Arecanut growers Melwyn and Harish in Moodayuru village are now happy campers. They need not pump water to their plantations from wells this summer, thanks to a bund built across Artila Halla (a rivulet) that has soaked the abutting plantations.
In all, six bunds have now been built across the Artila Halla between Moodayuru and Sonandur in a range of 8 km to store water for the summer. They are feeding water to the nearby arecanut plantations and have recharged dead open wells and borewells.
When the Sacred Heart Church in Madantyar entered its 125th year in May 2017 Father Basil Vaz who is also the Correspondent of Sacred Heart Education Institutes thought of taking up water conservation projects in a big way. The Sacred Heart Watershed Committee was thus formed with Vivek Vincent Pais as co-ordinator and Joseph N.M., former programme officer with the National Service Scheme (NSS), Sacred Heart College, and now an economics teacher.
“The five bunds are feeding water to about 120 acres of farmland [belonging to] 300 families,” Mr. Pais said, adding that the cost of construction was just ₹40,000, which included the cost of food given to the NSS students instrumental in the construction.
The church has reserved a five-acre land known as “Kakke Kadu” (a green patch where crows gather in large numbers in the evenings) on its premises to dig rainwater percolation pits. Over 300 pits have now been dug and some more will be coming up to harvest this season’s rains, said Mr. Joseph.
Work is under way to harvest 1.28 crore litres of rainwater from the roofs of three buildings — a new community hall, an indoor stadium, and an English-medium high school. “Excess water after use by the campus will be allowed to percolate,” said Mr. Joseph showing a 125-year-old live open well near the church.
The institution has been harvesting around 30 lakh litres of rainwater from the roof of its college building for three years. As water is fed to percolation pits, it has helped in recharging many wells in Madantyar town, he said.
Father Vaz said 900 families under the church are being enlightened on Sundays on water conservation and encouraged to implement conservation projects at their homes and properties.
