NGO engaged in removing silt from tanks and ponds with community participation
The Shri Kshethra Dharmasthala Rural Development Project (SKDRDP) NGO is leading drought proofing efforts in some villages in the district with community participation.
Among the efforts are plantation and desilting of tanks. This summer, it has focused on removing silt from tanks and ponds with community participation in seven villages in the district.
Around Rs 3.5 crore is being spent on dredging and cleaning seven lakes in the district. The works will be completed before rains, Suresh Moily, district in-charge, said in Savadatti after inspecting work on Maremmana Kere in the town. Apart from funding, the NGO is also mobilising people in the village, convincing them about the need to desilt tanks and to ensure their participation. The zilla panchyat is contributing to the work by building bunds to these tanks.
The NGO is also training rural youth to prepare seed bombs to aid afforestation of some areas in Belagavi district. It is holding one-day training camps for young men and women, farmers and children in villages to prepare seed bombs. Volunteers distributed seed bombs to hundreds of farmers in Nagaral village in Chikkodi taluk on Tuesday. These will be thrown in forest clearings, vacant lands, roadside patches and other areas, to enable trees to grow. The seeds include local varieties of fruits, flowers and tall trees, the volunteers said.
SKDRDP is working in rural areas of Belagavi district for nearly a decade now. It is forming self-help groups of women, financing them and enabling them to turn entrepreneurs. It is also rejuvenating water bodies, and organising tree plantation movements, Jayshankar Sharma, regional coordinator, said.
