The second-longest river of Kerala facing multiple issues of flooding during monsoon, depletion of natural resources and biodiversity in the catchment area, deposition of a large quantity of sedimentation due to soil erosion and topsoil loss, depletion of the tributaries of this river.

Nila or Bharathapuza has a total length of 204 Kilometers with a catchment area of 6186 square kilometres in which 4400 square kilometres are in Kerala and the remaining 1786 are in Tamil Nadu.

The NSS team of Chittoor Government college is taking an initiative to discuss the possibilities of the revival of this pristine river which is the source of livelihood for many in the catchment area. A webinar was organized by the NSS team of Government College, Chittoor in association with the Nila action group TeNAG and Caritas India to discuss the possibilities on the revival of NILA (Bharathapuzha) River in Kerala.

Caritas India with its experiences in the field of water resources, watershed management was invited to share the possibilities of its revival. This webinar was organised on October 18, 2020, with 50 participants from different NSS units.

Over the years, the river has experienced encroachment of water storage structures, change in land use, loss of biodiversity, poisoning due to chemicals and pesticides, erosion of streamsides, encroachments, high surface flow low subsurface flow, topsoil loss, absence of water conservation measures and siltation with clayey soil.

Dr. Harias V.R. from Caritas India discussed and shared that it is important to follow micro-interventions of conserving the soil and water in the small catchment area with the active involvement of the community and local government units. He suggested that small streams of the tributaries and distributaries of the river need to be protected through making structures like gully plugs and streamside protection measures

“Construction of Subsurface barriers (subsurface dykes) in the second and third-order streams help in conserving the running water and avoid breaching of water through the sandy layer. This helps in improving the groundwater potential of the surrounding areas,” added Dr. Haridas.

He also proposed for riverbank protection through promoting vegetative cover of multispecies plants that helps in reducing gully erosion and simultaneous dame of the sides of the streams.

Soil disturbing activities using JCB and soil loosening activities during monsoon lead to the displacement and transportation of topsoil along with rainwater and move through streams and rivers. This causes siltation of fine-grained soil particles (clayey) in the riverbed leading to low infiltration of water.

Hence loosening of soil during monsoon season to be controlled to avoid siltation in the riverbed.

The excessive use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides for cropping in the catchment area of the river is leading to water pollution and simultaneous health issues. Hence the farmers in the catchment area of the river to be trained on eco-friendly farming practices.

The water storage structures (ponds, lakes) of the catchment area need to be revived for increasing the groundwater potential of the area, reducing the high flow of rainwater and hence reducing the surface flow of the streams and rivers.