Karnataka govt to rejuvenate 1,000 Kalyanis

BENGALURU: As many as a thousand Kalyanis -- step tanks -- across the State that are in bad shape will be taken up for revival this financial year by the Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Department under the Jal Shakti Abhiyan and MNREGA.

This is the highest number of Kalyanis taken up for rejuvenation in a financial year. The initiative, a part of the national Jal Shakti Abhiyan that aims at finding solutions to drinking water problems, was launched in Hubballi. It focuses on rejuvenating local tanks, reviving Kalyanis, constructing rainwater harvesting structures, digging soak pits and more. 

From April till November, the department is planning to revive 4,500 lakes and tanks, 1,000 Kalyanis, 40,000 krishi hondas, 90,000 bunds, one lakh soak pits, 8,000 check dams and 4,000 rainwater water harvesting structures.Though other projects have been taken up earlier, this is the first time that a thousand Kalyanis have been brought under the rejuvenation project. The majority of these Kalyanis are located near temples, and constructed many years ago. Over time, they have been rendered useless with water sources drying up and weeds covering these step tanks. 

In Hubballi, RDPR Minister KS Eshwarappa said that the government will rejuvenate over three lakh water bodies in the next 100 days, spending Rs 4,310 crore. Launching the Jal Shakti Abhiyan, he said, “The programme will continue in the state till November 30.”Union Minister Pralhad Joshi said that the Central Government is spending Rs 3.6 lakh crore under the programme. The Centre has a plant to providing tap water to 18.5 crore houses by 2024.

RDPR Principal Secretary LK Ateeq told The New Indian Express that they have chosen Kalyanis in villages and near temples. “In the last financial year we revived 161 Kalyanis and this year, we are targeting a thousand,’’ he said. 

Environmentalist AN Yellappa Reddy said many tanks and Kalyanis in Karnataka date back to 15th century. No cement or steel has been used in these structures, and they were built using the geomembrane technology with clay and silt. Still, they can hold water for many years. But over the years, these water bodies have been encroached.

“If they are reviving Kalyanis, they should not limit their work to removal of silt. They should rejuvenate the natural stream area. Government should consider declaring these places as protected areas,”’ he added.