CLEAN RIVER OF WOMANHOOD

Cleaning up the Godavari River front – A Service to Self

LOCATION

Village Manjrath, Dist. Beed
Tanishka Foundation ’s initiative for the river Godavari and its river front; formerly used to immerse human ashes and sacrifice of hair to the dead souls. Women took up the cause to contain its detrimental effects on the river, however retaining the cultural importance, sanctity and heritage of the pilgrimage centre.

KRA

Restoring the hygiene and sanctity of a pilgrimage centre’s river front, major sullied by waste from mortal rituals.
In spite of the river Godavari flowing through it (one of the seven holy rivers for Hindus) and being home to important Hindus deities, Manjrath was somehow left out of the state’s pilgrimage development scheme and the attached grant benefits. On the other hand, the sanctity of the river-front was getting lost due to the several man-made environmental hazards. It was then that Tanishka Foundation decided to pick up the cause of their river, as the first initiative in their village cleanliness drive.

Cleaning a section of a major river at the village level, that too with an army of 20 women, was a mammoth task to begin with. Led by a spirited Rajshree , the first hurdle to cross was fund-raising. They ran pillar to post, from the local sugar factory administration to voluntary organisations, including small individual donors from the village. A princely sum of INR 3.5 lakh was added to this purse. It is at this stage itself that the awareness spread and the village was united to protect their environment.

As action went to the ground, or rather down to the river bed, Tanishka Foundation members came together to remove the debris from the bank and the river front. Prohibition of ash immersion was sensitive issue and handled very gently, by allowing the devotees to immerse the ashes only at a particular point. The vigilance of Godavari continues and now Manjrath prepares to construct a green park along the river and in turn protecting the cultural importance and holiness of this site.