Keep in mind the film Mudhalvan or Nayak the place legendary actors Raghuvaran and Amrish Puri performed the function of a chief minister who challenges the journalist performed by Arjun and Anil Kapoor to take his chair for a day after the character places him on a spot?
The film took on an enormous process of exhibiting the facility of a standard man in bringing about change.
Properly, in a city close to Chennai, there are a bunch of younger ‘Nayaks’ (lead characters), who’ve taken on the mantle to save lots of their city, particularly their lake. They aren’t challenged by the Chief Minister throughout a debate, nor are they given the limelight or energy or cash. They’re merely doing it as a result of if not them, who will do it?
“Social activism runs within the DNA of the individuals of Chitlapakkam,” laughs L Sundararaman.
Chitlappakam residents are shining examples of the energy of group who show that it’s essential be the change you want to see on the planet.
Uninterested in no resolutions for the civic points that plague the neighbourhood, they banded themselves collectively into completely different residents welfare associations beginning within the 90s. Completely different types of peaceable protests had been held to convey discover to essentially the most urgent points.
A human-chain additionally prevented a authorities plan from constructing extra homes within the space!
Then got here December 2015 which was a interval of a time most Chennai residents would always remember. The monsoon left behind a path of devastation, and uncovered the influence of poor city planning.
The residents of Chitlapakkam, too, confronted the brunt of the floods. This time, a volunteer group within the space, Chitlapakkam Rising (CR), took on the mantle of saving and restoring the lake.
Beginning with petitions, postcard campaigns, road performs, and songs in 2017, residents left no stone unturned to convey to consideration the ‘dying lake’ that wanted a lifeline.
When continued efforts and petitions to the federal government bore no fruit over two years, the founding staff together with a couple of volunteers of CR took issues into their very own fingers. Regardless of having a 50-acre water supply of their midst, their borewells had dried up they usually needed to pay for his or her water.
An enormous #SavingChitlapakkamLake marketing campaign was launched in 2019, the place tons of of residents got here collectively to scrub the lake. This in the end caught the eye of the Tamil Nadu authorities, who later sanctioned Rs 25 crore for the lake restoration venture a yr later.
Nonetheless don’t imagine within the energy of social activism and citizen rebellion? This unbelievable story will change your thoughts.
We gained’t let this lake die!
For these residents, 2016 was a really dangerous yr as their borewells and even open wells had no water. Dayanand Krishnan, advisor to the CR and a civil engineer, remembers these horrific days.
“There wasn’t even a drop of water in our houses. Some individuals even observed contaminated black water of their borewell. Regardless of a number of protests, there was no motion by the federal government. I needed to pay for water, with a lake proper in my yard,” says Dayanand.
The Chitlapakkam Lake, which is about 100 years outdated in line with the residents, was in a poor form. This was highlighted each wet season, in line with Sunil Jayaram, one of many founding members of the group.
Within the aftermath of the 2015 floods, once they analysed the foundation reason for the issue, they discovered the reply on this lake.
“This lake was in a state of whole neglect. Rubbish was dumped on one facet and your entire lake was full of hyacinths,” says Sunil.
Chitlapakkam has had very sturdy residents associations for the reason that late 80s/90s. L Sundararaman, President, Chitlapakkam Muthulakshmi Nagar Welfare Affiliation, who moved right here in 1987, remembers the lake having much less water even at the moment.
It catered to the agricultural lands within the space in its heyday.
Because of urbanisation, the lake slowly misplaced its glory. Nevertheless, when the Tamil Nadu Housing Board (TNHB) tried to assemble homes across the lake, associations much like Sundararaman’s halted it.
“We shaped a Coordination Committee of Chitlapakkam Associations with one of many main objectives being preservation of the lake. We protested in opposition to the TNHB’s transfer, together with forming human-chains, and efficiently halted their development plan,” he says.
A Chitlapakkam Lake Preservation Committee additionally efficiently constructed a bund throughout the lake in 2000, provides the resident.
“Every resident contributed Rs 100 voluntarily to construct the bund. The federal government contributed an equal quantity and this is among the main causes for preserving the present space of the lake,” provides the retired BSNL worker.
Regardless of these efforts, even in 2015, the lake was not in a position to fulfil its fundamental goal, i.e. recharge groundwater. What made it worse was a three-acre space on the northern facet of the lake, which had develop into a rubbish dumpsite.
The residents, now led by Chitlapakkam Rising, wrote petitions to the water assets division to scrub the lake. A water audit carried out by the staff discovered that there was an infinite quantity of sewage coming into the lake. Actually, it was referred to as ‘Saakadai Eri’ (Sewage Lake).
Submit the water audit, the then small staff of Chitlapakkam Rising determined to convey this to the eye of the residents. What adopted was a slew of relentless citizen actions, beginning with the postcards despatched to the federal government. When varied measures didn’t work, they began cleansing up on their very own.
The CR staff consists of Sunil, Udaya, Ezhil, Udhayavani, Dayanand, Jai, Anand, Sudhakar, Ramkumar, Vaithy, Murali, Sujay, Suguna and Baalu.
A couple of members of the Chitlapakkam Rising staff began cleansing the lake each weekend with the #SavingChitlapakkamLake slogan. Over time, the numbers elevated, from a handful to an enormous staff, resulting in a mass motion. Each weekend, tons of of youngsters, ladies and men, senior residents assemble to convey their pricey lake again to its authentic sheen.
“The lake was inaccessible because of years of neglect. Regardless of years of efforts within the type of postcards, petitions, protests, candlelight vigils, the federal government didn’t pay heed. That’s after we deliberate the mass cleansing drive in June 2019,” says Sunil.
After preliminary cleansing, the staff wished to desilt the lake for which they secured permission from the Tamil Nadu’s authorities’s water useful resource division.
On 2 June, 2019, over 2,000 individuals got here to the lake for this goal. This continued for a number of weeks, and the occasion drew the eye of individuals throughout the state because of social media.
This volunteering exercise lastly reached the eyes and ears of the federal government, with the then Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami personally paying a go to and sanctioning Rs 25 crore for the Chitlapakkam lake restoration venture within the state meeting in 2020.
The 4D Mannequin
The staff advised to the federal government a scientific technique to revive the lake referred to as the 4D precept — Deflect, Drain, Desilt and Deepen.
Dayanand explains the methodology.
Step 1: Deflect – To forestall sewage from coming into the lake, sluice gates had been constructed in any respect inlets. A foreshore peripheral sewage interceptor carries the day by day sewage to a sewage assortment effectively which is hooked up to a STP (Sewage Therapy Plant), he explains.
Step 2: Drain. As soon as the sewage was deflected, the sewage water saved within the lake over years was drained via a sluice outlet, making the lake dry and freed from grime.
Step 3: Desilt: Poor high quality soil was eliminated and the lake was desilted fully.
Step 4: Deepen: To make sure rainwater storage and forestall flooding, the lake was deepened by 2.5 metres. This was executed after correct soil research of the lake mattress.
After the lake was nursed again to well being, one query nonetheless remained – How do you make it accessible for individuals? The civic group carried out a ballot on their Fb web page, and primarily based on the responses, these facilities had been added.
A strolling path, play space, open air gymnasium, amphitheatre, basketball courtroom, and greenery had been added to make the lake a leisure hub for the residents. At present, it’s a image of vitality and happiness each morning and night, as tons of of individuals collect for his or her morning walks, kids play, and everybody has a joyful time.
It’s a shining beacon of hope for what will be achieved via collective efforts. Since October 2023, the CR staff has additionally carried out lake stroll excursions for residents from different localities who want to replicate this mannequin.
They’re the actual life Nayaks, out to convey change on the planet, one lake at a time.
Edited by Padmashree Pande, Photos Courtesy: Dayanand Krishnan.
