CONSERVATION
Noyyal Yatra
K.V. PRASAD
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Coimbatore has seen a people's movement arise to revive the river and the water sources in the area.
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PHOTO: K. ANANTHAN
Spontaneous turnout: A movement gathering momentum.
ON October 2, Coimbatore witnessed an extraordinary march. Nearly 1,00,000 people walked a 30-km stretch as a pledge to revive the Noyyal, once the lifeline of this Kongu belt. The spontaneous turnout for the Noyyal Yatra confirmed that a people's movement to conserve water resources was gathering momentum.
Organised on Gandhi Jayanthi, it was compared to Gandhiji's Dandi March. A portrait of the Mahatma on a float had the line: "It was Dandi March then for rights. Today, it is the Noyyal Yatra for life."
Common cause
Those ready to sacrifice a Sunday included students, teachers, farmers and industrialists, both big and small, members of service organisations, politicians and actors. They walked hand-in-hand for a common cause, breaching social and economic barriers.
Sewage, effluents from dyeing and electroplating units, indiscriminate sand mining and encroachments have all ravaged the river. This had an effect in sending ground water level plunging.
Twenty-two tanks in and around Coimbatore city went dry. Besides open wells, bore wells went deeper; but water continued to elude them. This, in turn, put pressure on two drinking water schemes. The water from these schemes was used for non-drinking purposes also because ground water was hard to find.
Coimbatore was groping for a solution, as poor monsoons since 2000 added to the misery. Until Siruthuli stepped in.
In 2002, a movement for revival and conservation of water resources took shape, albeit in a small way. And there was a personal touch to it.
Beginnings
Vanitha Mohan, Executive Director of Premier Instruments and Controls Limited (PRICOL), was anguished over the state of the Valankulam. Viewed from the Trichy Road, the tank once seemed like a vast sheet of water. Now it stood dry.
In an attempt to revive this tank, she got down to doing some homework on its size and the condition.
"I took it very personally when people said Coimbatore was set to turn a desert owing to water scarcity. It was then that I decided to do something," she recalls.
PRICOL's Nature Club desilted two small tanks at Perianaickenpalayam as a test case and was amazed at the rise in groundwater level during the rains. This encouraged them to desilt the Valankulam.
Siruthuli (a small drop) was launched as a corporate initiative to desilt water bodies. In 2003, private firms, voluntary organisations and individuals from various sections of society joined to turn it into a mass movement. Tanks were desilted with the support of Governmental agencies. Funds came through private contributions for a public cause.
"Initially, the aim was to restore Valankulam," says Mohan. But, when Siruthuli was born, seven others also were also included. PRICOL, Elgi and Bannari Amman Sugars came together to launch the movement, with S.V. Balasubramaniam, Chairman and Managing Director of Bannari Amman Sugars, as the Chairman of Siruthuli Trust.
An intensive survey helped Siruthuli obtain complete data on the Noyyal system. Satellite images of the river's point of origin, the feeder canals that brought rainwater to it and the tanks it was supposed to fill were all obtained with the help of the National Remote Sensing Agency. And, a desilting programme was drawn up.
Krishnampathy, the first tank under the system, was taken up. Even as the first shovel of silt was being removed, Siruthuli encountered scepticism — bordering on a defeatist attitude — even among farmers. But with guidance from the Public Works Department and earthmovers supplied by private firms, Krishnampathy was desilted in 2003. It worked. In October that year, the tank was filled during the northeast monsoon. The other seven tanks were also desilted and water level rose in the surrounding areas. "In a small way, we demonstrated the scene can undergo a phenomenal change with even minimum public effort but with Government support," says Mohan.
Concerns
But a major concern remained — in the form of encroachments on some of these tanks and the feeder canals. Even as Siruthuli kept reminding Government departments that these would have to be removed, the potency of encroachments to create a political issue out of an eviction effort hampered the movement's progress. However, the Madras High Court's recent order that encroachments on all water bodies in the State be removed was a shot in the arm.
But even as it battled with encroachments, Siruthuli has given shape to its Noyyal Restoration programme. The river coursed through 160 km from Madhvarayapuram in Coimbatore to Noyyal Village in Erode where it joined the Cauvery. The restoration is to be carried out in four phases. The first one is for 40 km at a cost Rs.25 crores.
"At least 20 check dams are needed across the river and a survey of the gradient has to be done. All the feeder canals should be cleared of encroachments to enable water to flow into the river. A special squad should be formed to curb sand mining", she says.
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ACCORDING to a study by Siruthuli, civilisation once flourished on the banks of the Noyyal. As elsewhere in Tamil Nadu, the Cholas developed river irrigation in the Noyyal basin — then known as Kongunadu. So, the Cholas came to be known as Kongu Cholas between 1004 A.D. and 1303 A.D. Successive dynasties established trade links with the Greek and Romans with the Noyyal being the lifeline. Many ancient trade routes criss-crossed the basin,. The river helped in transportation.
Temples and schools of fine arts came up along the river at Perur, now a heritage site with the famous Pateeshwarar Temple. Music and the river were then in full flow. Natyanjali, a major dance festival is still held in Perur.
The river has a valley fill (made of alluvial kankar soil) over a stretch of 25 km and a depth of 198 ft. It extends from the origin of the river at Kooduthurai (in Madhvarayapuram, 30 km west of the city) to the Ukkadam Tank on the city border. The fill absorbs water like a sponge. Only when the absorption reaches a saturation point does excess water flow to the suburbs and the city.
The Periar that begins at Kovai Courtallam, at the Siruvani foothills located 38 km west of the city, the Chinnaar (also known as Chaadiaar) and the Kanchimanadhi join at Kooduthurai to form the Noyyal. The 160 km river joins the Cauvery at Kodumudi in Erode District. A hamlet at the point of confluence is also named Noyyal. Besides, 34 rivulets also join the Noyyal at various points.
The river has 23 check dams. Most are located between Kooduthurai and Tirupur, 52 km east of Coimbatore city. Decades ago, it irrigated 3,55,000 hectares. Noyyal revival over 40 km will enable irrigation of 16,500 hectares, according to Siruthuli.
KVP
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