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When the river runs dry
A community effort is cleaning up the polluted Pinga Oya at Akurana. Kumudini Hettiarachchi reports
Older people still remember the clean water that flowed through their town and the younger ones have memories of swimming and bathing in their own stream. But now, any passer-by would assume it was wishful thinking.

Looking at Pinga Oya, a tributary of the Mahaweli that joins it at Polgolla, the people of Akurana shake their heads in despair. There is no oya. Garbage, sewage channelled from toilets and unauthorized buildings encroaching on the streambed have choked Pinga Oya. With this river abuse has come floods.

Where there was clean water now there is what looks like a dirty little canal, with slimy, stagnant water, strewn with heaps of garbage. On the banks, thriving businesses operate-paddy and saw mills, service stations and factories. For years no one did anything except a few concerned residents writing letters, appealing for a garbage collection and disposal scheme and action against unauthorized structures. Still to no avail.

Then in mid-2001, came the "catch them young" programme of activities of NetWwater, a non-governmental organization mobilizing community involvement for the management of water resources, which focused on Pinga Oya.

"While in most areas in Asia, it is usually the poor and disadvantaged who squat on river banks, in Akurana it is the wealthy and politically influential who have built extensive encroachments on the banks of the Pinga Oya," says Kusum Athukorala, President of NetWwater (Network of Women Water Professionals).

Pinga Oya flows through highly-populated multi-ethnic areas such as Akurana and Pujapitiya. However, with Catalysts for Development Information (CDI), a community-based organization, NetWwater concentrated on the downstream area of Pinga Oya due to limited funding and the fact that the worst problems are experienced downstream.

"The environmental degradation is due to the negative attitude of the community towards the stream, once the source of life for the community now treated as a waste water sink and the corresponding negligence of over 15 years by regulatory authorities mainly due to pressure from local political groups," says Ms. Athukorala.

Where did NetWwater start? Understanding the conservatism of Akurana's women, it targeted schoolchildren with the support of the education authorities. A Jala Hamuwa (Water Meeting) followed with the aim of identifying the problems of Pinga Oya.

"We mobilized A/Level and O/Level students of the Pinga Oya catchment area comprising Akurana and Pujapititya to learn about river abuse and promote water conservation," explains Lakshmi Kumari, a CDI volunteer who was part of a group who trekked along the Pinga Oya seeing the havoc wreaked by humans on valuable water resources.

Through the children an approach was made to the parents and the first Water Meeting for parents saw remarkable results, with 627, mostly women, coming together for half a day to talk about pollution, floods and health threats.

Businessman Hilmy Cader, whose family has been living in Akurana for many generations, says this is a start. "Unauthorized structures both by the side of the main road and the banks of the Pinga Oya are the bane of the town. Twenty-five years back the water was so clean that people could drink, bathe and swim. Now they can't go near it. Another problem is the erratic collection of garbage, forcing people to dump their rubbish in the stream."

When the children of 20 schools were mobilized many fundamental issues with regard to Pinga Oya were discussed, says volunteer Lakshmi. The children identified the issues and also came up with some solutions. As hoped, the children went home and got their mothers and fathers activated. "We also got the Akurana Pradeshiya Sabha, the Divisional Secretary's Office, the MOH and the Bazaar Committee involved."

NetWwater created awareness among the people that what was happening was not right and got a partial solution from the people themselves, says Ms. Athukorale. An idea put up by the people of the area was the use of compost bins for garbage and that saw the active involvement of the women. Spearheaded by the Mothers' Union and with the help of CDI, 50 bins were given to the women in the first round.

"We get the bins from Unilever free of charge. They are transported with the help of the Pradeshiya Sabha, which also gets holes cut in each, before distributing them among the households. Rs. 250 is charged for the labour of cutting the holes," says Mrs. S.M. Zubair of the Mothers' Union.

The system has resulted in the women sorting out biodegradable stuff from polythene and plastic. The possibilities of recycling plastic and polythene are also being studied.

Adds Mrs. Zubair, "The biodegradable refuse is put into the bin. With time, it forms into compost. There are no flies. There is also no smell. I use the compost for all my plants," proudly showing us her garden.

The requests for more and more compost bins are flowing in. Another 75 have been distributed while 100 more are awaited. The ripple effect has taken off. It may be just a tiny drop in attempts to clean up the river, but the people of Akurana hope the drops will collect and make Pinga Oya flow as it once did - clean and beautiful.

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