Sunday, January 27, 2019

Project for water harvesting to recharge ground water - Kilinochchi, Sri Lanka


Swami Vivekananda Welfare Centre
119, Kallurickani , Krishnapuram, Kilinochchi.

 A Farm based welfare centre.


Using natural depression of the land, a small pond is created in a corner to capture rainwater. 
Farm ponds are highly desirable in drought prone and making farming possible even without sophisticated irrigation technology.




Already spent about USD 1000 in Swami Vivekananda Welfare Centre, Kilinochchi, for a Project for water harvesting to recharge ground water

A pond like structure, size 110 x 90 feet 2.5 feet depth, has been made to collect rain water to improve the level of ground water in the land.
 (Made a low level area as needed for paddy cultivation).

The Welfare Centre provided water to people living  around the area during the summer 3 years before. But it could not be done last year due to drought. The existing tube well of 130 feet could not supply water even for the Welfare Centre requirements. 

The Centre has planned to plant Palmyrah Trees along the fence and Cashew Plants in other areas to overcome water problem and also to give work to the people around the area and nutritious food to children. 

The centre is running a Sunday Religious School with about 40 children. 
Free Lunch is provided to them on Sundays. Free tuition classes are also being conducted. 


The Key Areas of work of the Welfare Centre, Kilinochchi.

1.        Value education -  inculcation of moral, cultural and spiritual values;
2.        Service to the poor, especially to those belonging to the marginalized sections of society;
3.        Support to women’s welfare programmes.
4.      Work for food programme.




Water harvesting area to recharge ground water



Work in Progress










New Tube well for irrigation

SVWC – Kilinochchi 26-7-2019




http://climatesouthasia.org/palmyra-natures-perennial-gift-in-the-face-of-climate-crisis/                                                                      

Palmyra for rainwater harvesting

Most trees spread their roots horizontally. But the roots of Palmyra shoot straight downward vertically. Further, their tubular roots store water. This is one of the reasons why our forefathers, who were good at water management, made it a point to plant and nurture a lot of Palmyra around water bodies like rivers, tanks and wells. Planting these trees help harvest and preserve rain water free of cost. Thus the Palmyra can be described as a slightly long magic wand which in course of time converts an arid place into a water rich land. This beneficial characteristic of Palmyra needs to be understood in the context of extreme droughts and erratic rainfall and immediate measures should be taken to its revival.
If all put together, the total income from a Palmyra will be Rs.2500 to Rs.3500. About 400 to 500 Palmyra trees can be grown in one acre of land. The total earning from an acre of Palmyra will then be Rs.10 to Rs.17.5 lakhs a year.

As per the statistics collected in 1985-86, the Palmyra industry was providing employment to 694,000 people all over India and 587,000 people in Tamil Nadu alone. This industry is contributing to foreign exchange earnings worth 2 billion Indian Rupees every year through export of palm products to countries like the USA, Japan and Italy. It is worth making a note that one does not have to spend a single penny on their cultivation.


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