CHENNAI: After delay of a month, residents who wanted to clean up the Tiruneermalai lake have finally received permission from authorities concerned. But due to the lack of sufficient manpower and funds, locals are not able to kick-start the restoration work.
As the Public Works Department has set a time period of only two months to finish the cleanup, residents said they need more volunteers to complete work within the deadline.
On Saturday, the Kancheepuram collector had granted permission to remove invasive weeds like Seemai Karivelam that has grown extensively across the waterbody.
The lake, which is located in Chennai’s suburbs, is spread across 167 acres.
Two months ago, large number of dead fish were removed by officials as the lake had completely dried up. Following this, residents had written to the authorities to desilt the lake and mark its boundaries.
Pughalvendhan V, local activist and resident of Kundrathur, who spearheaded this initiative, said other than manpower, funds are needed to buy cleaning items.
“Through word of mouth and social media, I was able to gather around 50 people last week and we collected 20 bags of waste.
Now that we have the permission, we want to remove invasive weeds and shrubs. For this, we require many tools and more people,” added Pughal.
Those interested to take part in the restoration work, can contact 9551090799.