Spot-billed pelicans, little cormorants and other birds are adding a spot of colour to the Madipakkam lake, giving morning walkers a close-up view of nature in their backyard.
Restored in good measure after the floods of December 2015, the lake today has a variety of birds, reptiles, fish and other species, ranging from white-spotted garden skinks and windowpane oysters to dwarf gourami and mullets. Just metres away from this rich diversity is a contrasting scene —the ever-increasing traffic on Sabari Salai.
The lake’s restoration was aided by the Greater Chennai Corporation and Sabari Green Foundation, an NGO.
Madipakkam now joins the league of Pallikaranai and Perumbakkam, where even the shrunken wetlands continue to attract bird life.
After last year’s downpour, the lake has sustained its water level, aided by weeding out of vegetation and strengthening of bunds. The floods brought enough flows, turning into a water-park for birds, away from the city’s heat islands. Naturalists say it is common to spot at least 25-50 birds at the Madipakkam wetland.
For two decades now, Sabari Green Foundation in Madipakkam cleaned Madipakkam, Keelkattalai, Kovilambakkam and Nanmangalam lakes and is now focusing on those at Sembakkam, Adambakkam and Puzhuthivakkam.
Their first project was Madipakkam. The Corporation of Chennai helped them by sending manpower and equipment for clearing the bushes, garbage and rejuvenating the waterbodies. “With the help of sponsors and supporters we were able to revive the lake, and the Corporation laid a footpath,” Sabari’s founder V. Subramani said.
Clearing the inlet channels before the onset of northeast monsoon would attract more species of birds to these waterbodies.
Restored in good measure after the floods of December 2015, the lake today has a variety of birds, reptiles, fish and other species, ranging from white-spotted garden skinks and windowpane oysters to dwarf gourami and mullets. Just metres away from this rich diversity is a contrasting scene —the ever-increasing traffic on Sabari Salai.
The lake’s restoration was aided by the Greater Chennai Corporation and Sabari Green Foundation, an NGO.
Madipakkam now joins the league of Pallikaranai and Perumbakkam, where even the shrunken wetlands continue to attract bird life.
After last year’s downpour, the lake has sustained its water level, aided by weeding out of vegetation and strengthening of bunds. The floods brought enough flows, turning into a water-park for birds, away from the city’s heat islands. Naturalists say it is common to spot at least 25-50 birds at the Madipakkam wetland.
For two decades now, Sabari Green Foundation in Madipakkam cleaned Madipakkam, Keelkattalai, Kovilambakkam and Nanmangalam lakes and is now focusing on those at Sembakkam, Adambakkam and Puzhuthivakkam.
Their first project was Madipakkam. The Corporation of Chennai helped them by sending manpower and equipment for clearing the bushes, garbage and rejuvenating the waterbodies. “With the help of sponsors and supporters we were able to revive the lake, and the Corporation laid a footpath,” Sabari’s founder V. Subramani said.
Clearing the inlet channels before the onset of northeast monsoon would attract more species of birds to these waterbodies.