Aaniver, a two-month-old movement of group of youth from Kanuvai and Somayampalayam, has joined hands with the District Rural Development Authority (DRDA) and Aalayam Trust for the revival of a canal which originates from Marudhamalai hills.
Locally known as Somayampalayam pallam, the canal will be desilted in a phased manner to increase its capacity in carrying rainwater and thus recharge the groundwater.
The move is expected to give fresh leash of life to the canal which has been remaining dry for the last eight years due to red earth mining and encroachment.
Aaniver was started by like-minded youth from Kanuvai and Somayampalayam, seeing the pathetic state of the canal.
The youngsters conducted cleaning works in the canal for the last two months and educated local people on the need to restore the canal. “In olden days, rainwater collected from the hills used to get drained into the canal. The water used to recharge the groundwater level in the region before ending in Selvachinthamani tank,” said R. Santhakumar, a coordinator of Aaniver.
After cleaning the four-km stretch of the canal, the youngsters approached the DRDA to support the initiative.
DRDA gave nod to support the initiative under Jal Shakti Abhiyan while Aalayam Trust offered to bear the cost of machinery required for the desilting works, said P. Premkumar, another coordinator.
J. Rooban Sankar Raj, Project officer of DRDA, Chandrasekar from Aalayam Trust and M. Saravanakumar, Dean of Anna University Regional Campus in Coimbatore, took part in the inauguration of desilting works.
Students of the Anna University Regional Campus took out a march to create awareness on Jal Shakti Abhiyan.