Amai Mahalinga Naik

Amai Mahalinga Naik is a farmer from Dakshina Kannada who, working alone, dug tunnels into a hill to bring water to a barren plot and turned it into a green farm. He is known locally as the “Tunnel Man” and the “One-Man Army”. He was named for the Padma Shri in 2022, from Karnataka ^[1].

Digging for water

Naik was born on 20 April 1944 and worked as a farm labourer around Adyanadka ^[2]. His landlord gave him two acres of land, and he began digging horizontal tunnels into the hillside in search of water ^[2]. Failure did not stop him: he struck water on his sixth attempt, and in all he dug seven tunnels single-handed ^[2].

He also built 300 percolation trenches on his own to recharge the groundwater, two retaining walls and a 12,000-litre tank ^[2]. His land now grows areca, coconut, cashew, banana, cocoa and pepper, and supports him ^[2].

A farm that draws visitors

His story was brought to wider attention by Dr Varanashi Krishnamoorthy and the farm magazine editor Shree Padre, who wrote a booklet about him ^[2]. He has been featured on Doordarshan and History TV18, and a Mysore University documentary about him won a special mention at the National Science Film Festival in 2020 ^[2]. The Prime Minister praised him in the 85th episode of Mann Ki Baat ^[2]. More than 1,000 people a year, including visitors from abroad, come to learn about his water conservation ^[2].

He received the Varanashi Farmer of the Year award in 2004 and the Krishi Pandita award of the Karnataka agriculture department ^[2].