An initiative to save Madambakkam Lake

Members of Environmentalist Foundation cleaned a portion of the lake which has been doubling as a dumpyard. T.S. Atul Swaminathan and Vaishali R. Venkat report

August 31, 2013 02:15 pm | Updated June 01, 2016 06:30 am IST - Chennai:

01dctbrm_Lake Clean-up

01dctbrm_Lake Clean-up

Instead of waiting for the government to solve environment-related issues, a group of civic-conscious people and members of Environmentalist Foundation of India have taken it upon themselves to save the Madambakkam Lake. A portion of the lake near Tambaram, which has been doubling as a dump-yard, was cleaned by volunteers of EFI, a wildlife conservation and habitat restoration group. The initiative is part of EFI’s 18-phase project to restore the water body.

“Around 43 tonnes of waste, which included domestic, medical, and industrial, has been cleared in seven phases and last week alone nearly 7.69 tonnes of garbage were collected,” Arun Krishnamurthy of EFI said.

He said that EFI will seek permission from Public Works Department to adopt and restore the water body and preserve it as a place of interest for biodiversity. “During the drive, we were able to sight different species of birds, amphibians, and reptiles,” he added. The local community also came forward to volunteer for the cause. The pace at which the clean up was carried out showed the dedication of the team to finish the project before monsoon sets in.

As part of the lake-restoration project, a sample of water from the lake is collected and tested to determine the level of contamination. Then, the lake bed is de-silted and the silt is deposited on the bunds and levelled. To strengthen the bund, native species of plant and tree saplings are planted.

Students of Class VII to XII have been major contributors in the lake clean-up operations in Keelkatalai, Narayanapuram, Tambaram, Maraimalai Nagar, Madambakkam and Mudichur.

Mr. Krishnamurthy, a recipient of Rolex Awards for Enterprise in 2012, has invested all the award money into the dream eco-project. His team wishes to restore at least 20 lakes by the end of 2016.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.