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Dead lakes see a new ray of hope with rejuvenation works

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Each neighborhood had a lake where you and your siblings went swimming and fishing is now a garbage dump and new visitors can’t even imagine a lake there. You yourself can remember the place as one where you sailed your little paper boats and from where you excitedly brought home guppies and tadpoles to put into your house pond.

With urbanization and newer methods to get water, the ground water level has depleted to a great extent. Now there are few NGO’s and the group who have come forward to rejuvenate such dead lakes by which the groundwater level rises.

PYAAS FOUNDATION is working on the Bailwad lake in Bailhongal. The lake belongs to the hot and arid drought affected zone of Bailhongal. The village was once famous for the ancient temple dedicated to Siddabasaveshwara.

Pyas started working there was a mountain of hard rock and rubble. They were told that there were numerous attempts at the lake, and everyone gave up when they hit the hard rock surface.

Today two months later lake Bailwad stands evidence to the resilience of PYAAS, today one can in actual see a lake, derocked, desilted, with a layer of compressed black soil to prevent loss of water, with a live spring pouring water in hot blazing sunlight.

baliwad-lake pyaas foundation
The Baliwad Lake

PYAAS FOUNDATION has also taken up the rejuvenation of the Macche lake and work is in full swing. The foundation has already rejuvenated a couple of lakes last year.

The new multipurpose project designed by a group led by Kiran Nippanikar is expected to give a new dimension to the tiny Peeranwadi village. It is just not rejuvenation of the lake, but a project which can provide shelter to the stray cattle, encourage fish farming, organic farming and more. When the project was brought before Jai Bharat Foundation of Jayant Humbarwadi and a few more industrialists, they were convinced and ready to fund it. Jaybharat Foundation has taken the lead along with Polyhydron Foundation, Vega, Belgaum Ferrocast Pvt Ltd, Abhishek Alloys, Sneham International as a group have come forward to undertake the lake rejuvenation work as a CSR activity. Around 30 trees also were translocated with the help of PWD.

peeranwadi-lakeThese groups have come up and are putting all their efforts to raise the water level with their good deeds. But time has now come that such activities must also involve the local villagers who will do Sharma Daan as Satyamev Jayate Water Cup which is essentially a competition between different villages to see who can do the maximum work for watershed management and water conservation in the period of the competition. The Water Cup creates a platform for villagers to apply their learning from our training program and make their villages water-abundant.

1 thought on “Dead lakes see a new ray of hope with rejuvenation works”

  1. It’s good to improve our Belagavi district if any future project are coming please inform chaya rural and urban development society it’s a new organisationa 9538159427

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