Mys Kalyani gets new life after 15 yrs

Mysuru: A Kalyani (man-made tank) near Mysuru’s Chamundi Hill that fell into disuse more than 15 years has been revived by youth activists, who removed concrete, silt and trash settled over the waterbody in a day-long campaign on Sunday.
The Kalyani is part of one of Mysuru’s oldest burial grounds on Nanjangud Road. Those who come for the last rites of a departed person take a bath in Kalyani before and after performing the obsequies. The city’s civic agencies had allegedly not kept the tank in good shape for nearly 15 years, according to villagers.
From 6am Sunday, about 40 volunteers of Yuva Brigade, an organization of youths, restored the Kalyani removing vines, garbage, plastic and slabs of concrete that had left the 22-foot-deep lake virtually dead. The 16-step lake sits over a 60x60ft plot. Once the cleaning work was done by dusk, water could be seen oozing into the tank.
A volunteer said they found a tortoise on the tank’s dry bed during the cleaning operation. “A well-conserved tank will benefit all, including animals and birds from nearby forests. This is the third Kalyani we salvaged in the Chamundi Hill area,” said volunteers Rudresh HS, Sunand and Purushottam BK. The drive was led by Shyam Bharadwaj, an MSc student from Mysuru’s Yuvaraja’s College.
Historian PV Nanjaraj Urs said Kalyanis – like the one revived near Chamundi Hill – are unique to Mysuru and surrounding areas. Similar Kalyanis could be seen in Madhuvana Mysore Royal Cemetery and Suttur Mutt.
Yuva Brigade’s district convener S Chandrashekar said it was sad to see the Kalyani covered with waste with no water in sight. “This concrete layer was stopping the groundwater from entering the Kalyani. Use of concrete in building or repairing waterbodies must be discouraged. This should be a lesson for all,” he said.
Y Venkatesh, custodian of the burial ground, said revival of the Kalyani will help those who visit the place for performing the last rites. Yuva Brigade regularly carries out cleaning exercises of water sources like rivers and lakes across Karnataka. In Nanjangud of Mysuru district, they regularly clean the temple bath ghat.