Pond Rejuvenation

01. Why the Project is?

• Coastal communities depend on ponds and groundwater for their daily needs, but salinity intrusion is causing these ponds to dry up and become contaminated.
• The flooding and saline water also have a negative impact on the aquatic flora and fauna, killing sweet water fish like rohu, kalta, and pangash. Two days after a cyclone, dead fish were seen floating in the ponds of Purbashridharpur village in Kakdwip.
• This water crisis is a recurring problem in the Sundarbans region, as devastating storms hit the coastal areas every year.
• Cyclones have destroyed dozens of pipelines that supply drinking water to the islands surrounded by rivers that are fed with saline tidal water from the sea.
• Drinking water scarcity is increasing in the Sundarbans region, with water gradually turning from brackish to saline.
• Climate change exacerbates the situation with rising sea levels, erratic rainfall, high rates of evaporation, and various disasters like cyclones and floods, leading to increased downstream saline water flow instead of upstream freshwater water flow, and also due to shrimp farming.

02. What the Project is?

• Mukti started work on 3R’s i.e Repair, Renovation and Restoration of Water Bodies in the proposed region.
• Total 250 water bodies/ ponds will be targeted where 5 to 10 katta of Ponds were rejuvenated or newly excavated to restore the rain water and revive the ground water belt.
• Individuals with smaller ponds that have limited water holding capacity may benefit from rejuvenating their ponds to increase their rainwater storage capacity, thereby enabling them to utilize the water for secondary crops such as paddy.
• The organization did a pre-study & mapping along with that that weed removal and desilting of ponds. Re-Construction of the existing pond (Staircase, embankment formation, main bund strengthening, surface leveling etc)

03. How the Project is?

• Dedicated team comprising of Field supervisor, technician, and experts involved in project implementation
• Conducted household surveys, focus group discussions, pre-study, and mapping to identify beneficiaries
• Provision for forming Village Level Committee for project sustainability

04. Where the project is?

Mathurapur-II Block ,South24Parganas

05. What the impact is?

• The comprehensive improvement of water bodies has increased the availability of drinking water and has developed agricultural activities in the Sundarban region.
• The people and animals in the area now have access to plenty of water for daily use. The increased water level has also brought environmental benefits through groundwater recharge.
• Additionally, the community is now better off as they no longer have to depend on groundwater for their water needs

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