HAL, Art of Living tie up to revive river

Kumudavathi river had catered to 30 per cent of Bengaluru's water needs in the past

Defence public sector undertaking Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) has joined hands with the International Association for Human Values (IAHV), a sister organisation of the Art of Living, to rejuvenate the Kumudavathi river, a tributary of river Arkavathi that originates from Shivagange Hills in Nelamangala Taluk of Bengaluru rural district.

A couple of years ago, Art of Living had said that it planned to rejuvenate the river.

"We decided to adopt this Tavarakere mini-water shed and provide the much needed life-line to the river that catered to 30 per cent of Bengaluru's water needs in the past," said V M Chamola, director, human resources, HAL, during a programme held at the weekend at Adihosahalli village, some 70 km from the city.

The revival of dried up natural water resources is the key objective of this initiative to help the villagers and spruce-up the natural habitat in the region.

There are 18 mini-water sheds planned over the whole river basin, which been declared as 'over-exploited' and no 'borewell zone'. Chamola symbolically handed over structures of mini-water sheds to leaders representing the gram panchayats of Dodbella, Tyamgondlu, Kodigihalli and Manne to mark the occasion.

HAL project, covering around 26 km radius, has ensured the construction of boulder checks, recharging of wells and borewells (seven), building of water pools (10) of 20 x 20 metres with five metre depth and planting of 5,000 saplings of trees help in long-term soil restoration and enhance water absorbing.

The river basin is spread over 460 sq km and has 278 villages in the catchment area. The Kumudavathi river was providing water to Tippa Gondana Halli reservoir, which in turn was supplying water to 30 per cent of Bengaluru city. Currently, reservoir is almost dry with scanty inflow from the river.

Natural streams can be revived by reducing the soil erosion, increasing soil moisture, artificially accelerating the process of ground water recharge and by increasing the natural vegetation.