Shepherd digs 14 ponds, turns his village green in Mandya

When The Sunday Standard visited his haven, a half-completed house on a two-acre land, the hill presented itself in lush green attire.
Kamegowda has built 14 ponds on the barren Kundinibetta hill in Malavalli taluk of Mandya district I Pandarinath b
Kamegowda has built 14 ponds on the barren Kundinibetta hill in Malavalli taluk of Mandya district I Pandarinath b

DASANADODDI (MALAVALLI TALUK): Eighty-two-year-old shepherd Kamegowda may be illiterate, but he has been able to do what most so-called educated and environmentally conscious persons only wish they had done. He is credited with greening an entire hillside at Daasanadoddi village in Malavalli taluk of Mandya district, an effort that took him four decades and culminated in 14 ponds being developed and maintained by him. These ponds are filled with water all year round, even during the scorching summers.

It was about 40 years ago when he realised that the almost barren Kundinibetta hill next to his village had sparse shrubs with almost no greenery. While taking his flock of sheep grazing on the hillside, he saw animals and birds stressed from lack of watering holes on the hill. Whatever water the hill received through rain, only flowed down its slopes. It hardly retained any water and what little remained either evaporated or got absorbed into the ground.  

That’s when this 2017 Basavashri awardee hit upon an idea: Why not develop a pond to provide animals and birds with a watering hole? It started from there, although he doesn’t remember the precise date, but estimates that, so far, he has spent nothing less than Rs 10-15 lakh in designing, developing and maintaining the 14 ponds, some named after his grandchildren. Almost all the money is from the various awards he has won throughout his life.

When The Sunday Standard visited his haven, a half-completed house on a two-acre land, the hill presented itself in lush green attire, thanks to the 14 ponds, linked by a waterway that ensures when the upper ponds on the hill are filled, the surplus water flows into the ponds below.

Kamegowda underwent an eye operation a couple of weeks ago, and the doctors have advised him not to step out for fear of contracting an infection. But this is what he has to say: “I close my eyes and come out; I know every inch here. If a drunkard is advised not to drink, will he stop drinking? I too have an addiction. And this is it…my ponds!” 

THE TRIGGER
The idea to design, develop and maintain hillside ponds was triggered by observing animals and birds struggling on the Kundinibetta hill due to lack of water. Today, he has built 14 fairly large ponds on the hill, turning it into a green abode.

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