“In July 2024, when I received a call from a resident in Jangid Nagar, a neighbourhood in Madurai that rainwater regularly surrounds their colony and the people were unable to step out due to the lack of bunds on the waterbody, the idea of rejuvenating waterbodies in the ancient town popped up in my mind,” says Shashi Kumar Fomra, a Rotarian.

Today, the Rotary Clubs in the region have spread their wings far and wide and they have cleaned up 35 waterbodies - minor and major ones - with their own resources which include men, machine and money in Madurai city and peripheries.

Narrating the Jangid Nagar tale to The Hindu, Mr Fomra said that after an inspection, they recreated and strengthened the bunds and ensured that the waterbody was intact and the flooding of the roads was prevented. Today, the residents are relieved as rainwater stays within the waterbody and overflows through the channels and not on the roads.

The next waterbody they took up was the Kodikulam kanmoi (tank). Here the task was a bit complicated as the waterbody was allegedly used as a dumping ground for medical waste among other garbage by a few hospitals. The Rotarians cleaned up the tank, completed the fencing and ensured that the misuse was prevented. Further an island was created by deepening the waterbody and a Miyawaki Forest of 10,500 trees was planted. Today, the waterbody is so enriching that the local people have started guarding it.

Yet another major project taken up was Koothiarkundu, a major tank, which provides water for irrigation to hundreds of acres of land. “When we had been there for a Rotary project involving the villagers on protecting the eco-system, a farmer Gurumurthy, got in touch with me requesting me to clean up the tank,” Mr Fomra said.

Normally, the Rotary Clubs are engaged in activities like pulse polio eradication, Miyawaki forestry, livelihood empowerment of women, construction of toilet blocks and washing stations at government girls schools and among others.

The project to clean up the tank came after farmer Gurumurthy’s call, he said and soon he was in a discussion mode with his Rotarians. Ideas started flowing in from the members and a big support emanated from the then Rotary Governor R Raja Govindasamy and team.

A Rotarian from Tirupur offered to donate a Komatsu excavator with an operator/driver. The task, which initially looked Herculean, became achievable. Soon, the funds required to engage labour and others were worked out and philanthropists donated liberally, Mr Fomra said and thus the first project was done up as per the scheduled timetable.

When the villagers led by farmer Gurumurthy thanked the Rotarians for the commendable task, the members decided to look for other waterbodies where such problems persisted. During the regular meetings, the successful rejuvenation of the tank in Koothiarkundu was discussed.

With overwhelming response pouring in, the Rotarians began work on cleaning up tank after tank in the district. There were challenges. In some cases, there were also issues which required to be sorted out at the highest intervention in the district.

Hence, when the then Collector M. S. Sangeetha was briefed, she readily agreed to support the Rotarians, recalled Mr Fomra and hailed the present Collector K. J. Praveen Kumar for his readiness in extending help wherever required.

Today, he said, “we may have cleaned up about 35 waterbodies, but more than the numbers, the involvement of the people in each location and the satisfaction of having rejuvenated the ponds and channels was very high. In some cases, the technocrats from the Public Works Department and the Water Resources Department gave tips which helped us expedite the works,” he added.

The rejuvenation project reached a high that the Tamil Nadu government recognised the work of the Rotarians and presented Chief Minister’s Water Body Conservator Award 2025 trophy and a ₹1 lakh cash incentive. The then Environment Secretary Supriya Sahu appreciated the Rotarians for their work at the function, Mr Fomra said.

The then Rotary Governor Mr Raja Govindasamy said that the rejuvenation of the waterbodies facilitated in enhancing the green cover in Madurai district. Many barren lands came in for productive use after the Rotary undertook the work. The Community Action for Fresh Water 2024-25 gave a fillip and what was started in a small way turned up into a people’s movement.

He is hopeful that the waterbody rejuvenation project taken by the Rotary Clubs would go a long way and compared it with the pulse polio program, which has helped in polio eradication almost close to 99 %.

Kudimaramathu project

A senior official from the PWD said that there were 2,295 recognised waterbodies in Madurai district which included irrigation tanks, ponds and temple tanks and among others. Under the AIADMK regime, when Edappadi K. Palaniswami was the Chief Minister, the government had earmarked funds in a big way to clean up the waterbodies.

In Madurai district alone, over ₹50 crore was spent under the project titled ‘ Kudimaramathu” which not only helped in desilting the tanks, but also conserve more water. The project facilitated in recharging the watertable and the crop coverage too widened, he added.

The Periyar-Vaigai and Gundar Basin divisions have 1,500 tanks and in Madurai city limits, there were close to 200 waterbodies, including 33 major urban tanks like the Madakulam tank and Vandiyur tank. Recently, the DMK government had spent about ₹15 crore in rejuvenating the Vandiyur tank in a big way that it has become a most preferred destination for not only the walkers, but also for youngsters to engage themselves in outdoor activities.

The Madurai Corporation too was keen to enhance the green cover within the city and had identified a few waterbodies to be cleansed. The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court too had recently given directions to the authorities to fill water in the Koodal Azhagar Perumal Tank situated in Town Hall Road.

The Rotarians have already raised Miyawaki forestry project in a big way. In Kappalur, they have about 60,000 trees growing in six acres, 5,000 trees on one acre inside the sprawling Madura college campus, 3,500 trees in 35 cents of land in Vasudhara residential complex, 5,000 trees in one acre in K. Pudur and another 10,500 trees in about an acre in Surya Nagar is a different story. But the fact is that Rotarians in their own way are helping the green cover slowly expand in Madurai.