Youngsters and nature enthusiasts have joined hands to revive Thoosur lake, one of the largest lakes in Namakkal, before the onset of monsoon.
The lake that dried almost eight years ago due to poor rain, is now completely covered with Prosopis juliflora (seemai karuvelam) trees.
With the State government and various organisations putting thrust on reviving water bodies and bringing it to use, natives of Namakkal staying in other districts and local people gathered at Thoosur Lake here on Saturday and kick-started their three-month action plan to revive the water body.
Water shortage
R. Jayakumar, an advocate and one of the co-ordinators of the programme, said, “I am a native of Erumapatti and reside in Chennai now. Due to water shortage, I am forced to buy water paying ₹5,000 in Chennai. This made me think about the importance of reviving water bodies at least for the benefit of the future generations.”
On Saturday, nearly 250 persons belonging to different age groups took part in the lake clean-up.
The volunteers have planned the works in three phases. In first phase, they would remove seemai karuvelam spread across the lake and its water channels.
Once it is cleared, in the second phase, they would set up 30 patches where native tree varieties would be planted and in the third phase they would be strengthening the lake’s bund and planting 10,000 palm saplings. R. Jayakumar said that once the lake was revived, it could also become a major tourist attraction.