THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: As many as 100 swimming representatives of Kerala Aquatic Association, Kerala Swimming Association, Indian Navy and Southern Railway welcomed the audience and guests by swimming at Kulangara, Vellayani as part of Navy Day celebrations organised by Revive Vellayani Project, a Swasthi Foundation initiative. The event was followed by the mock rescue display by fire force, kayaking led by Navy and a Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) demonstration. “The participation of the public is necessary for the revival of Vellayani. When the second phase of the project marks it’s beginning today (Wednesday), we wanted to encourage the locals to participate in the mission for the revival of the lake,” said Abey George, secretary of Swasthi Foundation. The lake was once spread around 1,853 acres, but now it has shrunk to a mere 428 acres due to encroachment. The lake used to supply 20 million litres of water every day to the public water supply system. Revive Vellayani celebrated the Navy day to mark the second phase of the project. As many as 6,451 loads of kariba weed and water hyacinth has been removed from the lake till Wednesday. During the first leg that started on May 28, a study on the lake’s flora and fauna was carried out. Also the southern tip of the lake was weeded. In the second leg, the northern tip was weeded and the southern tip dredged. In the third leg, the northern tip would be dredged and the lake-middle would be weeded. “In the first leg, we cleared the Kariba weed and in the rest of the phases the water hyacinth was removed,” said Mohanan Pillai, spokesperson of Swasthi Foundation. Before the inauguration of the Navy Day celebrations, the students from Christ Nagar Senior Secondary School, Thiruvallam visited the Vavvamoola shore of Vellayani where the beautification project of the lake is being done by the school. People from different walks of life including M Vincent, MLA, Jacob Punnoose, former Director-General of Police and Captain S Sanooj, principal inspector of naval armament took part in the event.

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