Residents welfare associations of Perungalathur Town Panchayat have hailed the role of NGOs in increasing the number of water hubs. The hubs developed by Environmentalist Foundation of India (EFI) helped recharge ground water following last week’s rain.
With the permission of the Perungalathur Town Panchayat and the support of TAKE Solutions, EFI took up the work of restoring three ponds in Old Perungalathur, a couple of months ago, and the efforts were aimed at reviving water habitats and maintaining them as bio-diversified hotspots.
While a small pond at Chitra Avenue was revived by the volunteers, new ponds were created at Sri Chakra Avenue and an old temple tank of Selli Amman Temple was rejuvenated.
Founder of EFI Arun Krishnamurthi said nowadays, a large number of small ponds that were once water recharge structures are being converted into dumping grounds and later built upon.
“This leads to depletion of ground water sources and poor water management has led to water scarcity, seasonal flooding. In an effort to ensure enhanced water management, EFI has received the permission of the Department of Municipal Administration and Water Supply department to voluntarily clean and restore small waterbodies in the suburban areas of Chennai,” said Mr. Arun.
Stages involved
The restoration involves the following stages, which include cleaning up of physical garbage from the lake, removal of invasive weeds, de-silting and deepening of the pond to increase its water-holding area, establishing the ‘Box Pit’ for rainwater harvesting, raise the bunds of the pond to prevent future encroachment, planting native species to increase green cover and installing protective fencing to keep the pond clean for all life forms.
Executive Officer of Perungalathur Town Panchayat M. Kesavan said that the advantages of a clean pond include temperature regulation, ground water percolation, prevention of waterborne diseases, and localised climate change combat. EFI has initiated this effort as a community-based conservation by involving the residents, the government agencies and TAKE solutions. The participants shared their views on the programme and its features. They also expressed their willingness to establish a long-term institutional partnership with the programme.
