Future of pointReturn - Part 2: Thus far

pointReturn is located about 100 kM south of Chennai, in south India. The Google Earth co-ords are  12°25'57.88”N,  79°55'27.74”E

It is is 20 acres in all. The land slopes 6m over a half kM run West to East. At the western end is a chain of small hills. 

The land had never been farmed, attracted no buyer and had been rutted by vehicular traffic between two villages east and west. Water run off and soil erosion ensued. It was an orphaned, abused, abandoned piece of India, when I decided to adopt it.

Over the last decade, my work has mostly been to create water harvesting bodies. I dug a couple of ponds and a canal. But what I believe turned the land around is a set of six swales, laid out about 150’ apart, down the slope. I have written about swales elsewhere and posted a slideshow as well.

I have not availed of grid power. All the water until 2 years ago, was lifted using a windmill. Now there is also a 1HP solar pump installed in a small well. Given the constraint on water, pointReturn’s revival has been of great satisfaction to me. 

When I was wondering if the restoration was in fact happening, I realised I was blind to the evidence of success staring in my face. There was a lesson to learn: I was being to blind to the gifts presented all around me. 

Here’s link to another slideshow which summarises the work done so far.

What is happening now is a phased effort to turn about 10 acres into a wooded walking trail. How I came to decide on that as an assured future for this restored land is told here.

I am aware I have littered this post with too many links, but it seemed the best way to quickly compress my long story. 

That is the story so far. I am now in an anxious phase, wondering how to ensure the work goes on and the land is cared for after my time. I shall share my hopes and some ideas on it in my next post.