Context
District administration of Tirunelveli in Tamil Nadu along with Bengaluru-based non-profit ATREE are using a ‘hyper local’ approach to restore one of south Asia’s oldest rivers, the Thamirabarani.
- The restoration project is called TamiraSES.
About TamiraSES project
- It is a district level initiative, which aims to restore the Social Ecological Systems of Tamiraparani river riverscape from head-waters to the estuary to enable conditions for native biodiversity to thrive and maintain and enhance multiple ecosystem services to local stakeholders.
- Five social ecological observatories will be set up as part of the first phase of the project. These will serve as pilots to scale up from the learnings from these sites.
- The idea is to rejuvenate not just the Thamirabarani but all the water bodies in the riverscape of Tirunelveli.
Need of the project
- The Thamirabarani is of great importance to southern Tamil Nadu environmentally and historically.
- But it too has suffered, which is why the restoration project has been started.
- While the Thamirabarani landscape, in general, appears water-rich, it faced severe drought in 2016 despite the diverse water storage systems in place.
- Settlements have been on the rise, which has led to the shrinkage of agricultural land and water bodies.
About Thamirabarani River
- The Thamiraparani is the only perennial (continuous flow of water) river in Tamil Nadu.
- This is the shortest river in the state,It originates in the Pothigai Hills of the Western Ghats in the Tirunelveli district.
- The river flows through Tirunelveli and then neighbouring Thoothukudi and ends in the Gulf of Mannar at Punakayil.
- The river supports Nilgiri marten, slender loris, lion-tailed macaque, white spotted bush frog, galaxy frog, Sri Lankan Atlas moth and the great hornbill.
- Besides the ecosystem services it provides, the river also has historical value for the people of the state.
- It is mentioned extensively in Sangam Era literature.
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