“We were using the water for drinking 40 years ago. After sewage started to get discharged into it from the houses in the locality, the water became unusable. Two years ago, the pond became completely dry. We have filed many complaints to the civic authorities to revive Vannan Kulam, but they did not take any step. We are happy to see that the officials have finally started restoring the lake after 15 years,” said Ganesh Babu, a resident of Pari Nagar.

After initially removing the weeds and shrubs that grew in the waterbody, the PWD officials have started to desilt Vannan Kulam on Tuesday.

However, not all are happy. There are more than 30 encroachments near the waterbody. Without removing them, the officials have begun desilting the pond, complained Subramaniam S, another resident of Pari Nagar.

“There were many encroachments near the waterbody, including a resident who extended the compound wall into the bund,” Subramaniam said.