HOW I started Canyon Erosion Control
In 1976 I stayed for a while in Utility with Mali. It was a simple Auroville community, but very beautiful and Mali kept it very well. In the morning, we did karma yoga duty. One day we harvested grains and another we were thinning casuarina. In the afternoon we often walked to the beach through the canyon. One day while walking there and realizing the impact of torrential monsoon rains, it flashed in me: there should be a dam here…..
In 1996 while creating Gaia’s Garden in Auroville I experienced my first monsoon. The foresters had planted many trees from the beginning of Auroville, made bunds etc. and from the top of Gaia’s Garden all looked beautiful green. However, the torrential rains broke the bunds and the water ran in torrents into the canyons and ended up in the Bay of Bengal. The sea collaring red of the eroded red soil; the sea was bleeding.
After 21 years I went to explore the Utility Canyon again. The Bighorn Eagle Owl greeted me and this Buba Buba has been a faithful companion since then. The dam I envisioned wasn’t there and I went further upstream, where the canyon became much smaller. There I found several check dams, or better the leftovers, as most were broken down.
Then I met forester Michael. He was raising a dam next to Rogers Bridge at the beginning of the Greenbelt. I offered to help him, which he accepted. After finishing the dam, I proposed to continue with the broken dams, which he agreed to. So that year I repaired 9 small dams and I made my first completely new one. Maybe I was too ambitious for Michael and he let me do it on my own. He and Jaap gave me valuable advice and so I learned by doing. It is important to have a deep and good foundation, keyed in on the sides, so the water cannot go under or wash at the sides. The apron and the toe are essential. Also, every layer of granite should be solid without gaps or even little holes.
A year later with the help of Stichting De Zaaier and Harvest I made 7 dams in the Aspiration Canyon from Pour Tous to Quiet and two big ones in the last part of the Utility Canyon. Of course, the next monsoons tested the quality of the work. Often in the night when torrential rains were hitting the roof, I couldn’t sleep and went to check the dams.
Fortunately, all went well. Sometimes there was a remark that I made the dams too expensive, but in order to have no sleepless nights, I want them to last long and be solid.
Jurgen came along and talked about landscaping with an excavator, the JCB, which is much efficient than building dams with granite and concrete. As money is always short, I started to work with Arul and his JCB. First near Bommyarpalayam at the end of the canyon. Then Avriram of Sadhana Forest asked me to work there and since then I worked all over Auroville till today, wherever I was asked and it made sense for me to do so.
Year by year, step by step. It is lovely to be able to do…..
