The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Life set to flow back to temple tank

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Friday, Apr 17, 2009
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Life set to flow back to temple tank

K.Lakshmi

Samiyarmadam tank to get rainwater harvesting facility

— Photo: S.Thanthoni

NEW LOOK: The rejuvenation of the Samiyarmadam tank in Madhavaram Municipality will also help improve the groundwater table.

CHENNAI: The Samiyarmadam tank in Madhavaram Municipality, which was once a cesspool, will soon get a new lease of life as the local body’s initiative to rejuvenate it is set to be completed by May-end. With this, the groundwater table in the neighbourhood is expected to improve as the 80-year-old tank belonging to a temple is being provided with rainwater harvesting facility.

Residents of Kumaran Street, Old Lakshmipuram, said that the tank presented a picture of neglect until a few months ago. Besides being a cesspool, it was also used as a garbage dump for over two decades and heavily encroached upon.

K. Sundaram, who has been residing in the area for over four decades, recalled that the tank used to be a freshwater source. With the area lacking a proper drainage facility, the defunct tank became an easy option to let in sewage.

Residents of Kumaran Street said that they had to depend entirely on municipal water supply as the groundwater was contaminated.

In a bid to renovate the tank and also provide the much-needed recreation space for the residents, the Madhavaram Municipality took up the renovation work in November last. Besides desilting and deepening the tank, which is spread over one acre, the municipality would also construct a compound wall and walkers’ path.

Officials of the municipality said that the work was being taken up at the cost of Rs.20 lakh with funds from the Tiruvallur Collectorate. The work had to be temporarily suspended due to rains.

Rainwater harvesting structures of six feet depth would be provided in six places to facilitate groundwater recharge in the neighbouring areas, including Sarathy Nagar and Saraswathy Nagar. The vacant space adjoining the tank would also be developed into a children’s park, the officials said.

Similar projects are proposed to be taken in two more tanks in Madhavaram under the funding of Community-Based Environment Development programme, a Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority venture to provide facilities for improvement of environment in local bodies.

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