Case7-April-2013
The Vaigai is 258 kilometres (160 mi) long, with a drainage basin 7,031 square kilometres (2,715 sq mi) large. The river Suruliyaru, the river Mullaiyaaru, the river Varaganadhi, the river Manjalaru and river Kirudhumaal are the major tributaries of river Vaigai. . All these rivers, except Kridhumaal join with the great Vaigai river nearer to the places around the Vaigai Dam which is situated in Theni district, whereas Kridhumaal joins Vaigai in Madurai.
Vaigai gets major feed from the Periyar Dam in Kumuli, Kerala state. Water from the Periyar River in Kerala is diverted into the Vaigai River in Tamilnadu via a tunnel through the Western ghats. In summers, the Vaigai river ends up dry very often. The water never reaches Madurai, let alone flowing into places past Madurai. The Vaigai river presently remains in a most polluted condition and DHAN Foundation has launched Vaigai conservation campaign to protect the river from further degradation and also to educate the common public to support the processes of cleaning and renovating the river.
As a part of the campaign Kadamalaikundu Vaigai Conservation campaign was held on 7th March 2013 during the eve of the Vayalagam Movement day Celebration. The Regional team at Theni headed by Ms.Ambika and Mr.Murguganandham of Vayalagam team made the arrangements for the campaign and ensured that the event is held in a grant manner. More than 150 members from Vayalagam movement and 150 members from Kalanjiam Movement participated in the event.
The event was organized at Vaigai River bed at Vellimalai Pudur pirivu. The purpose of the event and the urgent need for conserving the river was explained to the people. The Vayalagam movement knowing the significance of the river and which was much worried at the present state of river, decided to create awareness and concern among the people living in the banks of the river to protect it and educate them not to use the river as a dumping yard of waste. Shramdhan was held as a part of the event in which all the members gathered participated actively. Followed by the Shramdhan, the Vayalagam and Kalanjiam members went as a rally from Vellimalai Pudur to Kadamalaikundu . They also raised slogans on the need for protecting and conserving river Vaigai. This rally attracted the general public in Kadamalaigundu, who stopped and watched the rally and also appreciated the effort.
Another significant achievement of this event is the active participation of the Kadamalikundu Gramma Committee. The committee expressed that it is the need of the hour to protect the river Vaigai and also they assured that they will support the Vayalagam and Kalanjiam movement on any events organized with the aim of conserving river Vaigai. They also assured to contribute some amount to meet a portion of the campaign expenditure. To continue this effort they said that they print and distribute leaflets regarding the need for conserving river Vaigai at their own cost and requested for content support for the same.
The BDO of Kadamalaikundu who participated in the event, got exited by this initiative and assured the local team that the block office will take steps to dig a choke pit using excavators for safe disposal of waste water and solid wastes. The Assistant Executive Engineer, Public Works Department, Theni also attended the event . He explained about the initiatives taken by the department to protect the rive and also the future plans for river conservation.
In the meeting, the resolutions were passed to conserve river Vaigai and also to enroll all the villages in the bank of river Vaigai in Kadamalaikundu and Aandipatti to initiate similar such campaign. As a result of the Shramdhan during the event, a choke pit was created in the Vellimalai Pudur Pirivu of Vaigai river and all the drainage water which hitherto flowed everywhere will now get collected in the pit and the villagers felt happy at the initiative. The Vayalagam movement members, Kalanjiam members and the regional team of DHAN also realized that any good initiative will bring support and sponsorship from all those who have real concern for benefit of the society.