Desilted tanks, rainwater harvesting save Chennai's suburbs

The northeast monsoon has just begun, but quite a few tanks in the suburbs of the city are already full. Rainwater harvesting measures around some of the temple tanks in Tambaram Municipality seem to have been quite successful, residents said.

At Arputham Nagar in West Tambaram, residents lauded the efforts of the municipal administration in sprucing up their locality tank that stretches across 1.10 hectares.

The tank was restored to its pristine condition after clearing debris. Percolation pits were provided around the tank for groundwater recharge.

At least seven other tanks inside the municipal limits were restored with rainwater harvesting facilities to recharge groundwater, officials said. Officials are also planning to connect stormwater drains with bigger water channels to drain the rainwater into the bigger lakes to prevent inundation of residential localities.

Pallavaram Municipality has also provided roadside rainwater harvesting structures in an attempt to prevent stagnation in low-level areas. Municipal officials said they had installed percolation recharge pits in 30 spots.

In Shankarlal Jain Street, Chromepet, six recharge pits have been installed with public participation. S. Vijayalakshmi of Nehru Colony, said the level of water in both her wells had increased following last week’s rains.