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Making a case for water conservation
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Siruthuli has changed the way people look at water. On World Water Day, SUBHA J RAO profiles the work of this movement
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Pics: S. Siva Saravanan
LIFE-GIVING WATER: Reflections of street lamps dance on the freshly-filled Krishnampathy tank.
THEIR ICON, a blue drop of water, says it all. Project Siruthuli's symbol has fired the imagination of people in the entire city, galvanising them into saving whatever they can of life-giving water.
Started by a small group of committed individuals who wanted to revive Coimbatore's tank system and recharge ground water, the movement has now grown in strength, moving on to projects like garbage disposal and sewage water treatment.
Today is World Water Day and a host of programmes have been organised by Siruthuli to mark the occasion.
Mass prayers for water will take place between 6 and 6.03 p.m. Over a thousand Rotaractors from the Rotary International District 3200 will converge on the Mani Higher Secondary School grounds for the cause of water.
Siruthuli has kept water in the news from the time it came into being. That many corporates in the city have joined hands to give something back to Coimbatore speaks much of the cause.
What got the public involved were programmes that hammered in the message of water conservation without sermonising.
Be it the Aadi Perukku on the VOC Park Grounds or the lighting of agal vilakkus on the banks of the Krishnampathy Tank, the first to be desilted by the team, all packed in a massive crowd.
Talking to Metroplus, Vanitha Mohan, Managing Trustee of Siruthuli, says the response from the public was a "pleasant and encouraging surprise."
"It just showed that conserving water was on everyone's minds and all they needed was a little push." However, she concedes that the fact that Siruthuli coincided with the Chief Minister's rainwater harvesting programme helped.
Siruthuli's most satisfying moment?
"When Krishnampathy, the first tank we desilted, filled up after a bout of unseasonal showers. People were sceptical when we started work, but when it was filled with water after three days of rain, they believed in the cause, that something like this would work."
As for what keeps the seven trustees and 50 apex committee members going despite busy schedules, Vanitha says: "The cause is so potent. Water is the unifying force. During brainstorming sessions, everyone chips in with inputs, be it technical or financial."
Vanitha Mohan.
She concedes that this cause takes up a lot of the trustees' time, but hastens to add: "Once we put a system in place and get the ball rolling, others can take over."
"Siruthuli succeeded because we got into action straightaway. We did not wait. We banked on the experience gained from desilting a small tank in Periyanaickenpalayam when we started work on the first tank in the city," she states.
However, Vanitha feels that awareness among the public is not spreading at the desired pace.
"Community participation is very important. People have to take care of what is happening in their areas."
Take garbage segregation, for instance, she says. "People know it is good, but most don't do it. Once it is made mandatory, 90 per cent will comply."
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Metro Plus
Bangalore
Chennai
Coimbatore
Delhi
Hyderabad
Kochi
Madurai
Thiruvananthapuram
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Visakhapatnam
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