More city residents, particularly the youth, have taken up environmental volunteering by engaging in restoration of waterbodies in the past few years.
From the days when residents entirely depended on the government agencies to rejuvenate or clean lakes, many are now dedicating time to participate in such activities. The change of mindset among people after the 2015 floods has led to increase in such activities over the past few years, note environmentalists.
Dhrthi Bhat, a Class X student in Kotturpuram, is a volunteer of the Environmentalist Foundation of India (EFI), a volunteer-driven organization. “It was exciting to clean the periphery of the lake along with like-minded people and pick up truck-loads of garbage,” she said.
EFI efforts
EFI, which is stepping into its 11th year, has scaled up its efforts to rejuvenate waterbodies. This year, it aims to restore 65 waterbodies in 8 States. This includes 25 in Tamil Nadu. It would be done through voluntary programmes and machine-based scientific restoration. Last year, it took restoration of 39 waterbodies across four States.
Arun Krishnamurthy, founder, EFI, said: “We have learnt many lessons through volunteering programmes over the years. Sustaining the momentum amidst many distractions is a challenge. More awareness is needed in rural pockets as the concept is not yet familiar there.”
This year, EFI would restore waterbodies of various sizes, including Alapakkam, Gerugambakkam, Sriperumbudur, along the Vandalur Outer Ring Road and Coimbatore.
While there is a growing interest for environmental volunteering, it is often not sustained, note environmentalists. Jayshree Vencatesan, managing trustee, Care Earth Trust, said the fear of flooding has brought in more awareness about waterbodies conservation. “Volunteers need to be sensitised to the right ways of clean-up initiatives in wetlands. Not all wetlands need desilting and some parts of restoration has to be done only by professionals,” she said.
B.R. Prasad of Ambattur felt that there are limits to community participation. “We rejuvenated Thangal lake, Vijayalakshmipuram that now has a park too. But, it still cannot store much water as there is no inlet or outlet. Such works have to be done by only government agencies.”
