When Bengaluru’s Revathy Kamath started her landscaping business in the year 2000, she struggled with water issues and maintaining the land where she grew trees.
The nearby Somanahalli Lake was dying and the adjacent Raja Canal was blocked.
This resulted in a lack of freshwater flowing to the 25-acre wide lake. The homemaker-turned-environmentalist stepped up to revive the dying lake.
“There were some encroachments that stopped the water flow. I decided to take the help of the village administration to remove these,” says the 63-year-old.
“Earth movers were brought to clear the barriers. This took about six months and water slowly started flowing into the lake,” she adds.
Two islands over 30 feet in height were also constructed inside the lake area to support the flowing.
“The freshwater gave hope to hundreds of farmers, as well as the residents in the locality, who had not benefitted from the lake for the past 45 years,” she says.
The river conservation activities took a lot of effort and money. Revathy shares that her sons contributed over Rs 45 lakh for the project.
After the clearance, she planted more than 4,000 saplings on the barren land. The place is now rich with greenery, chirping birds, butterflies, and more.
“The cleaning of the Raja Canal has to be done promptly. Otherwise, it could be the reason for floods and losing more rivers. The mission is still in progress,” she says.
Revathy shares that her aim is to educate students about ecological issues and inspire them to take initiative, thereby protecting human life and ecology.