Thanjavur-based environmentalist Nimal Raghavan, whose work in restoration of waterbodies across Tamil Nadu has won him many plaudits, felt that it was time he focused his efforts closer home, on the arid district of Ramanathapuram.
Staying just two hours away in Peravurani in Thanjavur district, the activist, who runs the NGO Mega Foundations, said that he had always been pained to see men, women and children pushing handcarts with water pots over long stretches of the highway when travelling to Ramanathapuram.
“So many people are suffering due to a lack of water, and seem to be spending all their time queuing up for it here. Chronic water shortage has an adverse effect on school attendance, agriculture and community health,” Mr. Raghavan told The Hindu over phone from Kenya, where he is participating in a programme to clean up waterbodies.
In Ramanathapuram, the Mega Foundations team has identified six dormant waterbodies in Mangalanathan Kanmai, Kottakudi, Kenikarai, Pandukudi, Paambu and Ervaadi that will be revived in a sustainable manner with local participation.
However, the team has hit a roadblock with funding the project, which involves desilting the lakes, connecting inlets and outlets, strengthening lake walls, preventing the seepage of saltwater and planting native saplings along the boundaries.
As a result, Mr. Raghavan put out an appeal in mid-March on crowd-funding site Milaap.org. “We have got over 40 donors who have responded, but we will still need substantial financial aid to successfully complete the cleanup in Ramanathapuram district,” he said.
According to budget estimates provided on the Milaap page, cleaning the six lakes will cost anywhere between ₹5 lakh to ₹15 lakh. The Kenikkarai lake, for example, is spread across seven acres, and will need ₹15 lakh to be desilted and refilled with 12 crore litres of water. “We are piping in water here from another source, so this will take up more funding. But it could benefit 4,000 farmers once it is done,” said Mr. Raghavan.
As of now, Nanban Foundation, Mothers for Mother Nature, USA, has sponsored an excavator for the effort. But a project of this size will need at least one more excavator and funds for overheads such as labour, fuel and material costs.
Mr. Raghavan gave up his job as a software engineer in Dubai to help his village recover from the devastation caused by Gaja cyclone in 2018. He is confident of succeeding in his latest mission. “We hope to make the public understand that Ramanathapuram will change for the better once the waterbodies are cleaned up. It is difficult, but not impossible,” he said.
