Revival Of The Creek That Began in 2008 May Be Completed By March 2016
The ecologically sensitive estuary of the Adyar river, which naturalists had de spaired of saving, is coming back to life -step by laborious step.
After years of ignoring passionate appeals to revive the area, the government in 2008 took it up under the Chennai River Restoration Trust.While revival of the creek, spread over 58 acres, began in January 2008 and was completed in January 2010, work on restoring the estuary , extending from Foreshore Estate to the rear of the Theosophical Society over 300 acres, started in April 2014 and is expected to finish by March 2016.
Clearing the estuary of plastic waste, debris and sludge was a huge challenge and excavators worked day and night. “At one point, the estuary bed was unable to bear the weight of earthmovers. It started sinking. We brought amphibian floats from Mumbai and placed the earthmovers on them. About 85 % of the work is over,“ officials said.
Then they set about removing Prosopis juliflora (`seemai karuvel'), an exotic weed that occupied 1.67 lakh sqm of the estuary . They have managed to uproot it from 41,000 sqm and plant local species.
“The first zone of the restored estuary will have territorial plants, the second will comprise reeds and grass and the third mangroves. Of the 98,950 saplings we proposed to plant, 11,000 have been planted,“ they said.
Laying an earthen bund from near the Foreshore Estate bus terminus to Chettinad Palace, to monitor the restoration, is nearing completion.
For years, volunteers and naturalists had tried to convince the government about the importance of not letting the ecologically fragile zone die. The mangroves that once covered the area, they said, acted as a natural barrier against calamities such as hurricanes or tsu nami. Neglect, they warned, would lead to the disappearance of local species of flora on the islands and on the edges of the estuary , including the mangroves. Things turned out as they feared and the water body began to wither away until the government decided to give it a fresh lease of life.
