Water has seeped from the earthen embankments and submerged the village. “Now, we don’t sing harvest songs; the fun is missing from marriage parties. We are overwhelmed by the destruction of our fertile land,” rues Kailash Pawar, 40, of the tribal village.
