Youngsters from Mandya making a short film on local hero ‘Kere’ Kamegowda

MYSURU: Thrust into the national spotlight following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s mention of his singular achievements, Kere Kamegowda of Malavalli taluk in Mandya district has become a local celebrity of sorts, inspiring awe and derision in equal measure among his neighbours. A group of youngsters in Mandya district have decided to pay tribute to the local hero, who is credited with the creation of more than a dozen lakes in his village, by making a short film called ‘Pond Man Kere Kamegowda’, which was directly uploaded on social media portals.
The youngsters said that they wanted to highlight the ecological importance of the ponds that Kamegowda has made at the foot of the barren Kundini Betta near Dasanadoddi village. Activists Bhudanuru Satish, member of Navu Dravida Association Abhi Gowda and Jana Jagruthi Vedike functionary MB Naganna Gowda came together to make a film that would instil ecological awareness among the people, while also highlighting the achievements of Kamegowda.
They said that the short film would be around five minutes’ long, with information about all the 14 lakes made by Kamegowda condensed in it.The team used drone cameras, and the small waterbodies are likely to be shown as from a higher vantage point.
Naganna, who is leading the production of the short film, told TOI, “After some of his neighbours countered Kamegowda’s claims of having developed the lakes at Kundini Betta, we went to Dasanadoddi ourselves to put the debate to rest. Most of locals assured us that the lakes were developed by Kamegowda. Geology experts accompanied us, and they confirmed that they were man-made lakes.”
In the course of making the film, the trio of youngsters learnt that the 14 lakes can cumulatively store up to 33 crore litres of water.