How 700 Kerala villagers waded through a dead river, cleansed it and brought it back to life in 70 days
Source: Hindustan Times, Date: , 2017
Source: Hindustan Times, Kerala, May,
2017 :- Rajeevan spent most of his life watching his favourite river die.
For two decades, the Kuttemperoor river in south Kerala’s Alappuzha district
slowly choked under the weight of rampant illegal sand mining and construction
sites that dumped tons of sewage on its once-pristine banks. Fish and aquatic
life were wiped out, and the once-gurgling river of Rajeevan’s childhood was
reduced to a narrow cesspool of festering diseases. Not anymore. A 700-strong
local group of villagers, mostly women, have spent weeks wading through toxic
waste, algae and risking deadly water-borne diseases to physically de-silt and
clean the river. After 70 days of back-breaking effort, the results began to
show. The 12-kilometre long river now brims with water, the stench is gone and
children are playing on its green banks once more.