Restoring the Siruseri Twin Lakes

In 2015 Chennai experienced one of the worst floods in its history with over four hundred fatalities, economic damage of over US $3billion and 1.8 million people displaced. In its wake, Tata Consultancy Service (TCS), one of the largest companies in India, approached IIT Madras (IITM) to carry out a detailed hydro-geological survey of the Siruseri watershed. TCS’s offices are located on the 300 acre SIPCOT campus, home to prominent software companies on the outskirts of south-west Chennai. IIT conducted the hydro-geological survey and had two recommendations to prevent future floods and improve water management in the area. Firstly, the existing drainage channels needed to be cleared and encroachments around them removed, and secondly the storage capacity of Siruseri Twin Lakes needed to be improved. 

TCS and IITM then approached Pitchandikulam Forest Consultants (PFC), an Auroville unit that specialises in carrying out eco-restoration, environment education and community development, to implement the second part of IIT’s recommendation. This involved designing a Master Plan and becoming involved in the physical work of restoring (desilting, landscaping and reforesting) the Twin Lakes, ‘Periya eri’ (75 acres) and ‘Sitteri’ (25 acres). TCS funded the project through their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) fund.

After a post monsoon puja on 17 December 2018, physical work began. PFC carried out a biodiversity baseline survey in the project area and identified 326 species of indigenous plants, 77 species of birds, 18 species of fish, 36 species of amphibians and reptiles, including 11 snake varieties, 1 turtle, and 12 lizards. The Master Plan that PFC produced was a magisterial 300 pages, and includes reams of notes on varieties of fauna and flora. It articulated the reasons for restorative ecology, the need for native species and working with local villagers, accommodating Tamil monsoon rainfall, managing watersheds and spillways, restoring the ancient systems of lakes with accompanying reforestation to stop erosion and siltation, as well as the need for environmental education. It also addressed current in situ challenges of open defecation, illegal sand mining, and buildings that were built in a flood plain and ancient marsh. 

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We know from experience that it is possible to work with nature and restore habitats. Water tables will rise as we create more water retention landscapes. Perhaps a sense of humbleness will also return and an understanding that development has its limits and that Chennai can change to find a balance between people, buildings and the natural world.                                                                  

Joss from PFC

Manjula Arumugan, a young Aurovilian ecologist who is managing the project under the guidance of Joss, explains, “PFC saw this as an opportunity to create a replicable model of eco-restoration for an expanding Chennai to redefine itself in a sustainable way. A replicable model that could be applied to the age-old system of hundreds of cascading lakes to the west of Chennai, thus reducing the impact of flooding and recharging the aquifers so that west Chennai could have water again in the summer months". The earth from desilting was used to strengthen the bunds around the lakes and to create earth viewing platforms, small hillocks accessible to visitors, as well as islands designed as nesting sites for migratory birds. Following the landscaping process, all the structures were planted with native indigenous species (more than 6000 trees and shrubs) that were raised in the nurseries of Pitchandikulam Forest and Auroville’s Botanical Garden.

PFC’s next step was local community engagement. Auroville and Pitchandilkulam’s long history of working within the bioregion and engaging local culture helped them realise the importance of local participation if projects are to succeed in the long run. Joss from Pitchandikulam explains, “PFC approached this project in a holistic manner that included both ecological as well as social factors. From the beginning, we were keen on orienting and involving the local people in the restoration process”. By treating them as equal partners, valuing their input and concerns, PFC enables the project to be sustained by the villagers. PFC took the villagers to Adyar Poonga, the eco restoration and education centre in Adyar, [see AVT issue 232] to show them the type of work they wanted to do.

Then they brought the Panchayat village heads to Pitchandikulam Forest. “They were amazed that we live in a forest,” Manjula narrates, “and remarked that their places used to be like this before SIPCO, when they were still farming.”

PFC is now applying for additional funding and proposing to TCS to build an integrated community eco-knowledge centre. The centre’s purpose would be to share the experiences and lessons learnt from the work of desilting and restoring the lakes and channel systems. PFC would also like to restore the degraded reserve forest above Periya eri and Sitteri lakes, which are presently populated with non-native species, into a vibrant native ecosystem by planting indigenous species. This would bring back topsoil, allowing rainwater to be absorbed and replenishing the aquifers below. As the forest area is heavily eroded, unless the problem is addressed the lakes will fill with silt again.

Poised to complete the replicable holistic model of eco-restoration of the Twin Lakes at Siruseri, PFC is one step closer to inspiring west Chennai on to a path of sustainable development and eco-restoration. Manjula concludes, “With the right care and maintenance, the Twin Lakes will thrive to become a healthy and lush environment for birds and local animals. It will also be a beautiful place for the residents of Siruseri and the surrounding areas to visit and experience nature first-hand.”