The Environmentalist Foundation of India (EFI) has completed the years-long project of restorating the Arasankazhani lake near Chemmancherry-Perumbakkam. In the first phase of the restoration work, volunteers of EFI, with the support of residents, removed garbage and formed G-shaped islands on the 39-acre lake so as to attract birds and pond turtles. The lake inlet gets rainwater from Sithalapakkam Reserve Forest. The excess rainwater from the lake goes to the Perumbakkam marshland. H. Rama Narayanan, conservation co-ordinator, EFI, says, “Earlier, a road leading to a cemetery was formed in the lake area. Local residents used to throw garbage in the lake through the road. But now, EFI volunteers have restricted access to the road by forming bunds.” After removal of garbage, foreshore plantation bunds were formed to keep encroachers at bay and also to prevent residents from dumping garbage. This yielded positive results and residents stopped dumping garbage in the lake. “On the bunds, around 500 palm seeds were planted. Palm trees help strengthen bunds alongside waterbodies and prevent breaches from waterbodies and soil erosion. Following this, ‘Vettiver’ grass was planted. Besides, native trees — ‘iluppai’, ‘marudham’, ‘naval’, ‘Neem’ and ‘nattu karuvellam’ — were planted to attract birds. More than 40 species of birds are spotted at the lake as the waterbody is located close to the Perumbakkam marshland,” says Rama Narayanan. At present, every weekend, bird watching activity and plantation maintenance work are going on at the lake. More than 30 volunteers take part in this weekend exercise.

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