Indian Forest Service officials revive dried lake at Vandalur Zoo in Chennai

We all know that lakes have a direct bearing on the quality of life in urban areas. They not only replenish groundwater and prevent erosion, but also, preserve biodiversity. 

However, in the recent past, several water bodies seem to have vanished due to factors like rapid urbanisation, encroachment of industries, and unscientific disposal of waste.  

Recently, a parliamentary committee that enquired into the cause of the floods at Chennai in 2015, reported that the ‘encroachment of lakes and riverbeds played a major role in causing the disaster’.

Realising this, the Indian Forest Department has put in efforts to revive a lake that was completely dried up at Arignar Anna Zoological Park, more popularly known as the Vandalur Zoo in Chennai. Since the region faced extreme drought a few months ago and hardly received any rainfall, the area was parched. 

Sudha Ramen, one of the officers working with the Indian Forest Service tweeted a video about how the lake’s avian guests had returned after its revival. “Now the water and the birds are back and our smiles too. Work is pleasure,” the officer wrote on the micro-blogging site. 

A lot of people posted a slew of messages on social media praising the members of the Indian Forest Service. Some of them even asked the officials to share their secret so that they could replicate and adopt the same method to rejuvenate lakes in other areas. 

To this, Ramen replied saying it took a lot of hard work. She even explained that they cleared up natural drainage channels, desilted  the water body, planted a bunch of trees near the bank and finally linked it to a nearby water source. She pointed out that their attempt was aided by the early North East monsoon. The IFS official also posted pictures of the lake after revival. 

ALSO READ

This 76-year old has been providing free service with his ‘auto ambulance’ for 41 years