Meet Hyderabad’s water warrior Kalpana Ramesh

Kalpana Ramesh has been instrumental in reviving a number of lakes, ponds and borewells in the city

Hyderabad: Water conservation through methods like rainwater harvesting is yet to become a part of life in Hyderabad, and that is what Kalpana Ramesh, a water warrior, as she likes to call herself, has been campaigning for in the city.

Kalpana, who has been instrumental in turning the fate of several water bodies in the city around, first implemented rainwater harvesting successfully at her home, and then convinced the members of her society to go for the same.

“We realised the full impact of the rainwater harvesting in 2016, which was one of the worst summers the city had seen in a long time. That year our society in Gachibowli went through the entire summer and beyond with the help of rainwater harvesting,” she said.

Soon, the water warrior started working on reviving the Kudikunta lake. “It took me some time to map out the lake, and then understand the various departments that owned the lake. So, the water in any lake belongs to the Irrigation department, the land is owned between GHMC, Town Planning and Revenue Department, whereas the in-let and out-let pipes are taken care by the Water Board,” she shared, adding that once she started the work, she created communities around the lake that kept a tab if there was any garbage being thrown in.

“We also spoke to the shopkeepers nearby to request them to not to throw their garbage anywhere near the lake,” said Kalpana, who has worked on various water bodies in Kondapur, Gachibowli and Chandanagar too. She also leads the water initiatives for the Society for Advancement of Human Endeavor (SAHE). “I was able to broaden my horizon after I joined SAHE, and could think beyond lakes. I noticed that several new bore-wells were being drilled in the city, whereas the old, dead bore-wells could be still revived. We have been able to revive several bore-wells and are actively working on many others,” she added.

Even during the pandemic, Kalpana continued her work, and was able to revive a huge well near Kondapur right before the city was flooded last October. Incidentally, the well, which was in ruins for several years, was able to catch 13 lakh litres of water during the flood.

However, though she has revived lakes, bore-wells and wells, Kalpana shares she was disappointed by the way people reacted to her efforts initially.

She said, “I faced several questions, ranging from ‘why are you doing this?’ to ‘how is your family giving you permission to work on a lake for long hours?’ and even, ‘why should we listen to a woman?’. Initially, I was disappointed with the attitude. But, with time I learned that my focus should be on the job and not the negativity around. So now I don’t let these things bother me.”

The Rainwater Project

Hyderabad has been exporting water from far away dams and reservoirs for a long time now. Kalpana, however, feels that the city has the capacity to become sustainable. “The Rainwater Project is an initiative to try and replenish the ground water levels of the city. We, with the help of IIIT-H agri start-up, were able to divide the entire city into 98 micro watersheds and we are working on replenishing these,” she said.

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