Koppal: The lotus flower which blooms on the surface of the lake in Tavargera koppal Districts adorned with palace walls Hampi during the reign of the kings of Vijayanagara Empire, Nidashi Lake, spread over 32 acres, however, lost its water, and later lost its luster. Inspired by the work of Gavisiddeshwara Swamy of the Gavisidhesvara Sansthan Math in Koppal, a group of citizens who had dried up over the past few decades started the work of reviving the lake three years ago, bringing it back to its lost splendor.
To change the landscape around the lake, farmers procured soil while siltation was underway. The citizens decided to raise funds for the project through crowdsourcing and collected Rs 40 lakh. Now there is water up to a depth of 25 feet, while the surrounding landscape is covered with a green sheet.
Chandrashekhar Nalatvad, president of the Rayana Kere Promotion Committee, Tavargera, told TOI, “On Republic Day in 2018, we gave this idea to the youth, citizens, elected representatives and officials. The village was grappling with crisis due to continuous drought. To avoid a similar crisis in a village with a population of 25,000, the youth of Tavargera decided to revive the lake. The members of the Nagar Panchayat showed interest in the revival of Nidaseshi Lake. It took us a year to finalize the plan. We met the seer of Gavisiddeshwara Math, who visited the city and flagged off work on the revival of the lake in February 2019.
Fellow members of the committee Narayangowda Medicare and Sagar Beri said like-minded citizens and elected representatives contributed up to Rs 21 lakh, while the rest was raised through donations from people. Both said that the silt from the lake was removed only 25 years ago, due to which the water never went below the depth of eight feet. “The bottom of the lake was littered with gravel, and a large amount of silt had accumulated over the years. 300 tractors were filled with silt removed from the bottom of the lake. As soon as the siltation is removed, we got Rs 10 lakh from the Minor Irrigation Department under the Kere Sanjeevani Yojana. Around 200 people worked continuously for 30 days while over 5,000 people supported our effort in various ways,” the duo said.
Nalatvad states that the kings of the Vijayanagara Empire built canals to feed the lake about four or five centuries ago. “There are references to Lotus The flower plucked from the lake is being sent to the court of Krishna Deva Raya. For this reason the lake is also called Rayanakere, and the lotus flowers that dotted the surface have given the city the name Tavargera,” he said.
The water in the lake reaches a depth of 25 feet in 22 acres. When the lake was being revitalized, encroachments on two acres were removed to reduce the flow of water into the body of water. Nalatwad said the lake had not dried up even last summer, and as a result the local groundwater level had risen.
Shivanand Kalave, an expert in hydrology, said that not only was the lake given a new life, but the villages around it were also seeing the water level rising within a five-km radius. “The availability of water in abundance is increasing the vegetation in the region,” he said.
The residents of Tavargera are now appealing to the government to start boating in the lake, which they said will help convert it into a tourist destination and boost the local economy.
To change the landscape around the lake, farmers procured soil while siltation was underway. The citizens decided to raise funds for the project through crowdsourcing and collected Rs 40 lakh. Now there is water up to a depth of 25 feet, while the surrounding landscape is covered with a green sheet.
Chandrashekhar Nalatvad, president of the Rayana Kere Promotion Committee, Tavargera, told TOI, “On Republic Day in 2018, we gave this idea to the youth, citizens, elected representatives and officials. The village was grappling with crisis due to continuous drought. To avoid a similar crisis in a village with a population of 25,000, the youth of Tavargera decided to revive the lake. The members of the Nagar Panchayat showed interest in the revival of Nidaseshi Lake. It took us a year to finalize the plan. We met the seer of Gavisiddeshwara Math, who visited the city and flagged off work on the revival of the lake in February 2019.
Fellow members of the committee Narayangowda Medicare and Sagar Beri said like-minded citizens and elected representatives contributed up to Rs 21 lakh, while the rest was raised through donations from people. Both said that the silt from the lake was removed only 25 years ago, due to which the water never went below the depth of eight feet. “The bottom of the lake was littered with gravel, and a large amount of silt had accumulated over the years. 300 tractors were filled with silt removed from the bottom of the lake. As soon as the siltation is removed, we got Rs 10 lakh from the Minor Irrigation Department under the Kere Sanjeevani Yojana. Around 200 people worked continuously for 30 days while over 5,000 people supported our effort in various ways,” the duo said.
Nalatvad states that the kings of the Vijayanagara Empire built canals to feed the lake about four or five centuries ago. “There are references to Lotus The flower plucked from the lake is being sent to the court of Krishna Deva Raya. For this reason the lake is also called Rayanakere, and the lotus flowers that dotted the surface have given the city the name Tavargera,” he said.
The water in the lake reaches a depth of 25 feet in 22 acres. When the lake was being revitalized, encroachments on two acres were removed to reduce the flow of water into the body of water. Nalatwad said the lake had not dried up even last summer, and as a result the local groundwater level had risen.
Shivanand Kalave, an expert in hydrology, said that not only was the lake given a new life, but the villages around it were also seeing the water level rising within a five-km radius. “The availability of water in abundance is increasing the vegetation in the region,” he said.
The residents of Tavargera are now appealing to the government to start boating in the lake, which they said will help convert it into a tourist destination and boost the local economy.