Over the years, NGO Siruthuli has worked hard to fulfill it's vision by continually contributing to the restoration of a number of lakes and check dams in this region. Recently, Siruthuli had announced about a much needed initiative which aims at documenting and restoring the smaller ponds (which are called 'Kulam' and 'Kuttai' in Tamil) around the Noyyal basin.
To enforce this monumental task, a Water Body Restoration Committee (WBRC) was formed by Siruthuli. The Chairman of Siruthuli Dr.S.V.Balasubramaniam, along with other trustees and Apex Body members will work hand-in-hand with the Water Body Restoration Committee.
Commenting on this laudable inititaive, Vanitha Mohan, Founder and Managing Trustee of Siruthuli stated that, 'As far as my knowledge goes, this is the first time in the history of water body restoration in our country that we are integrating every single aspect of the work, with the aid of technology. This user friendly App along with the work and experience of Siruthuli can really be used anywhere at any time"
With Mayilswamy as the Project coordinator, Chandrashekhar incharge of visual documentation, Technocrat entrepreneur, R.Prabu Sekar had been vested with the task of Application development with his Hoffensoft team.
R.S.Krishnaswamy who takes care of the coordination in an exclusive interview with SimpliCity shared the insights of the project.
'We have decided to first document and restore the kuttais (small ponds) around Perur Taluk. The team has so far identified 46 kuttais and gone ahead and documented them over the last several months with the active support from the Government officials and the farmers of this region. We began with the FMB (Field Map Boundary) sketch, for it will give us the area of the water body as per the records.
Subsequently, we also conduct digital survey in order to ascertain the actual area. Meanwhile the 'A' Register is referred to in order to check out the subdivisions and also identify the extent of private property, if any. Then a visual documentation is done with the aid of photographic and video cameras".
“It’s here that we use drones to capture the state of water bodies and its neighborhood. Of course, these are combined with numerous field visits and discussions. Thereafter we take up the task of restoration", he said.
'The Physical condition of the kuttais which includes the condition of the weir, bund, silt level and other issues like sewage discharge are taken into account and a cost estimate is arrived before identifying a sponsor" Krishnasamy added.
"The area of the kuttais is anywhere in between 1 to 16 acres and depth about 1.5 metres. In reality, some of the kuttais happen to be the watering holes for several species of birds and animals. Most encroachments on these water bodies are done for constructing public utilities like water tanks, toilets, schools, waste segregation yards, Government offices, housing for the down trodden".
"The action involves clearing the foliage, strengthening the bund, repairing the weirs, desilting and restoring the connecting channels. Presently, the cost effective Dewitt’s system for the treatment of sewage is being implemented on a trial basis" Krishnasamy said.
Meanwhile the team at Hoffensoft under Prabu Sekar who have created an App for this purpose which is said to be the first of its kind in the country said, 'The App opens with a map which displays the area under work. For example, if we click on the spot which indicates a water body, say Kulandhai Koundan kuttai. After it opens up, a comprehensive report from the FMB sketch, the digital survey, the details as per the 'A' Register, photos and videos (Gallery), observations and analysis by team, cost estimate, name of the sponsor, details of work in progress, impact, date of commencement and completion of work will get displayed'.
"This is first phase of the App and therefore it’s based on the Excel sheet and we hope to make it Cloud-based shortly and this will really make it revolutionary," stated Prabhu Sekar.