Concrete blocks slip into Perumbakkam wetland

In the Scottish folk tale Earl of Mar’s Daughter, birds effectuate an impossible air-lift. A belli

In the Scottish folk tale Earl of Mar’s Daughter, birds effectuate an impossible air-lift. A belligerent swarm, they descend on a marriage ceremony and carry a recalcitrant bride away just to see that she is united with her prince charming, one she is already secretly married to. Unless the birds at the Perumbakkam wetland — only a straggling bunch of resident birds is currently in attendance — cross over into the world of fantasy and magically summon the strength required for air-lifts, concrete stones and slabs would sit smugly under the leaden weight of negligence in the wetland.

Medavakkam Main Road is the focal point of development works bearing different stripes and will remain so for dozens of months. From what is under way and what is on the cards, these works would gain momentum and before long reach a feverish pitch. This blight therefore needs to wiped off when it is just a few heavy blocks old and manageable.

As these works began to unfold, concrete stones and slabs from broken pavements were left behind, and some of them seem to have been inadvertently pushed into the wetland. There is also detritus of this kind that stands by tantalisingly, threatening to set foot in the wetland anytime. 

A part of Medavakkam Main Road, more specifically the section along the wetland, was treated to an expansion plan by the State Highways Department, which maintains the road. Elaborately-designed water inlets were also constructed to drain excess water flowing into the wetland from localities around it (during rains), into Okkiyam Maduvu, a natural channel linking Pallikaranai marsh and the Buckingham Canal. While this road expansion with its allied work was being carried out, the pavements had to be dislodged. 

On sections of the wetland where walls have been erected, the detritus has stayed out of the wetland. Where the restraining wall is yet to be raised, concrete blocks and slabs have slipped in, one here and another there. On the patch of the wetland adjacent to the toll gate, non-functional now, huge concrete slabs are found in various stages of “assimilation” into the soil. Slabs have settled down neatly in one place and come across as a concrete floor, one hastily and crudely put together. In another place, earth has caked on to a gigantic slab; and in time, more “accretion” of earth would make the concrete block unnoticeable. 

Pointing out that the concrete blocks do not belong in a wetland is a superfluity. However, considering how blase the stakeholders are about it, it probably has to be spelt out. The quality of the earth is what makes a wetland a wetland, supporting unique flora, and concrete can get in the way of this fascinating natural process.

The disturbing thought is that the road would inevitably get busier and be subjected to greater infrastructural work. Chennai Metro Rail Limited is at work on this road. Besides, the Medavakkam Main Road would again come under the spotlight thrown by the Nemmeli drinking water project, which is supposed to run through this road.