Leading "Walk for Water" Walkathon
Service & Social Programs | Published: | 3 min read
Inspiring Bangaloreans to participate in the Kumudvathi River Rejuvenation Project and solve the water crisis the city has been facing.
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Bangalore, India, June 8, 2013
Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar inspired Bangaloreans to come forward and solve the city’s water problems. The goal of the “Walk for Water” was to create awareness of the rejuvenation program taken up by The Art of Living for the River Kumudvathi.
Addressing the gathering, Gurudev said, “If the Kumudvathi River is revived, Bangalore will be saved. Illegal sand mining should be stopped and people should be made aware of this. With our team of experts and scientists, springs in eight villages have been revived in the past two months. I invite the citizens of Bangalore and the country to come forward and work towards saving water.”
Along with farmers of the Kumudvathi Basin and numerous associated NGOs, participants included:
- Shri Doreswamy, renowned freedom fighter
- Shri Yellappa Reddy, Environmentalist
- Shri T. Gopalakrishna, Corporator, Gandhinagar
The event was hosted by The Art of Living under its campaign, “Volunteer for a Better India” and was part of the Kumudvathi River Rejuvenation plan. The plan is a three-year program to revive this endangered waterway and could potentially address 60% of Bangalore’s water needs. In the past three months, 78 boulder checks and five recharge wells have been constructed and 17 stepwells have been cleaned and repaired by volunteers, shares Nagaraj Gangoli, Project Manager.
“These structures also helped the ecosystem because there is more water for birds and animals,” shared a farmer from the Kumudvati basin who was taking part in the Walkathon.
The second phase of the project will focus on increasing green cover by planting trees to aid in preventing soil erosion and retaining soil moisture in the river basin. The goal is to plant 250,000 saplings of local tree varieties in government and private lands covering all 288 villages (approximately 800 to 1,000 saplings per village).
Volunteers have been continuously dedicating their time every Sunday to volunteer at the catchment area to breathe life into the river.
The ‘Volunteer for a Better India’ movement is open to all. Those who wish to volunteer can contact 08042133300 or 9916025348 or send an e-mail to vfkumudvathi@gmail.com
Over a 100 auto drivers turned pedestrians to join the Walkathon to invite all sections of society to work in the Kumudvathi basin to revive old waterways and bring more water to the city.
This post is also available in: हिन्दी