Lakes along Outer Ring Road in Chennai get a new lease of life
The Hindu
Conservationists work jointly with WRD to rejuvenate waterbodies
Several waterbodies dot Outer Ring Road (ORR) between Vandalur and Minjur. The Environmentalist Foundation of India (EFI), a conservation group, has joined hands with the Water Resources Department (WRD) to structurally restore a few lakes along the route.
These waterbodies have been reduced to vacant spaces ridden with vegetation like Prosopis juliflora (seemai karuvelam) and lack proper boundaries. The EFI has taken up restoration works in five lakes in Poonamallee, Kolappancheri, Panayanthangal, Konimedu and Vellacheri this year. The organisation has documented nearly 78 waterbodies along ORR and already rejuvenated those at Konimedu, Minjur and Vandalur.
“We chose to rejuvenate the waterbodies located along ORR as it is easy to structurally restore such lakes before rapid urbanisation occurs in the region. We have started work with the administrative support of the Tiruvallur Collectorate. These lakes also fall in the zone that receive intense rainfall,” said Arun Krishnamurthy, EFI’s founder.