EVERY year A.P. Sadashiva Marike, a middle-class areca nut farmer near Puttur in Karnataka, would construct a katta across a stream that flowed past his gardens. The katta was dutifully made, at considerable expense, without fail every December since his late father’s days.
The katta is a temporary check dam built with local materials like compacted soil, areca nut wood and branches of trees. To build one requires substantial skill. The katta checks the flow of water in the stream and stocks a huge amount by artificially raising. . .
