The Korattur lake, part of a chain of waterbodies in the western part of the city, will soon have better green cover, with assistance from the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs.
On Wednesday, G.V. Krishna Rao, Chief Commissioner, GST and Central Excise, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry zone, laid the foundation for the eco-park, being developed at a cost of ₹16 lakh, on the left bank of the Korattur lake, along Water Canal Road.
Spread across 600 acres, the lake is on its path to recovery, following work taken up by the Water Resources Department (WRD) and citizens’ groups. Officials of the WRD said the eco-park would come up on an area of 30,000 sq ft, on the rear side of the bund. The park will have a lawn and varieties of plants, such as areca palms and hedge plants.
Residents chip in
A volunteer team from Alliance Orchid Springs apartment, coordinated by Sneha Srinivasan, fenced the area at a cost of ₹5 lakh, and joined the efforts to create the eco-park. The eco-park will prevent encroachments in the lake area and serve as a recreation facility for the residents. People were using the walkers’ path laid for nearly 2 km on the bund, said an official.
It may be recalled that a team of officials from the GST and Central Excise (Appeals-II) Commissionerate, Chennai, had visited the lake and planted saplings in September.
P. Anand Kumar, Commissioner, Appeals-II, GST and Central Excise, said the lake, which was once a sprawling waterbody, covering 1,000 acres, had shrunk to just 600 acres. “We have provided funds under the ‘Swachhta project’ to protect the lake from encroachments and sustain ecological balance. Work to create the eco-park will be completed in three months,” he said. He highlighted other projects proposed by the Commissionerate, including construction of toilets in government schools and distribution of hand sanitisers and PPE kits to government hospitals in the city.