School teacher creates sand art on interlinking rivers

Saravanan had depicted the rivers in white. and had linked river Ganga with the southern rivers. While pink denoted the mountains, green pointed to the forests and yellow at the arid and semi-arid regions in the artwork. He had also written that interlinking of rivers is the only solution to problems faced by farmers of Tamil Nadu.  

Saravanan, working at panchayat union primary school at Vendhoni village near Paramakudi, worked on it close to 10 hours. He began the artwork at 7 pm close to the Agnitheertham on Rameswaram coast. He completed it at 5 am on Sunday. 

Saravanan said that there is a great difference in the amount of rain received in the south and the north. North India is often flooded due to excess rain but in south farmers are reeling under a severe drought. When asked whether interlinking of rivers is possible, he explained that the ‘Triveni sangamam’ where river Ganges descends into the land is just 300 metres above the mean sea level. The geographical land mass at the similar heights is present continuously in the states of Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Chattisgarh and Telengana.

Hence, a water channel can be formed and water from the Ganges can be brought to the south, explained Saravanan, a seasonal sand artist. He has created sand art on a number of themes.