CHENNAI: After residents of Chitlapakkam and Manapakkam came together to clean their lakes, people of other localities have taken the cue. The latest to join the movement are the residents of Velachery who are set to begin by cleaning floating plastic and clearing bushes in the lake this weekend.
Hundreds of residents are expected to turn up for the cleaning work on the first day. “When we were cleaning the Manapakkam lake, people from all over the city started calling me for guidance to clean lakes at Velachery, Pallikaranai and so on. I’m just a resident of Manapakkam, I’m no expert but I look forward to put my experience of cleaning our lake to use here,” said C Vijayashankar.
The residents would be approaching the district collector and other authorities concerned for obtaining permission. “Our plan is to start the cleaning work with the hope that the government would pitch in eventually and do its part. We will continue and finish the work even if the government irrespective of government help,” said C Vijayashankar.
In Chitlapakkam, residents had crowd-funded around 25 two-foot rakers which cost around Rs 140 each and six four-foot rakers priced at Rs 240 to clean their 55-acre lake. The resident-volunteers, the number of which on some days swelled upto 1500, would be split into teams - two carrying bags for the waste to be dumped, one raking the lakebed to pick up plastic waste buried and another to pick up the waste.
“As and when we were cleaning, we were intimated that the government will desilt the lake. The authorities have even put up heavy machinery in the lake for the same. But we expect the work to begin soon,” said Dayanand Krishnan, a resident of Chitlapakkam.
Residents of Velachery also anticipate a similar response from residents. “We hope that this movement gains momentum. We expect to start with 100 residents now and for more to join in as we go along,” said Vinoth K, a resident of Velachery by-pass road.