Kumarankuttai , which was once the Madhampatti farmers’ treasure trove of water, is
located in the Perur Taluk of Coimbatore region. In 2016, a group of distraught farmers
of that region approached Siruthuli stating that they had no other option but to abandon
their agricultural lands and seek an alternate livelihood due to acute water scarcity.
One of them had drilled boreholes in 17 locations on his 2.5 acre land holding. Even at 1000
feet there was not a single drop of water available. This was the situation in the case of
each and every farm land in the neighborhood.
When team Siruthuli stepped in to do an initial survey to do a feasibility study, there was
a surprise awaiting them. PWD had earlier constructed 8 check dams spanning a
distance of 800 m in a cascading fashion on the sloping terrain. The 8th check dam had
been completely washed away. The rest of the 7 check dams were in a highly damaged
condition caused obviously by the speed of the water flow during the monsoons.
The run off rain water from the southern part of horseshoe shaped range of Western
ghats in the background apparently flows into this pond.
With mountains in the
background, there must have been a lot of water running down the terrain after coursing
through the check dams. A question we asked ourselves was – why not create a pond
next to each check dam so that the rushing water can be made to stand and eventually
sit in the lap of Mother Earth. This would help recharge the dried borewells in the
adjoining farm lands.
Siruthuli came up with various steps to rejuvenate the place . First and foremost was to
repair and maintain the 7 check dams. Next was to increase the space between the
check dams by deepening or desilting thereby increasing the water impounding area of
each one. 6 percolation ponds were created using 7 check dams in a cascading manner
by using each check dam as a surplus weir for each percolation pond.
The whole team were engrossed in executing each and every step and found that there
were no farm bunds and trees to prevent soil erosion and to enhance the water
percolation into the agricultural land. Gabion structures and gully plugs were
constructed at strategic locations of the supply channel to slow down the speed of
gushing rain water during the monsoons.
Approach roads were made in the form of bunds using the desilted soil so that farmers
could access their farmlands easily. 2000 trees were planted along the bunds to prevent
soil erosion. About 130 million litres of rain water can be stored in the 6 percolation
ponds. Kumarankuttai is a standing example of an ideal watershed project.
The project was made possible by the generous support of Roots Group of Companies,
Ms.Craftsman Automation Private Limited, Rotary club of Coimbatore Metropolis, City
Union Bank . The farming community of Madhampatti also chipped in to contribute their
token share.
Bountiful monsoons filled all the cascading ponds which in turn resulted in dried up bore
wells yielding water.
There was a total change in the colour of the terrain. What was
brown and arid turned green and fertile. It was most heart warming when the farmers
thanked us profusely saying that SIRUTHULI had prevented about 250 farming families
from giving up agriculture through this unique project.
