Kavlith Canal Flows Again, Offers New Life to Villagers : Art of Living Foundation’s Jal Jagruti Abhiyaan
Indian rivers need to be revived and there is an urgent need to manage the water crisis. These statements evoke a sense of urgency but fail to evoke an emotion. What if you were told that with these rivers, thousands of lives will find a better fate than the hopelessness that leads to committing suicide? According to the World Resource Institute, 54% of India is under extreme water stress. Rivers have gone dry over the years. Villages face drought in summers. About 1/3 districts in India were drought hit in 2016. Out of 2000 farmer suicide of agrarian reason in 2015, 1841 were in Maharashtra alone.
A plan was needed to help the farmers help their rivers. Art of Living Foundation’s Jal Jagruti Abhiyaan (Water Awareness Program), under Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s guidance, started working towards the need of the hour. Kavlith Diversion Embankment canal, which is about 30 km long and is spread over 5600 hectares of land in Maharashta, was initiated on 17 May 2017 by Hon. Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Devendra Fadnavis and was led by Maharashtra Government’s Jalyukta Shivir Abhiyan, JNPT, in collaboration with Jal Jagruti Abhiyan of Art of Living, Sahada in Maharashtra.
Over the years, the canal was filled with silt, bushes and shrubs which blocked the water flow and created severe water shortage that lead to dry and dead bore wells and Lakes in this region. De-silting that was awaiting action for more than 25 years was completed within 25 days by Art of Living volunteers.
The dry and bushy canals were again flowing with water. The project didn’t just revive the once dead rivers and lakes, but also offered a new life to people struggling because of the water shortage.
The Jal Jagruti Abhiyaan is a movement started by the Art of Living to de-silt rivers, canals, nalas, lakes & dams on a massive scale. It also aims to aid maximum percolation of water for increasing the underground water table level.
