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About Madurai Marathon 2007

DHAN Foundation has taken the initiative to help address the water issues of Madurai with the collaboration and partnership with the various stakeholders such as the academic institutions, corporates and public in Madurai. As a first step, a Marathon with awareness of water was conducted on 13th January 2007 as a Run for a Cause event to raise awareness about the various issues related to water. Over 25,000 participants consisting of school and college students, farmers, general public participated in this event and shared their concern and interest in the cause of water.In order to provide an opportunity for people from all walks of life to participate, four events were organized. The Mini Marathon began at the Madurai Medical College grounds and after covering a distance of eight kms in a circular route the participants came back to the Medical college grounds.

It was flagged off by the district Collector Mr.T.Udayachandran and Managing director of Hi-Tech Arai Mr.B.T.Bangera. Nearly 15,000 persons consisting of school and college students and general public took part. The cadets of the Madurai Armed Reserve Police led the mini marathon and ensured the smooth movement of the participants along the marathon route. The Madurai district roller skating association took the initiative to organize the roller skating run in which over a hundred children took part. They were flagged off by Mr.Krishnamoorthy, Canara Bank before the mini marathon and they covered the same distance of eight km over the same route. They carried bright blue helium filled balloons which they released as they sailed passed the spectators outside the grounds.

The “Walk for a cause” began at the Madurai Race Course Grounds. More than 12,000 persons consisting of general public, school and college students, farmers, SHG members, VIPs of Madurai participated. The Walk for a Cause was flagged off by the District Collector Mr.T.Udayachandran, Commissioner of Police Mr.Chidambarasamy, Mr.Gomathynayagam & Mr.B.T.Bangera. In the path of “Walk for a cause” participants raised the slogans over the importance of protecting water resources.

More than 500 physically challenged persons from various organisations, educational institutions participated in the “Differently Abled Walk” which commenced from Madurai Anna Bus Stand and finished at Madurai Medical College grounds. The Walk was flagged off by Mr.Ramakrishnan, Amar Seva Sangam, Mr.R.D.Thulasiraj, Executive Director LAICO and Mr.Krishnamurthy, Maditissia flagged off the participants. It was an opportunity for the differently abled to take part in a common cause in a big way.

Mr.K.Ganesan a native of Madurai and a software engineer based at Bangalore was one of the tireless volunteers who worked from Bangalore and weekends at Madurai for the conduct of the event. Another volunteer Mr.Sam who had retired recently from American college was another volunteer who extended continuous support for the event. Over 700 students from Latha Mathavan Polytechnic, Melur and Arulandar College, Karumathur took part as volunteers on the event day and helped in the smooth conduct of the event. The Round Tables of Madurai provided drinking water for all the participants. They set up water points along the route of the different routes and ensured the distribution of water packets to the participants with their own volunteers.

Madurai Rajaji Hospital, Vikram Hospital rendered medical services. Organisations like Nalam, Mahatma Trust provided medical support for the event. All the participants congregated at the Medical College after the each of the events. There were cultural events at the venue which included a Bharatanatyam performance on skates. Participants from the different event came forward enthusiastically to share their experience of the event and their concerns and ideas related to the water issues in Madurai.

An exhibition on the theme of water was organized at the Medical College grounds with the participation of Government agencies such as the Madurai Corporation, the Tamil Nadu Water Board, NGOs, women and farmer federations, educational institutions like Tamil Nadu Agricultural University and IGNOU, corporates like Eurekha Forbes, Catalyst, ICICI Bank such as Thiagaraja College of Engineering. NABARD, Mumbai provided support for the conduct of the at the Marathon venue. In the evening a cultural show was organized with folk art groups performing on the theme of water and college students presented plays on the theme of water to drive home the message of water and how it is everybody’s responsibility. Before the Marathon a series of competitions were organized on six themes related to water 1.Safe drinking water 2.Judicious use of water 3.Water Harvesting 4.Water recycling 5.Water contamination 6. Conservation of Water bodies for the school and college students.

TVS Matriculation school co ordinated the competitions for the school students. 19 schools and 356 students participated in the competitions. The winners were given gift vouchers for books at the Sarvodaya Ilakkiya Pannai at Madurai. American College coordinated the competitions for the college students. The prize winning entries have been put up in the website www.maduraimarathon.in. The prizes were distributed to the students in the evening function. The organising of the cultural events and the various competitions for the school and college students was made possible with the support from Water4life foundation promoted by DSM, based in the Netherlands. The District Collector Mr.T.Udayachandran extended full support for the organising of the event.

The Commissioner of Police Mr.Chidambarasamy and his team gave their full support both before the event and during the event. Their support in finalizing the marathon routes, managing the crowd and regulating traffic during the event day without any disturbances was crucial for the successful conduct of the event. The Joint Director of Collegiate Education Mr.Udayabaskaran, the Chief Educational Officer Mr.Pandurangan and the Madurai Kamaraj University NSS Co ordinator Mr.Raju facilitated the participation of the school and college students in this event by extending continuous support for the conduct of this event. The co operation by the Transport Corporation, Madurai by providing special buses made it possible for the participants to reach the venue in time early in the morning.

The participation from the people of Madurai from all walks of life cutting across language, religion, community for a common cause was overwhelming. This is the first time that an event on such a large scale has been organized in Madurai by involving the general public. All the participants were provided with caps carrying the logo of the event and Canara Bank who sponsored the caps for the participants. The medical college grounds, the race course grounds and the streets along the route of the marathon witnessed waves of blue from the caps worn by all the participants as they surged past.The participants paid a registration fee of Rs.10 to participate in the event. The registration fee was kept low in order to ensure that everyone is able to participate in the event.

A booklet titled ‘Neerindri’ - Maduraiyin Neer Valam Andrum Indrum brought out on this occasion. The book let provides a quick overview of the water resources in earlier days, its present status and what the different stakeholders need to do to preserve whatever is left for the future and the water security for the citizens of Madurai. The book was given to all the participants. The idea was that besides participating in the event the participants have something in hand that informs them of what is the situation in relation to the water resources and what needs to be done in this regard by the various stakeholders as guide for action and way forward. The publication of the book was made possible with the support extended by ICICI Bank, Rural Banking.

The publicity for the event was made through the bill boards with the message of water in the various vantage points in the city, radio jingles, TV spots in the local channels, handbill and wall poster. The support for publicity was extended by ICICI Bank. The print media provided very good publicity support for event as well as the cause. The Dinamani, the Hindu, the Dinamalar and other papers and magazines carried a number of articles related to water in the weeks preceding the event and provided good coverage of the event which highlighted the cause and gave a call for action by all concerned. The Marathon was organized with the idea of galvanizing the people of Madurai into action and the event was only the beginning to get started on a series of water related activities by the various stakeholders.

The Kalanjiam Iyyakam (Movement) of the women self help groups and the Vayalagam Iyyakam ( Movement ) of the farmers contributed Rs.50,000 each for taking up activities related to the cause of water. These two movements have been promoted by the people organisations with the support of DHAN Foundation. Five women self help group federations promoted by DHAN Foundation have resolved to adopt two water bodies each and take up a works for its care and maintenance. Similarly three women federations in the rural areas of Madurai have resolved to take up one water body each of care and maintenance. This is tremendous leap forward for a common cause. They have proved that even the poor can and are willing to contribute in their own for a common cause and can set an example for the others.

They have resolved to raise atleast Rs.6.5 lakhs for taking up a few activities in the water bodies they have adopted before the end of this year. DHAN foundation will facilitate the setting up of Water Fund in a few of the federations it has promoted for the maintenance of water bodies especially the supply channels. Their participation in the event and getting participants from among the public to participate in the various events are note worthy. They are one of the major actors responsible for the huge turnout and the success of the event.

DHAN Foundation has set up a Centre for the Renovation of Water Bodies within the DHAN Vayalagam Foundation a subsidiary of DHAN whose focus is on water. This centre will work in close collaboration with different agencies to create model centres. These model centres will demonstrate the concept such as judicious use of water, sewage water treatment, wastewater treatment, maintenance of temple tanks, storm water drains, conservation of water etc in practice. Rs.3.0 lakhs out of the Rs.5.5 lakhs raised from the Marathon for the cause of water will be used for the promotion of the model centres. The remaining Rs.2.5 lakhs will be used for the renovation and maintenance of a temple tank. This contribution has been made by SBI Life Insurance. The temple tank will be identified and work will be completed before the end of the year. The purpose and hope with which DHAN foundation had facilitated this event is that it will help create a base for continuous action for the cause of water in Madurai.

The success and the co operation extended by the organisations and individuals for the conduct of this event has given us the confidence to take up role of facilitating the Marathon for the coming year as well. The theme has again been decided as Water as a lot needs to be done for this cause. We look forward to your support and encouragement for the coming year as well.