Three lakes and a reincarnation

Miraculous things can happen when people decide to take care of their surroundings

Kurichi Lake

Kurichi Kulam Paadhukaapu Iyakkam

From neglect to revival

“Five years ago, the lake was a picture of neglect”, says S.M. Deepam Swaminathan, founding president. “It’s not just about filling up water but maintaining it free of drainage. There are 13 drains that flow into it. The water has to be treated. We took the matter to the government authorities. Over 40 organisations have come together for this cause.” The lake, spread across 328-acres, is fed by the Chitiraichavadi Anaicut, and Kurichi Anaicut of The Noyyal. “The inlet channels were filled with plant debris

. Clearing plastic wastes is a regular weekend activity. We also clear the water hyacinths. When we found that building wastes are dumped into the lake, we took immediate action. We have developed three islands, each spread across a few acres with aala maram, arasa maram, and vembu, planted in a zig zag manner to attract the birds. We are getting good support from PWD authorities, water conservation bodies, and the public.”

Kurichi Kulam Paadhukaapu Iyakkam team

The result is a recharged water table. “ I keep interacting with farmers in and around Kurichi Lake. They are happy as there is enough water for farming even in the borewells.” Swaminathan is nostalgic when he describes the lake. “I am 65 years now. When I was young I used to bathe here. The water was always copious. The greenery was lush as sugarcane, paddy fields and plantain farms dotted the area. We want to bring back those glorious days.”

Chinnavedampatti Lake Restoration Association

Water after 10 years

Aerial view of the Chinnavedampatti Lake

Recently, members of the Chinnavedampatti Lake Restoration Association, set up an uyir vaeli or a bio-fence around the lake. They planted over 100 kiluvai plants on the bund. With the kiluvai trees acting as supports they have planted other native species in between. They believe this will bring back chameleons, lizards, snakes, parrots and squirrels, and the birds and butterflies, which are important for biodiversity. “We plan to reach 3000 trees in the two-km stretch soon. These rare native species like Krishna aala maram (found only in Karnataka), Kal ichi and several others. We are also planting medicinal herbs like aaduthodai, nochi and arappu,” says S. Sivaraja, co-ordinator of the association.

The lake is the only one in the northern part of the city. The 200-acre man-made water body located near Saravanamapatti was constructed in the 1980s. It receives water from the nine- km Rajavaikaal, that is fed by a check dam in Kanuvai built across the Sanganur stream. The lake has not seen water for more than 10 years because of encroachments.

Over two years, the team gathered data about the streams, the feeder canal and the catchment areas. “The lake went dry as all the inlet pipes were clogged. We cleared the debris at the entry points. We planted vetiver along the bunds of the feeder canal to control soil erosion and arrest the growth of weeds. The result is a water basin that filled up naturally during the monsoons and a recharged water table up to a stretch of 25 km till Vellanaipatty,” explains Sivaraja

Bird feeders placed by members of the Chinnavedampatti Lake Restoration Association

They have conducted clean-up drives for 90 weekends without a break. And, planted 400 trees around the lake. “We have sighted 85 species of birds here besides 25 species of migratory birds,” he says.

IT employees, students, and those in service sector, micro industries and government bodies join in the cleaning and greening drives. “ Our common goal is water conservation,” asserts Sivaraja. There are several teams that have taken up conservation and revival of dried up water streams in and around the IT corridor at Saravanampatti, and another two-km stretch at Keernatham IT Park and the revival of the six-acre Vannankuttai. Says Sivaraja, “We have to leave behind clean water bodies, and pollution-free air for the next generation.”

Namma Navakkarai

From bane to a boon to farmers

The restored Oorani Lake at Navakkarai

Namma Navakkarai has revived the Oorani water body located at Thiruvalluvar Nagar of Mavuthampathi panchayat. “The village has 100 houses. This particular water body was constructed about 10 years ago and it was filled with debris and plastic waste. We first cleared the waste that clogged the inlet channel and made it ready in time for the monsoons. Now it is full with rainwater.”

The Oorani Lake supports farming in the village. “A stream from the Navakkarai River empties here after filling the check dams. We strengthened the bund with 50 native tree species supported by drip irrigation,” says Maheshwaran. N.S., founder and president of Namma Navakkarai, an NGO located at Navakkarai village in Walayar, 20 kms from the city. The group that has 10 active members wants to encourage volunteering. “It has to start at home. Ten years ago I took the step to avoid single use plastic at my home and I am reaping the benefits now.”

Namma Navakkarai team

The team conducts camps at schools. “We take the children to show the trees that they planted as saplings. We teach them how the trees give shade and shelter so many life forms.”

An awareness campaign to cut down plastic usage was the trigger. “The amount of plastic that was dumped everywhere in our village, was an eyesore,” he says .

Navakkarai falls under the Mavuthampathi and Pichanur Panchayats. “There are 1250 homes in the village that we visited and handed over gunny bags. We requested them to dump their plastic waste in it and also provided them with cloth bags to use instead of plastic ones.”

On weekends, they visit one colony. They collect plastic wastes and transport it to the waste segregation plant. “The Pichanur Panchayat has given the facility to segregate waste. We work closely with the Panchayat that is most supportive to us.”