Madurai is one of the great cities in the world – with historical fame and enduring heritage. Ilango Adigal has referred to the river Vaigai as a perennial river which brought all wealth to Madurai and happiness to all human beings in and around her. There was a period during which the people of Madurai enjoyed their life throughout the year by utilizing the water in Ponds, Ooranis, Tanks brought by Vaigai River and good rainfall.

Since Madurai was surrounded by water resources, it was called by the people as “Aalavaai”. There are references in Sangam literature that the river “Grithamal”, a branch of Vaigai River was flowing around Madurai like a golden necklace. The respect given by the people of Madurai earlier to water resources and water is evident from the old folk songs today.

Madurai is growing and extending both in size and number of people at very rapid pace. As a result, concrete jungles surrounded by housing plots, offices have occupied the water bodies, paddy fields and affected the Madurai soil. The ground water level in Madurai has gone below 500 feet.

Why this situation?

The ancient water resources which were protected by our forefathers for many centuries have been neglected. The water bodies which were the basis for ground water recharge were occupied and put to other uses such as buildings, bus stands etc., The water bodies which were the harvesting the rain water were gradually depleted, destroyed and are today slowly vanishing. The supply of drinking water is inadequate to meet the needs of the current population of Madurai. It would be an uphill task to provide water for the growing needs of the growing city by the civic authorities.

For the past decade and a half, DHAN Foundation is implementing many programmes to uplift the lives of people living in poverty. DHAN Foundation with the involvement of farmers is taking a series of efforts to conserve, renovate and develop the heritage water bodies on which the people are dependent on for their livelihoods, drinking and domestic water needs.