Coimbatore : The tireless work of local youths of the Somayampalayam and Navavoor Pirivu villages to revive a long dead water channel had helped them earn the recognition of District Administration officials who have lent a helping hand through the Jal Shakthi Abhiyan scheme of the Central Government.
Coimbatore : The tireless work of local youths of the Somayampalayam and Navavoor Pirivu villages to revive a long dead water channel had helped them earn the recognition of District Administration officials who have lent a helping hand through the Jal Shakthi Abhiyan scheme of the Central Government.
Through the scheme, officials have started to desilt a small pond at Somayampalayam Panchayat and have further promised to set up more check dams and recharge wells on the stream, which is one of the tributaries of River Noyyal. A miyawaki patch is also planned on the bund of the stream.
The inauguration of the desilting happened at the pond, much to the delight of the youth who had participated in the event. Earlier on the day, members of Aaniver, the team that worked for the betterment of the channel, students of Anna University Campus, Navavoor Pirivu and villagers of Somayampalayam and Navavoor Pirivu participated in an awareness rally.
The desilting work was an outcome of collective efforts from Aaniver members who gathered around by the end of April to start cleaning the plastic wastes and bushes from the water body.
“Around 10 to 15 youth would gather on all Sundays to clean the pond and water channel that originates from the Western Ghats near Marthamalai and reaches here through another checkdam inside the reserve,” said P. Prem Kumar, member of Aaniver.
During the cleaning process, they had found out that the stream was not receiving ample water over the last eight years. “The pond was prone to damages and was heavily encroached by bushes. So we decided to take the matter to the concerned officials as we could not pool in resources to strengthen the bund,” added Prem Kumar.
The members approached officials of the District Rural Development Agency, who made a visit to the area. A team headed by Project Director Ruban Shankar Raja inspected the spot and said they could start by initially desilting the check dam.
“We approached the Aalayam Trust, who gave us financial support. Now we are able to desilt the pond using earth movers. Initially, it was just our bare hands,” said R. Santhakumar, another Aaniver Member.
According to sources, water from the stream travels upto 18 kms recharging the ground water for eight farming villages on its way to the Selvasinthamani Lake inside the city. It later connects with the mainstream Noyyal near Aathupalam.