20,000 women have worked together to revive a river

19 Jun 2019

20,000 women have worked together to revive a river

20,000 women have worked together to revive a riverAbout 20,000 women in the Vellore district of Tamil Nadu have worked together over four years to revive* a river.

They revived the seasonal river* Naganadhi which had been dried up for 15 years.
 	The revival* was achieved with the support of the government and the Art of Living Foundation.
 	The women constructed 3,500 recharge wells* (to increase groundwater levels) and several boulder checks (using stones to slow down rainwater flow) to revive the river.
 	Now there is enough water for them to drink and irrigate their rice fields.

The women were registered under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) so that they could get paid for their work.

Deforestation* had led to the drying up of wells and the river. Some farmers tried to grow millet, tomato and banana, which require less water than rice. But that was not enough.

Water shortage is an ongoing problem in the country with less rainfall this year than expected.

*Revive/Revival: To come or bring back something to life, existence or use

*Seasonal river: Seasonal rivers are the rivers which flow only in rainy seasons and remain dry mostly

*Deforestation: Cutting down of trees, destruction of forests by people

*Recharge wells: They are small well-like structures that have lids with holes to allow water to be collected in them.

Image Credits: artofliving.org

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About 20,000 women in the Vellore district of Tamil Nadu have worked together over four years to revive* a river. They revived the seasonal river* […]

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