‘Extend a hand of friendship to a lake, and it will reciprocate the sentiment’

A multi-agency lake restoration exercise in Zone 1 of Greater Chennai Corporation bears fruit during  Michaung

The water levels in three lake in Thiruvottiyur — Ernavur, Kasikovilkuppam and Kathivakkam — have increased considerably. Here is an imaginary situation to mull over. If they were to be mixed and made just one waterbody now, they would be three feet higher than what they would have been collectively before Michaung. “It is a comfortable situation, one that would take care of water needs of the locality till the next monsoon,” says Kannan G., vice-president, Natural Resource Management, Hand in Hand India.

FMCG conglomerate ITC, IIT-Madras and public charitable trust Hand in Hand India had initiated a project to restore lakes in Thiruvottiyur, Zone 1 of the Greater Chennai Corporation. Under project ‘PURE (Promoting Urban Water Resilience), Hand in Hand had undertaken considerable work in the last one year including checking inappropriate drainage patterns and sea water intrusion.

When Cyclone Michaung caused huge flooding in the Thiruvottiyur zone, areas around these three lakes were an exception. “Residents living within a 750 metres radius around the lake did not experience any waterlogging,” says Kannan. He says the RCC pipelines facilitated channelling of surplus water from the surface into the lake, maximising its storage capacity. This strategic intervention played a crucial role in mitigating the impact of the cyclone, offering a protective barrier against flooding for the nearby communities, says a report shared by Hand in Hand.

Kannan says the communities around the lakes deserve due credit as they serve as friends of the lakes. When work on the lake project was initiated, an orientation is conducted with the community and volunteers are invited. “From the volunteers a committee of 12 is formed,” says Kannan. The committee meets once a month to take stock of the work, with the NGO updating them on technical aspects. Kannan says the community has even helped them identify people who are in need of a job and even negotiated the labour charges. “All this has created a sense of ownership, which made sure there were no blocks obstructing the flow of water,” says Kannan. He says as the lakes are interlinked, if one brims over, the excess water flows into another.

Niranjan Patnaik, president of Kamaraj Nagar Welfare Association and an active volunteer, says in the 2015 Chennai Floods water had entered many homes around the lake. Says Niranjan, “The difference is stark as people have understood the need to have a sense of ownership.”