THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Speaker K Radhakrishnan’s Chelakkara constituency, spread over nine blocks in the mostly hilly terrain of Thrissur district, is poised to emerge as the country’s first-ever ‘Drinking Water Sufficient’ constituency.
An integrated eco-restoration masterplan to revive the soil, water and ecological resources of the constituency will be ready by the middle of this month. The Block Panchayats will begin implementation by the beginning of August.
Three workshops involving officials from a wide range of departments and schemes - local bodies, Jalanidhi, Soil Conservation, Forest, Irrigation, Ground Water, Agriculture and NREGS - have already been conducted.
The fourth and the final one to be held on July 18, during which the masterplan will be finalised, will be chaired by the Speaker himself.
The plan will adopt forests as the core unit. The idea is to revive or replenish dwindling or extinct water sources inside the forests, including streams, springs, seeps and even trees using scientific and local knowhow.
Once the core unit is replenished, the groundwater sources in the peripheral areas, the plains populated by people would get automatically recharged.
“We have an excessively large number of animals dying in forest fires or for want of water. To prevent this, we need to recharge, conserve and at times, even create water sources in the forests. The construction of check dams is one option or the digging of trenches. Such measures will not only raise the water table, but also prevent forest fires. There will be no fires in areas where there is plenty of water,’’ Speaker K Radhakrishnan told ‘Express’.
According to the Speaker, the revival of water resources high up in the forest areas will set in motion a chain reaction that will charge the dried-up pores and aquifers that stretch right down to the seashore.
The Speaker’s idea is to seek Central assistance for the project.
“We don’t want the project to suffer from shortage of funds. We understand the financial limitations of the State and so we plan to present the project to the Centre. Even now, the plan is integrated with Central plans such as the NREG Scheme,’’ the Speaker said.
Afforestation will be a major component of the programme.
“Trees will be planted in a big way as part of this programme. There are acres of wasteland in these areas which will be revived,’’ District Rural Development Authority (DRDA) project director C V Mohandas said.
Employment generation will be a major benefit of the programme which will involve innumerable labour-intensive activities such as digging trenches, planting of trees and construction of check dams. And each activity will be planned to create multiple benefits.
“Take digging of trenches along the fringes of the forest for example. It creates a water source, raises the water table, prevents wild animals from straying on human settlements and protects agricultural lands,’’ Mohandas said.
