Kalyani river restoration work generates jobs
The project will help in ensuring smooth flow of the river that now resembles a nullah along a long stretch
LUCKNOW :A 2.6 kilometre stretch in the Mavaiya area of Barabanki is in focus these days as nearly 300 workers begin digging there every day in an attempt to restore the Kalyani river that originated from the Dhannag lake, a pilgrimage centre on the Barabanki-Sitapur border in Uttar Pradesh.
Besides providing employment to about 300 labourers during the Covid-19 lockdown, the restoration work will help in ensuring smooth flow of the Kalyani that otherwise hardly looks like a river at the point of its origin. It is turning into a ‘nullah’ along a long stretch of its serpentine journey before merging with the Gomti in Ayodhya.
Deputy commissioner, MNREGA-Barabanki, ND Dwivedi said,
“Yes, we have begun work on a stretch of 2.6 km from Mavaiya to Holi Purwa in Barabanki for restoration of the Kalyan river. A budget of about Rs 59 lakh has been earmarked under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MNREGS) for the river restoration project. We propose to create work for about 30,000 mandays by making the river 1.5 metre deep and 25 metre wide. We hope to complete the work on the present stretch by June 30.”
The present stretch on which work is being done with funds from MNREGS is very short. The river’s total length is nearly 170 km. Hence, the restoration drive is likely to continue in other parts as well, creating more jobs for workers, including migrant labourers. “Yes, this is a small stretch of the river. If the work being carried out under MNREGA is found satisfactory, more such stretches will be undertaken to restore the river all along its course,” said a district functionary associated with the MNREGS. A campaign demanding restoration of the Kalyani was launched in 2013. But it drew the attention of district administration only recently. “The Kalyani loses all signs of being a river right from the Dhannag lake (a large part of which is in Sitapur), the point of its origin where a fair is also organised on Kartik Purnima every year. A dried up stretch of about two kilometres is the only sign of the river’s origin from the lake. About a 30 km stretch of the river from Khujji to Nigoha is being
illegally used for farming. Later, water seepage from the Sharada canal reaches the Kalyani and it takes the shape of a river in some parts,” said Ram Lakhan Shukla, convenor of the Save River Campaign launched in 2013.
“We decided to hold 11 meetings along the banks of river to demand its restoration. We have been able to hold only five meetings up to now. After flowing via Tikra, Akambha Ghat, Bishunpur to Ram Sanehi Ghat area, it finally merges with Gomti in Ayodhya at a distance of about 170 km from its point of origin. It has large dried up patches. The district administration’s decision to launch the restoration drive is a welcome move and will ensure flow of water in the river,” said Shukla.