Model Citizen: Aaniver on a mission to restore waterbodies

With all the members of Aaniver, including Santhakumar, employed in various private organisations, they utilise the weekend-when they are free-to carry out the restoration initiative. Regarding the cleaning up of the pond near Kanuvai, a team member said, “Even though the pond is located near a hillock, rainwater can’t reach it owing to rampant encroachment like brick kilns”. While mentioning that garbage in the waterbody has been cleared, he adds that they also take steps to create awareness among the locals. “On seeing us, two volunteers from Kanuvai have joined us and are [even] interested in bringing in more locals. We are [also] going to erect boards requesting the public to restrain from dumping garbage into the pond,” he said. The major challenge Aaniver faces is removing encroachments, as the squatters are mostly influential. “We are mulling over help from the local police as the police station is situated close to the pond. We do not seek any influence from political parties [though] as we want to remain apolitical,” Santhakumar said.