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Water Conservation Project – Challahalli Village Lake

Challahalli is a small village near Rajanakunte with a population of around 200 people.  The villagers  depend on agriculture and livestock. The village had a 5-acre seasonal lake that  had dried up many years ago.  After this, there was acute water shortage in this village and even the  bore-wells started to dry up with no ground water recharge.

Realising this danger, some villagers grouped together and decided to revive this lake. They mobilised some funds among themselves and a portion of the lake was dredged and a bund was created  around it and the  feeder channel was cleaned . Being a rain catchment area, despite  poor rainfall this year, they  managed to get some water flowing into the lake.  The  previous Community Service Committee learnt about this and decided to support the efforts of these villagers.

We are  also extending our  support to this village’s  lake development efforts  to dredge the remaining portion of the lake , strengthen the bund and create a silt trap to prevent water-borne soil from entering the lake.

Rejuvenation of village lakes is an absolute necessity since it promotes the development of agricultural lands around it , thereby helping the economic status of the villagers. Lakes are an important part of the rural ecosystem. Although they are relatively small in size, lakes perform significant environmental, social and economic functions. In addition to being a source of drinking water and recharging the groundwater, they also act as sponges to control flooding, support biodiversity and provide livelihoods for the villagers.

Rtn.Dr. Haran is taking the lead from the Rotary Community Service  Committee  to work together and develop this village lake into a sustainable water conservation project. We also intend to work on the development of at least two  more village lakes during this year.

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