The ancient town of Chidambaram, in the Cuddalore district of Tamil Nadu, was once renowned for its religious significance and beauty, ponds, and lakes. But that was in the past. Today, unfortunately, it has been reduced to just a polluted landmass dotted with dried-up rivers and lakes. From swelling encroachments, wild dumping of waste to sewage outfalls directly into the river, various factors are responsible for the appalling plight of the natural water resources in a town that was once ruled by the Cholas and Pandyas.
But things changed for the better when IAS officer of the 2016 batch, Tamil Nadu cadre, Mr. Vishu Mahajan received the posting of sub-collector Chidambaram division, Cuddalore district in 2018.
RESTORING DRIED UP LAKES AND RIVERS
The district has over 15 lakes, most of which these interconnected. Therefore, if waste is dumped in one lake, it passes through others before meeting the sea. Lakes of the district have always held a special place in the heart of the residents as some of them are named after saints or have a cultural association.
“Since the area was flood-prone, the idea was to reuse the silt removed from the lakes to make bunds, capture the excess water and make it percolate underground,” stated Mr. Mahajan.
For this, he collaborated with the Environmentalist Foundation of India (EFI) to carry out the mammoth task of cleaning eight lakes. After two lakes were rejuvenated, the municipality signed an MoU with the EFI, a voluntary organization that specializes in the scientific revival of water bodies.
INVOLVING THE LOCALS
Mr. Mahajan knew that without removing the encroachments from the region, his plans would not work in the long run. Therefore, in order to tackle the issue, Mr. Mahajan tied up with the Slum Development Authority of the state to rehabilitate encroachers living close to the lakes. Land to build houses for nearly 600 of their families has already been identified, and for now, the residents are living in temporary houses.
The citizens have also played a major role in the revival of the lakes through various clean-up drives, wherein hundreds of people would come together to pick trash from every nook and corner and make their district clean again. People also contributed financially to carry out the activities. Mr. Mahajan along with EFI raised nearly Rs 6 lakh through crowdfunding on the website Keto within a month.
“It is a community-led project where citizens whole-heartedly dedicated their holidays and weekends to clear garbage from various lakes. EFI’s experience in cleanups made the task faster and easier. Our first lake was ready within a month,” he remarked.
THE PROCESS
The first step was to convince people occupying 400 structural encroachments of houses and shops for rehabilitation, which wasn’t as difficult as feared. “Some families were living on the banks for nearly forty years, and it was amazing to see their co-operation and contribution to establish the ecosystem,” stated Mr. Mahajan.
EFI gave full support and even conducted various drives including painting walls with messages of keeping lakes clean. Next, all kinds of garbage including weeds, paper, plastic, and other waste matter were cleared with the help of EFI volunteers, citizens, and district officials through ‘shramdan’ (volunteering).
The EFI rented the machinery with the crowdfunding money to de-silt tanks and made bunds from them on the borders of the lakes. Once the borders were ready, local volunteering groups were roped in to plant saplings there and beautify the area. And finally, fences were created around the lakes to protect these from future encroachments.
“The impact of the cleanup drive was seen at the onset of monsoon last year when the lakes and ponds were filled with water. A rise in the presence of birds was also recorded,” said Mr. Mahajan.
Mr. Mahajan’s efforts have not only revived numerous ponds, lakes, and rivers but have also restored the long lost glory of the district.
