Tamil Nadu - Coimbatore

A year in reviving water resources

By Our Staff Reporter

COIMBATORE, JUNE 13. A public celebration with sprightly dances and a food festival featuring sweets and dosas marked the completion of one year of Project Siruthuli, at the VOC Park Grounds, here today.

Over the last year, the Siruthuli Trust, established through private initiative, has carried out the removal of silt and debris from the major tanks in the city and deepened the natural water storage facilities in order to conserve rainwater and restore the water wealth for which the city was once renowned.

At a function that was devoid of formal speeches, but full of opportunities for people to learn about the objectives and achievements of Siruthuli, the volunteers of the movement assisted members of the public who came with flowers and small bouquets to be placed inside the outline of a giant drop of water.

People continued to place flowers inside the pattern throughout the evening, until the sweet smell of the flowers filled the evening air. Occasional drizzles and cloudy skies lent a natural backdrop to the celebrations.

At the start of the programme, costumed children representing people from six different religions, poured small amounts of water into a silver vessel that was presented to a little girl dressed in red, depicting the Siruthuli movement.

The District Collector, S. Kosalaraman, lit the lamp to inaugurate the proceedings in the presence of the Mayor, T. Malaravan, and the Project Officer of the District Rural Development Agency, P. Jeyabalakrishnan.

To symbolise the first birthday celebrations of the conservation movement, the girl depicting Siruthuli cut a large cake. The managing trustee of Siruthuli Trust, Vanitha Mohan, assisted her.

One of the highlights of the evening was a short documentary film created to trace the progress of the movement during the year. Siruthuli was personified as a small child who had been gifted by God to the people of Coimbatore, to reward them for their spirit of enterprise in building up the region.

The film said that it was the duty of the people to cooperate in looking after the child, who would bring benefits in the form of green cover and copious supply of drinking water.

The film showed several activities that had been undertaken, including the deepening of some of the major tanks such as the Krishnampathi Tank, Narasampathi Tank, Muthannan Kulam, Selvachintamani Kulam and Valankulam.

Work was in progress to clean up and deepen with the help of bulldozers, vast stretches of the Kurichi Tank and the Ukkadam Periyakulam. Restoring the waterways and storage facilities would improve water availability to the people, who already enjoyed access to Siruvani water, famed for its taste.

For those who turned up for the celebrations, there was an added attraction in the form of a dosa festival featuring several dozen exotic dosa varieties with spicy chutneys. Stalls also sold a wide range of sweets including Bengali sweets, milk sweets and ghee sweets.

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