A number of city residents took part in a video documentary screening on Sunday, which threw light on the deteriorating lakes of the city and the urgent need to conserve the fresh waterbodies of the metropolitan area.
As part of the documentation, a group of residents, mobilised by Environmentalist Foundation of India, began restoring lakes in their neighbourhoods. These lakes include those in Sithalapakkam, Thiruneermalai, Narayanapuram, Pallavaram, Adambakkam, Perumbakkam and Kilkattalai.
“A group began cleaning the Sithalapakkam Lake, which was a dumpyard, every Sunday. Since then, more residents have joined in,” said Jayalakshmi Krishnan, a resident of Sithalapakkam.
“The 20-minute video documentary was taken over 31 days and aims at increasing public awareness on conserving the city’s freshwater bodies,” said M. Vignesh, co-founder, Environmental Film Association. “Chennai has more than 300 lakes. If they could all be clear, the city would be a paradise,” said Nils Helmecke, one of the student filmmakers from Germany who contributed to the documentary.
The second phase of the documentation is set to focus on the challenges in conservation, public policy, issues relating to statutory decisions that led to degradation and research on civic issues in each neighbourhood.
Screening of the documentary will be held in schools, colleges and residential neighbourhoods.
