In keeping with the lessons learned from the Chennai floods – the encroachments which aggravated the impact of the floods – Andbodu Kochi has come together to address issues in their district of Ernakulam.
On Sunday, social media group Anbodu Kochi, which helped with relief work during the Tamil Nadu floods, came together once again to execute plans to save the ponds of Ernakulam district under the leadership of the district administration.
With the slogan ‘Save our ponds.. Build a healthy future; the ‘Ente Kulam Ernakulam’ project was envisioned by District Collector MG Rajamanickam to conserve, restore and clean the ponds in the district.
Anbodu Kochi members began discussing the project in the last week of December 2015 and the restored the Chittathukara pond on January 10 as a pilot attempt. On Sunday, the members of Anbodu Kochi and Rajamanickam cleaned and restored four ponds: Udayamperur, Chottanikkara, Thiruvaniyur and Maneed panchayats.
However, this is only the beginning as they devote their Sundays for the next two months to supervise cleaning and restoring ponds in each of the 82 gram panchayats in the district. The group incorporate the local labourers to execute it.
“As of now we have decided to work on all Sundays. We will be covering as many Panchayaths in a day as possible. On Mondays we will decide on the ponds to be renovated the following Sunday to arrange labourers and other equipment,” says Dhibin KS one of the members of Anbodu Kochi.
The district administration too has allotted funds for executing the project to arrange for generators, pump sets, tipper lorries, excavators and workers.
While Anbodu Kochi receive much praise for the involvement of actors during the relief work for Chennai, this venture does not have as many celebrities pitching in.
“Actor Muthumani have been involved actively in the project. Though Indrajith and Poornima are involved in the team, they were not able to turn up because to their busy schedule,” Dhibin says.
The group has also organised street plays, cultural activities and other campaigns to spread awareness about the necessity of preserving and protecting ponds to save a city. They say that they have received encouragement and support from local people and who have even volunteered to work with them.
“4 ponds in a single day!! We did it again!!! Team AK successfully completed cleaning 4 ponds today. Street plays were performed at all these spots as a part of awareness campaign and to our surprise the response was unimaginable! The support from the natives were amazing! Infectious enthusiasm!!!" the team wrote in their Facebook wall.