Chennai
According to the 1987 map, Perungalathur lake was 154 hectares. Today, only 54 hectares remain, as the remaining area has been encroached upon. S Vasantharaja, project coordinator of Wetland Restoration project, Care Earth Trust, said that this restoration started off by clean-up activities in the waterbody. “From July 12, we have started clearing the lake of the invasive alien species and water hyacinth. We will also be cleaning up the outlet from the waterbody, which is linked to the Mudichur lake. After the clean-up operations are completed, we will soon be dredging and desilting the lake and strengthening the bund,” he said.
The local community has been involved in this restoration project, as they will be instrumental in ensuring the lake is maintained in the future. “We organised a meeting in the locality where we met representatives of 15 different resident welfare associations. We have advised the local community to create a waterbody preservation committee, which will work towards not only saving the Periya Eri but also the other lakes in the Panchayat,” he added.
The team also took water samples from the lake. “Three water samples from the lake were taken – one from the starting point of the lake, another from the middle portion and one from the water sources in households. The sample from the starting point was very polluted while in the second one, 70 per cent of it was contaminated. The third sample was fine. Currently, there is drainage water being let into the lake. If that is stopped, this waterbody can be used for drinking purposes,” added Vasantharaja.
Arushi Dutt, who oversees digital media outreach for the trust, said that there is also a drive to create awareness on the need to save wetlands. “We are getting the locals on board and trying to create awareness on how encroachment of these waterbodies is damaging. We also released a video discussing the benefits of wetlands and the need to preserve them, to create a discussion on this on the online platforms,” she concluded.
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