BENGALURU: WHEN many of their peers would have probably liked to spend their spare time on mobile games, these five eighth graders did something extraordinary. They revived a five-acre lake. While coping with their examination pressure, they managed to get their project crowd-funded. They gave a completely new look to Manae Lake in Bannerghata South within three weeks. It all began when the students of Vidyashilp Academy -- Maitri Patel, Mishti Deepak Kewalramani, Ira Bhruguwa, Annika Saha, Yathaarth Murthy - met conservationist Anand Malligavad for his guidance for a project on sustainable development growth (SDG).
Malligavad, who has revived five water bodies, told the youngsters about Manae Lake which was once a source of drinking water for thousands of cattle and even elephants, but now full of weeds. The storage capacity of the lake came down as disliting was not done for a long time. Malligavad estimated the cost at Rs 8 lakh, which was too much for the students. They turned to online crowd funding platform ‘Fuel A Dream’ in November. “It was a big task for us to have the fund sourced. We even had exams during the month. We would make calls to all the people we know and ask them for funds.
They all responded. Through Fuel A Dream, we could reach out to more people,” said Yathaarth Murthy. They managed to source Rs 8.1 lakh in a month and the revival project began on December 7. Malligavad said two earthmovers were hired and the process of desilting of the lake started after weeding. Inlets and outlets were restructured and a bund was created.
“The lake had just 15 per cent water. There were no rains as well. We were worried as to how the children would showcase their project of a lake without much water. But when we started desilting, water started flowing from the inlets and the lake was getting filled,” said Malligavad. The students would work the project from 9 am to 8 pm on the weekends. The team is now looking forward to plant 10,000 saplings sponsored by the school as the second phase of the revival project. On January 29, they will showcase their project at World Federation of United Nations Association’s Mission Possible programme in New York.