VILLUPURAM: One fine, fertile morning in 2014, five young men uneasily stood around a dry patch of land in a small village in Villupuram town. The raging sun screamed through their eyes, and, forming a mini-arch, they stared remorsefully into the terra firma where one could spot nothing but the cracks of time and negligence. A precious natural resource had died a slow death over the years. At that very moment, the five men resolutely came to a conclusion. “Better lake than never,” they told to each other as they gazed the depths of what was once a clean and fantastic waterbody in their village.
The lake that reflected only cracks and emptiness on its tanned and parched surface, is brimming with water today, thanks to the five-member army. They — A Akilan, K Muthukumaran, J Senthil Kumar, C Kalidas and S Saravanan — form the core of the ‘Karikala Chozhan Pasumaimeetpu Padai’, an organisation comprising of environmental activists who actively strive forward to revive dried-up waterbodies, particularly lakes, and serve the society in all ways possible.
Unlike the waterbodies, their efforts didn’t just dry up and shrivel in the seasons, all praise to the joint efforts of the district administration and the public that bolstered them to create awareness on climate change, sustainable living practices, plastic usage and the importance of the ecosystem.
The plan was set and the modus operandi clear, Akilan says, as he recollects how they revived the lake in Kandambakkam. “We adhered to our initial plan of selecting a lake and focusing on its revival. We worked along with the district administration and the residents in dredging and desilting the lake. As the final touch, we planted saplings along the banks to avoid soil erosion.”
The five went reviving waterbodies again in 2019, this time a lake that had remained dehydrated for over two years in Muthampalayam. After the PWD allegedly brushed aside their demand to revive the lake, the organisation voluntarily carried out the work by themselves! The residents wholeheartedly took to their hearts the single-handed efforts of the organisation.
One among them, Senthil Kumar, strongly roots for the younger generation to take up such responsibilities. “We shouldn’t be entirely dependent on governments either. We want the boys and girls to volunteer for eco-friendly activities and thereby learn self-sustainability. Only then will they learn to understand nature and the ecosystem that co-exists with it,” he says.
Unwilling to typecast themselves to revamping lakes alone, Karikala Chozhan went on a mission to turn the southern town green by systematically planting saplings. The team, according to Akilan, has been regularly planting saplings of traditional species on a particular street in the town on every weekend since 2019. Over the last three years, the viridescent activity has evolved to be an iconic one for the townspeople with over 1,000 plants raised on the streets, along the roads and beneath parapets.
During the pandemic too, the team was there with their timely efforts. “… As even the government was in need of a hand to cope up with the situation, we were more than happy to volunteer to supply medicines and essentials to those who tested positive. We are humbled and proud to have contributed to a mission to save lives,” Muthukumaran said. And so are the individuals, lakes, and townships which have been boundlessly benefited by their efforts.