The Chennai Rivers Restoration Trust (CRRT), a state agency, has submitted to the government the detailed project report for Phase 3 of the restoration of Adyar creek and estuary. This phase will cover the river's source at Adanur tank (Kancheepuram) to the mouth at Pattinapakkam, a distance of 42km.
"Phase 2 of the restoration will end in a month and Phase 3 is expected to take four years to complete," a CRRT official told TOI on the sidelines of the three-day event, Chennai Water Forum. "We have short, medium and long-term plans for the restoration and have given it a timeline. The long-term plan is maintenance," the official said.
The restoration of the Adyar river was initiated to sustain the 58-acre Adyar Poonga (Eco Park) which was ecologically restored. Joss Brooks, who directs the restoration and biodiversity of the Poonga, said community ownership and civil society initiatives are important to save Chennai's wetlands and water bodies. "There are immense funds to restore wetlands in Chennai but it needs civil society to help guide it," said Brooks, adding that any wetland restoration has to be owned by the community living around it.Local residents helped clean up the place, which was once a dump yard and 60,000 tonnes of garbage and debris were removed.
Conceived in 2006 by the AIADMK government and opened in 2011 by the DMK government, the project was caught in political crossfire which resulted in some of the original vision not being realised. Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was to open the park in January 2011 while on a visit to Chennai. But he did not as the environment ministry had not approved the project sent by Tamil Nadu Coastal Zone Management Authority.
The master plan had envisaged activities akin to WWT London Wetland Centre - educators working in the Poonga, small groups of children studying biodiversity, a farmers' market and an institute offering training in restoration ecology.
"Phase 2 of the restoration will end in a month and Phase 3 is expected to take four years to complete," a CRRT official told TOI on the sidelines of the three-day event, Chennai Water Forum. "We have short, medium and long-term plans for the restoration and have given it a timeline. The long-term plan is maintenance," the official said.
The restoration of the Adyar river was initiated to sustain the 58-acre Adyar Poonga (Eco Park) which was ecologically restored. Joss Brooks, who directs the restoration and biodiversity of the Poonga, said community ownership and civil society initiatives are important to save Chennai's wetlands and water bodies. "There are immense funds to restore wetlands in Chennai but it needs civil society to help guide it," said Brooks, adding that any wetland restoration has to be owned by the community living around it.Local residents helped clean up the place, which was once a dump yard and 60,000 tonnes of garbage and debris were removed.
Conceived in 2006 by the AIADMK government and opened in 2011 by the DMK government, the project was caught in political crossfire which resulted in some of the original vision not being realised. Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was to open the park in January 2011 while on a visit to Chennai. But he did not as the environment ministry had not approved the project sent by Tamil Nadu Coastal Zone Management Authority.
The master plan had envisaged activities akin to WWT London Wetland Centre - educators working in the Poonga, small groups of children studying biodiversity, a farmers' market and an institute offering training in restoration ecology.