Over 150 villagers of Shirshinge in Ratnagiri join hands to follow waterman of India’s philosophy to bring to life Koteshwari river even in scorching summer
Water finally makes an appearance from the Koteshwari river bed as villagers of Shirshinge hamlet excavate. They hope to revive the river in phases.
About 300 km from Mumbai, villagers of Shirshinge, a hamlet in Dapoli taluka of Ratnagiri district, have done what the state government failed to do 15 years ago. They came together on Wednesday morning determined to bring to life the three-km-long Koteshwari river that runs dry for five months of the year.
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The result is a success story that makes this Konkan village an example for other parts of the country struggling with depleting water resources.
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Over centuries, Shirshinge has been home to river Koteshwari, a source of drinking water and irrigation. However, seven years ago, the river suddenly ceased to hold water and turned into a reservoir only during the monsoon. "The river runs dry from January till May, causing us problems," said Nitin Jadhav (33), a member of the village's gram panchayat.
Villagers get together to work along the river
Fearing a drought-like situation, the sarpanch and villagers decided to take matters in their hands instead of turning to the government for help.
Last year, the villagers had approached architect and director of PPROM Group, Sandeep Joshi, who is working on creating Konkan's first sustainable village township in Shirshinge.
Water finally makes an appearance from the dried river
Joshi, a local, met up with renowned water conservationist, Dr Rajendra Singh, fondly called Waterman of India. Singh's team helped identify the main reasons for the river running dry -- soil blockage, shifting silt and depletion of lower ground water. They and the villagers began work on reviving the river.
"Around 15 years ago, when the river first began to show signs of drying up, we had approached the government. They created a bandhara -- a dam-like structure of mud-filled bags -- but, within a year of building it, there was leakage and the water flowed out," Jadhav said.
Sandeep Joshi, director, PPROM Group
On Wednesday, over 150 villagers came together, under the leadership of Sandeep Adhyapak, a conservationist from Singh's team, and laboured to excavate the river bed to revive about 400 metres of the water-stretch. The villagers aim to rejuvenate the three-km-long river in stages. As part of the project, they have put up fencing along the river to prevent water from pouring onto the banks and have created catchment areas to store water after the rains.
Nitin Jadhav, member, Shirshinge gram panchayat
Speaking about the initiative, Adhyapak said, "We used our expertise in hydrological studies to support this project."
According to Adhyapak, even though the government at the state and centre has implemented various water schemes, most initiatives are dedicated to irrigation, not for drinking water. Now, with the rains expected to kick in, villagers have their fingers crossed. "We want to be the change," Jadhav said.
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