There are still eri-s around

by Sudha Umashanker

The lakes of Madras – 2

When a fishing village like Madras grew rapidly and transformed into a bustling, crowded metropolis the demand for land naturally increased ­exponentially. In time, lakes, lake beds and flood plains were reclaimed and that has conti­nued till date. The folly of such an approach came back to haunt us in the year of The Flood.

Korattur eri

Mangal eri

Ambattur eri

Otteri Nullah (canal) and the sad state it is in

Among the lakes that have disappeared are Spur Tank and the Long Tank, comprise the Mylapore Tank and the Nun­gam­bakkam Tank. Another tank that has disappeared is the Vysarpadi tank which was fed by water from over twenty tanks. When we drove right down Cook’s Road till we reached the Vyasarpadi postal zone and ­enquired about the Vyasarpadi eri, a local retorted “Eri, what eri?”, pointing to a huge complex of hi-rise buildings, and said Idhu dhan eri. (this was the Eri). The Vyasarpadi Industrial Estate has not taken off in a big way, but the area is chock-a-block filled with colleges, hospitals, commercial establishments, homes, and what-have-you. En route I stop­ped by to take a look at the Otteri Nullah (canal) which originates at Mullam village and runs eastward upto Pursa­wal­kam, thereafter passing through the Buckingham and Carnatic Mills, Perambur. The nullah joins Buckingham Canal north of Basin Bridge Railway Station. The pictures taken at the Purasawal­kam stretch show how polluted the canal is with all manner of junk and filth floating in it. This despite it being bang next to a place of worship dedicated to Hanuman. If only this canal could be cleaned up and given a new lease of life!

Rettai eri

Ayapakkam eri

Avadi eri

Thiruverkadu Lake

Ambattur is a familiar beat for me, thanks to my stint with the Rotary Club of Ambattur and its projects. So I did not have to struggle too hard to locate the lakes here – the Ambattur eri which you can see from the Ambattur–Ayapakkam Main Road (on some days you can see people fishing here) and the Ayapakkam eri not far from Camp Tonakela. Much of the latter has been eaten up by the Housing Board lay-out, as the lake was once larger than the Korattur tank. Since Google maps didn’t show much of a water body in Annanur, I gave that a miss as I did with another small one by the Ambattur Panchayat office.

While there are roads like Lake View Main Road, Canal Bank Road and Medavakkam Tank Road (where is that tank?) and area names ending with thangal (which stand for embankments) – as in Pazhavanthangal and Iyyappanthangal – the Rettai eri, though overtaken by encroachments along its fringes, actually has a Hospital named after it at one end, extending as it does all the way to Kolathur.

Korattur eri: If you want to see some of our city lakes you have to clamber up to a suitable spot to get a view of the lake. This is a fairly large lake extending all the way to Oragadam and Thirumullaivoyal and there are families living bang on the banks. I asked a member of one such family whether it was safe to do so and whether they were affected by the floods and she had a tale of woe to narrate. The waters were knee deep and her fridge and washing machine which were floating in the water packed up. But she seems to consider the floods as a one-off occurrence. “We have been living here for many years and nothing like this has ever happened.” There are houses coming up in the vicinity in a very haphazard fashion and it does not look like the authorities insist on a set-off area around the lake.

Mangal eri: This eri in Mogappair west, spread over 5.32 acres, was once a major source of water for the area. With the coming into being of the Ambattur Industrial Estate, Mangal eri became polluted thanks to the sewage and effluents discharged by some of the industries in the Ambattur belt. The Ambattur municipality renovated the lake-cum-park in 2009 and it now also has a walker’s track and play areas for children. When we visited the Mangal Eri Park, it was four in the afternoon and was locked. A group of young boys wielding their cricket bats invited me in and pointed to a wicket gate. Though they suggested I squeeze through the grill bars adjoining the wicket gate I wasn’t game for it. As I chatted with the boys, one of them recalled that the park was once a dust-bin of sorts.

While in ICF Aynavaram trying to locate the water body in Aynavaram near the Technical Training Centre, I found myself traversing roads like Barton Wright Road (named after William Barton Wright, Chief Locomotive Superintendent of the Madras Railways), Constable Road, Sergeant Road (spelt as ‘Sargeaunt Road’), Morse Road and East Seeyalam Kenal Road (wonder what Seeyalam refers to). As we stood in front of the Office of the Chief Workshop Manager, Loco Works, we got a view of the water body from a distance (not being allowed to get any closer) and left the rest to our imagination.

Avadi threw up some lovely sights. Past the Ordinance Factory, as we took a right turn next to the 750-year-old Sundararaja Perumal Temple, there was a lovely eri (Kovil Pathaagai tank). It is a vast expanse, the water is clean and the place is quiet and serene. Only on one side had people dumped garbage! Retracing our steps, we came to the Sundararaja Perumal temple which is in a postal zone called Kovil Pathaagai. The temple was closed, but the bhattar told me that the place used to be called Kovil Padukai (footwear) which got corrupted or changed to Padhaagai, meaning flag. The Sundararaja Perumal temple tank too is one of Chennai’s oldest water bodies and was near full. The temple looks deceptively small but if you go around you realise how large it is. It has a beautiful vimana and, outside, a majestic Hanuman greets you. A small shrine dedicated to Nigamantha Mahadevar is also opposite the temple.

You encounter a lot of interesting, and sometimes unhelpful, people on explorations like this. When I requested a policeman to point me in the direction of the Avadi lake, he said, “See that lamp post there, that’s where it is.” We drove down to the lamp post and found the area chock-a-block full of houses. Through a narrow lane between the buildings we could see some water. We went around to get a better view and came back to where we started and drove in the opposite direction, and saw what was left of the lake. Not for nothing is the lake referred to as the ‘Housing Board eri.’ That’s a no-brainer really and there are many such Housing Board eri-s in Chennai. There were brand new constructions that were coming up on the banks and I wondered if anything would change in the aftermath of The Flood.

After I saw the lovely eri by the Sundararaja Perumal temple and the Housing Board eri in Avadi, I wondered where on earth the Avadi eri was. Google earth showed me exactly where with a Ram Nagar in the middle and Vivekananda Nagar, Kuma­ran Nagar East and Periyar Nagar around it. But ask people in Avadi where any of the Nagars are and they will literally drive you round the bend. So we  switched on the GPS and ­followed the directions. After cruising on the Avadi-Poona­mallee High Road we turned on  to Avadi main road and drove a considerable length when we spotted the embankment. We had to scramble up a small slope to get a bird’s eye view of the lake. Though the bushes and trees came in the way, we finally saw Avadi Lake at long last.

I was left with energy for just one more lake and we headed towards the Thiruverkadu Lake also known as the Ayanam­bakkam Tank. I was particularly keen on seeing this tank because about four years ago during the November rains, the tank bund was breached, flooding many industrial units in the Ayanam­bakkam area. As I stood there gazing at the vast lake I wondered what Madras must have been like a hundred years ago. Fancy a lake in the middle of a sacred forest of herbs and roots (Thiruverkadu).

(To be concluded)

The man who cleans up lakes

For Arun Krishnamurthy it’s the heart that rules the head. In his heart there is a passion to restore the health of waterbodies, the ecosystem and the organisms that depend on it. He is the founder of the NGO, Environmentalist Foundation of India (EFI) which has cleaned nearly 20 lakes in the city.

The fact that funding for a project or sourcing volunteers was never a block for him to achieve his targets proves that the organisation is its own ambassador. He claims to know the geography of Chennai like the back of his hand. Equipped with a degree, from UNESCO-IHE, Netherlands, in fresh water and storm water management and a very supportive family, he is able to instill environmental consciousness in many young minds.

Arun Krishnamurthy

What triggered your passion to care for water bodies?

I am a native of Mudichur, a small hamlet near Tambaram. It has a beautiful lake which was a part of my childhood. I witnessed the slow deterioration of the ­scenic place. I decided to save the lake which was close to my heart. I organised a clean-up activity with my schoolmates. I never realised then that it was only the beginning.

You quit your job in Google to pursue a social cause. Did you have a plan of action or did you just ­follow your instinct?

At Google we were always taught to step out of our comfort zone, and I did exactly that. The EFI was born in 2006 with a plan to restore water bodies as a ­habitat through a community conservation model. Now we are an NGO with a core team of 47 people. The ‘Cause’ is the hero and our focus is always on the lake. Our work is completely documented, right from the ­official permissions required, the expenses incurred, the group ­involved and the photographs of the work done.

What is the agenda for a clean-up? Does it vary with every lake?

Each lake is unique and a ­university by itself. We take up an initial survey of the work ­involved, study the water body, and do the relevant lab test for water, soil, etc., for which we have the support of resources with good knowledge of hydro­logy and geology. The actual work involves clearing the surrounding area of garbage, desilting if necessary and strengthening the bund with the silt. We then go on to plant native plants in the buffer zone, which is the area between the lake and the catchment area.

How do you manage the funding?

Mostly it is crowd sourcing. I work out the cost of hiring excavators, tipper truck or the heavy machinery required and the logistics for the volunteers. We also provide gloves, masks, rakes and buckets for the participants. We post the project report on Facebook.

Funds are raised through contributions, not monetary but as services. There is complete transparency. For the Perumbakkam lake cleanup, the residents pooled in the money.

Did you have a problem finding volunteers? How do you sustain their interest in the cause?

You do not realise how large-hearted people are. They just need a platform to express their commitment to the society. They cut across barriers of caste, race, religion or even social status to work for a cause. In every project, I see new faces. Involving the locals lends life to the work. They support us with valuable information and guidance. We always programme a revisit to the site every eighth weekend from the date of clean-up to do a follow-up. After the recent floods there is more work but there is a positive and generous mood among residents.

What are your other projects?

We organise ‘Clean for Olive Green’ to clean the beaches from Injambakkam to Besant Nagar during the nesting season of turtles, from December to April every year. In December 2013 we did a marathon clean-up from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m.

What would you like to say to Adyar residents?

The neighbourhood should organise a community driven initiative and hold talks on a clean-up plan for Adyar River. We need people to strengthen our cause. There are 312 visible lakes in Chennai. One lifetime is not enough to beautify the city. I only wish more people wake up to this reality.

Readers interested to work for the cause can contact Arun at info@indiaenvironment.org. (Courtesy: Adyar Times.)

M. Rajini

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