Newsletter No. 60;
thwarting floods at different places.
IRBMS
project to rejuvenate the river by reaching out to
49 villages of 10 Gram Panchayats with an area of
The state of the river before its restoration was 377 Sq. Km of Lakya Hobli of Chikkamagluru
very poor. The navigability of the river has been district, where the river originates, with a plan to
restored. The process started with removing the scientifically
waterweeds that had been restricting all kinds of conducted
movement in the river and of the river. Once this catchment area of the river, where it originated
was done, the workers started removing the plastic with the support of team of geological scientists.
waste. Finally, the bottom of the river, with thick Using satellite imagery a water body map of the
solid waste had been cleaned. region was drawn by the technical team engaged
address
a
the
issue.
comprehensive
The
survey
team
of
the
by Art of Living. Subsequently the location for the
On March 20 this year, the water had finally 810 water-harvesting structures like Percolation
become clear with a proper current flow in action. Wells, Injection Wells, Boulder Checks and Water
Surprisingly, even the water levels have started Ponds were identified.
rising in the region after the project completion.
The wells have more water in them than previously
observed.
A plan costing Rs. 6.17 crore were prepared in 2014
and based on the shared understanding of larger
benefit
of
the
project,
it
was
decided
to
immediately sanction and to launch the works
under MGNREGA.
The entire project works executed by local villagers
and
over
a
1000
workers
were
provided
employment under MGNREGA. Of the 810 works
Source: Wikimedia planned Boulder Checks 205 Nos., Recharge Wells
People have started using the river water for 317 Nos., Injection Wells 5 Nos. and Water Ponds
bathing and washing purposes. 16 Nos. totally 545 works (67%) have been
physically completed and another 95 works are in
iv) In 2013-14 Art of Living (AOL) team under the
progress.
banner of VyakthiVikas Kendra initiated a unique
9
Integrated River Basin Management Society