Kerala: Revival of temple ponds in offing

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Temple ponds which have been romanticised for being the hub of village life are once again on the revival path due to amendments in the Mahatma Gandhi National Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). The State government’s Haritha Keralam scheme focuses more on reviving these temple ponds that arrest the fall in the groundwater table. According to officials, many of the small ponds owned by religious institution made way for buildings like marriage auditoriums. This happened primarily after the pond remained unused for long periods.

However from this financial year, district level officials got permission to revitalise water bodies belonging to religious institution that could be of use to the public. “Several temple ponds are used for irrigation or for other basic necessities. Apart from building 107 brand new private ponds in the district, we revitalised several temple ponds. All this comes from the realisation that it is important to reclaim water bodies to prevent the state from getting parched,” said Joint Coordinator B Premanandan. Officials said that the Haritha Keralam scheme also focused on revitalising greenery by replenishing water bodies.

Rain pits for Ghats

“We also have a target to dig up one lakh percolation pits in a year and in Thiruvananthapuram we have already dug close to 80,000. The owners of the land we use have to enter into a five-year agreement with us to maintain it,” the official said. In Thiruvananthapuram, most rainwater pits have been dug in ghat areas such as Nedumangadu, Vamanapuam and Perungadavila. “The benefits of harvesting here extend to the valley and up to the coastal areas. But wards around coastal areas get only half the number of pits for rainwater harvesting,” he added.