Creating a protected water reservation
On the east side of Auroville, at the other side of National Highway 66, far behind Promesse community and Morattandi village, one finds Hermitage, the last wilderness of Auroville stretching over 120 acres. The land is hard, sun-baked, covered with pebbles, scarred by erosion, pockmarked. But the stark landscape with its wide horizons is of an indescribable beauty. In the midst of this unfertile desert some trees grow: the greyish green-silver leaves of the acacia that The Mother called ‘work tree’ wave softly in the winds, showing that, even this unhospitable environment, a flora can develop.
Ever since the land was bought for Auroville in the 1960s, now and then a handful of people - hermits, artists and young pioneers, tookup the challenge of living here, far away and isolated from Auroville's main body. Most failed the test, but even now a few continue to make this place their home. They work on the land, making terraces and creating bunds to avoid further soil erosion, and to retain the little topsoil left over from illegal pebble mining.
The south side of Hermitage is one of the most beautiful canyonareasof Auroville. It ishome toa promising biotope of birds, mammals and reptiles. But the lands do not all belong to Auroville; parts of it are peramboke lands, owned by the government of Tamil Nadu. This, so far, has prevented them to be protected. Check dams, builtby indifferent contractors in a distant past, were on the verge of collapse.
This year, permission of the local village panchayat was obtained to start work on the peramboke lands, in conjunction with the Auroville lands. Seven check dams with an average height of 4- 6 metres and a top width between 3 to 4 metres were built upstream; five onAuroville land and two on peramboke land, with lengths varying from 17 to 52 metres, each with an adequate spill way. The funds to do this work were provided by friends of Auroville.
Soon after finishing the dams, the builders were rewarded with heavy rains lashing the desert and creating large and beautifulwater bodies, showing the hugerainwater-harvesting potential of Hermitage and the promise of making it a wildlife sanctuary. The steward of Hermitage is now doing the last work: planting the dams with grasses to prevent erosion, and monitoring the water levels.
Phase two of the Hermitage work is scheduled to start mid August. With an estimated project costs of Rs 500,000, the dam building and bunding of the entire Hermitage and inter-connected areas will be finalised. The result: an integrated area of 350 acres of Auroville and peramboke land that will serve as a major water catchment area with lakes, ponds and kolamsholding harvested rainwater that will slowly percolate into the aquifers and so help raise the groundwater level in Auroville and its surroundings.
That this land should be declared a protected water reservation and become a nature sanctuary is the dream of many Aurovilians. If the nearby Auroville communities of Aranya, Sadhana Forest and Aurobrindavan could fuse with the peramboke lands and perhaps with some neighbouring plots that are privately owned, such as the 65 acres of Merveille of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram, such a status might be bestowed on it. It could even include part or the whole of neighbouringOusteri Lake, which attracts thousands of migratory waterbirds. Such an Auroville - Pondicherry sanctuary would be gift to the entire region.
Carel
Recently completed projects.
1)Buddha Garden, March 3-9, 2014. The work consisted of enlargement of the pond, which was made last year and which holds the water for a very long time due to the hard and impenetrable soil structure. On a lowersection a new pond was made, connected to the former one in case this oneflows over. In the new pond the percolation goes fast, so it helps to drainthe land and hopefully fruit trees may do well in this area on the levelledterraces. There are now 3 ponds; the first and the second are now connectedby a spillway.
Time worked: 37.4 hours. Total costs: Rs 20,196
2)Discipline, March 10-13, 2014. The work consisted of making a rainwater tank and doing bunding and levelling.
Time worked: 21.5 hours. Total costs: Rs 11,610
3)International Zone, March 14-20, 2014. The work consisted of creating water bodies, spill ways and bunds. Though the monsoon was poor, during the last good rain in November all the water bodies in the zone filled up and flowed over. To improve the capacitythe third pond in front ofthe Visitors’Centrewas enlarged and made deeper. The soil was piled upby Road Service for the future loop road. A bund was made for the AfricanPavilion. Two other large ponds were desilted, with the silt being transported to AyarpadiFarm. The road near the graveyard was repaired.
Time worked: 30.2 hours. Total costs: Rs 16,308.
4)Hermitage, Phase One, March 25- May 16, 2014
Time worked: 128.5 hours. Total costs: Rs 69,390. + RS 14.200,- for tractor.
Estimated project costs for Hermitage Phase 2:.
Work involves bunding and making check dams.
JCB rental Rs 300,000
Two tractors rental Rs 150,000
Supervisor Rs 50,000
Total estimated costsRs 500,000