Small drops make a mighty ocean

The Results:
“Little Drops Do Form the Mighty Ocean !!!”
THE CONDITION OF TANKS BEFORE AND AFTER DESILTATION

1. KRISHNAMPATHY TANK













2. SELVAMPATHY TANK











3. KUMARASAMY TANK

4. NARASAMPATHY TANK

5. SELVACHINTHAMANI TANK

6. KURICHI KULAM TANK

7. PERIYA KULAM TANK

A Coimbatore NGO shows the way to desilt lakes
Siruthuli (meaning Small Drops) - http://www.siruthuli.org/ is an initiative started by Coimbatoreans (residents of Coimbatore, Tamilnadu) for Coimbatoreans.
How it got started:
Coimbatore, once renowned for its abundant water resources, its sweet Siruvani water and a salubrious climate was besieged by problems caused due to environmental abuse and gross mismanagement of its water resources.
An example of this was the river Noyyal. River Noyyal was once home of the Noyyal Valley civilization. Down the ages, it gained prominence both as a life-sustaining gift and as one of the holiest rivers in this region. The Noyyal River was a chocked, encroached and polluted rivulet that struggled and pushed its way amidst effluents and toxins. In addition to this, dumping of garbage also played a major role in obstructing its flow. All this had resulted in climatic variations and an acute shortage of the once abundant water.
A group of individuals and industries got together towards tackling this and started Siruthuli meaning Small Drops. The connotation was that “small drops make a mighty ocean ".
This initiative registered as an NGO now encompasses people from all walks of life – students, farmers, working professionals, industrialists, housewives ..etc
Objectives:
Siruthuli’s activities are based on the following objectives:
· Water Resources Management
· Afforestation
· Solid Waste Management
· Sewage / Waste Water Treatment
· Awareness Programmes
As a part of the first phase of Noyyal River Restoration, Siruthuli has desilted 7 out of 9 tanks located within the city. The tanks are
· Krishnampathy
· Selvampathy
· Kumarasamy
· Narasampathy
· Selvachinthamani
· Kurichi Kulam
· Periya kulam
Details of the tanks desilted /standardised by Siruthuli
Sl.No
Name of the tank
Length of the bund (in metres)
Total tank bed area (in acres)
Desilted / Deepened tank bed area
Capacity in
in acres
in sq. kms
M.cu ft
M.Cu.M
1
Krishnampathy
2600
175.93
55.71
0.23
7.658
0.22
2
Narasampathy
3200
124.05
114.25
0.47
59.711
1.69
3
Selvampathy
2300
69.92
50.05
0.20
9.916
0.28
4
Kumarasamy
2400
93.90
75.05
0.30
19.868
0.56
5
Selvachinthamani
1800
36.82
20.00
0.08
2.929
0.08
6
Kurichi Kulam
3946
343.96
193.00
0.78
59.918
1.69
7
Coimbatore big tank
2000
320.00
300.00
1.21
69.501
1.97

Total
18246
1164.58
808.06
3.27
229.501
6.51
Thus, almost 808 acres of tankbed area has been desilted in order to store 229 M.Cu.ft of water and formed/strengthened bunds for a length of 18246 mtrs. The next monsoon saw these tanks full of water thereby allowing water percolation. Also as a first step towards Noyyal River Restoration, Siruthuli has removed the agricultural encroachments in a distance of about 33 kilometers from Solaipadugai to Athupallam. In line with these activities, a Noyyal Advisory Committee was formed in October 2006 to render their expertise to help the activities of Siruthuli.
(http://www.lkadvani.in/eng/content/view/729/390/)