Ours To Protect
The Cauvery belongs to all of us. We cannot simply see her as a source of water to extract or sand to mine. The leopard in Kabini, the elephant cooling itself in her waters near Mekedatu, the crocodile that swims through her channels, and countless other species all depend on the same river that we do. Our future is inseparable from theirs.
Bengaluru draws nearly half its water from the Cauvery, more than 100 kilometres away. For most of us, the river exists only when we turn on the tap. We rarely see her journey or the life she supports beneath the surface. Out of sight, out of mind.
Perhaps that is what makes her so easy to alter.
Dams change her natural flow. Sand mining reshapes her riverbed. Pollution degrades her waters. Deforestation changes how rain reaches her streams. And, more than anything else, our collective neglect slowly erodes the health of the entire river system.
A river is forest, rock, insect, fish, otter, rain and so much more. Protect any one part, and you protect the whole. Ignore any one part, and the whole begins to unravel.
Meet the Cauvery River System
From its source at Talacauvery Wildlife Sanctuary (WLS) in the Western Ghats, the Cauvery travels across southern India before meeting the Bay of Bengal. Along the way, it is joined by a network of major tributaries including the Hemavathi, Kabini, Arkavathi, Shimsha, Bhavani, Noyyal and Amaravathi.
Together, these rivers form the Cauvery Basin spanning Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry. Forests and protected landscapes, reservoirs, towns, farms and industries are all part of this connected river system.
