The 26.4 acre Sholinganallur lake, also known as Thamarai Keni, on the IT Corridor is being slowly restored, thanks to Environmentalist Foundation of India.
The lake is one of the biggest in the southern suburbs but was in a state of utter neglect. According to efiblog.org, “Thamarai Keni translates to lotus pond, but there were no lotus flowers to see at Sholinganallur lake before the restoration started.” Sewage and waste was dumped in the area, and open defecation was common. With permission from the Water Resources Department, EFI took up the restoration work in July 2018.
“We started with a topographical survey, which includes studying the lake and testing the soil and water in the lake,” says C. Vajaravel, conservation co-ordinator, EFI. Under the first phase of the restoration, EFI volunteers along with members of the general public embarked on clearing the garbage. The clean-up started in July and went on for three months.
“Every time, we cleaned the lake, more than 50 sacks of trash were removed,” says Vajaravel that it was a community-oriented restoration project.
At this point of time, many weeds have come back and with the good work that is already been done, tackling this setback and taking the original work forward should be easy.