17/08/2026
| Daringbadi is often called the Kashmir of Odisha. At around 915 metres in the Eastern Ghats of Kandhamal, its forested hills, coffee plantations and cold winters have made it one of Odisha’s best-known hill destinations. This month, we look beyond the postcard.
Daringbadi is home largely to Kondh Adivasi communities, including the Kutia Kondh, who have cultivated these hills for generations. The slopes grow the organic turmeric that carries Kandhamal's name and its geographical indication.
The same terrain that makes Daringbadi beautiful also makes its water hard to hold. Rain falls on steep slopes and runs off before it can soak in. Where forests and soils allow water to infiltrate, it recharges the groundwater that feeds the springs, or chuan, on which many villages depend. As tree cover on the upper slopes thins, springs that once ran all year begin to fail by summer.
Farming faces the same constraint. Because the fields sit on slopes, water cannot easily be lifted to them. Almost all farming here depends on the rain and the springs rather than assured irrigation. A single dry spell can put a whole season at risk.
This uncertainty is one part of a wider livelihood challenge. Two in five households in Daringbadi have a history of labour migration, much of it to Kerala and other southern states.
Migrant workers bring an estimated ₹35 crore back to the block each year.
Gram Vikas has worked in Kandhamal since 2003. Today, through the Water Secure Gram Panchayat programme, communities across 53 villages in 14 Gram Panchayats in Daringbadi are restoring catchments, tracking springs and groundwater, and planning how land and water can be managed together.
Over the coming month, follows that work village by village, and asks what it takes to make water, farming and livelihoods more secure in these hills.
