The Hindu Business Line : A drop saved...

Sitting in the cool interiors of her office, the Executive Director of Pricol and Managing Trustee of Siruthuli, Vanitha Mohan, recalls with satisfaction the efforts made by Coimbatoreans to revive the Noyyal. "Three years ago, we had mixed feelings about this project. But then we were looking only for water. And we could not afford to lose even a `small drop' — Siruthuli. Looking back, I sometimes wonder where this courage came from to take on a project of this magnitude," she says with a brilliant smile.

An ecological project initiated by city residents, Siruthuli aims to restore the city's past glory and rich heritage. "I had always dreamt about restoring the rich heritage of this land and this is just the start of that dream. I now look back at the past three years with a sense of gratitude," she adds.

And she is not alone. Realising the need to reclaim the city's water bodies, without which it would have turned into a desert, the entire populace backed the effort. The city's famous industrial houses such as Elgi, Lakshmi Machine Works and Bannari Amman Sugars led the movement. According to Vanitha, "it is the feeling of `we' rather than `I' or `you' that helped make the venture a success."

With help from the civic authorities, Project Siruthuli reclaimed most of the urban water bodies. It now plans their restoration in a big way. It gave fresh life to the Noyyal river by clearing encroachments along the banks.

Originating in the Western Ghats, the Noyyal courses 160 km from Madhavarayapuram in Coimbatore to join the Cauvery river at Erode. Satellite images of the river's point of origin, the feeder canals that brought rainwater to it and the tanks it was meant to fill were obtained with the help of the National Remote Sensing Agency.

The Noyyal passes over a valley fill that's 25 km long and 198 ft deep and extends from the river's origin at Kooduthurai in Madhavarayapuram to the Ukkadam Tank on the city border. The fill absorbs water like a sponge. Only when the absorption reaches saturation point does the excess water flow to the suburbs and the city.

The river has 23 check dams. Decades ago, it irrigated 3.55 lakh hectares. Its revival over a 40-km stretch is expected to help irrigate 16,500 hectares, according to Siruthuli.

Blockages in the water flow have been partially cleared. When the recent rains saw cities like Bangalore and Chennai water logged, Coimbatore remained unaffected as the excess water filled its tanks. The groundwater level has since risen. Driving past the tanks, one can see water flowing to the brim and people thronging the area to enjoy a boat ride.

Siruthuli is trying to develop recreation parks near the tanks to help generate funds for its upkeep. The Namathu Valankulam initiative is one such effort that is jointly led by Siruthuli and the government, with advice and technical guidance from Action for Food Production, New Delhi.

A city famous for its entrepreneurial spirit, it is efforts such as this that sets it apart.