“The water glitters. Birds wade through water to catch food.
Reeds gently sway in the breeze.
And there is a pile of trash on the edge.
What a way to ruin the picture.
This is the Shollinganallur Marshland.”
Home to many birds and aquatic animals. It is also, unfortunately ,shol’s( shollinganallur) remnant of the enormous swamp that linked pallikaranai and this marshland. Now, even this small remnant is being used as a dustbin and construction site.
What do the residents have to say of this matter?
This is Mr. Rakesh Ohri- Rakesh uncle- who has been living in the community around the lake for 5 years. Aged 66, he is a retired business man who is currently the head of The Central Park South Owners Association( TCPSOA) and is an active participant in the cleaning up of the lake. He has participated in many cleanups conducted by a member of EFI( Mr Guru, manager of Nilgiris Supermarket). He thinks bunds should be made around the swamp to prevent further encroachments to the swamp.
This is Ms. Sarojini Swaminathan and her mom, Ms. Lakshmi Ramachandran. They have also been living here for 5 years.
Aged 10 and 38 respectively, Sarojini is a student of HLC international and Lakshmi aunty is a teacher. Both of them have participated in ‘2 bin 1 bag ‘ ventures for waste segregation and lake cleanups. In fact, the only thing that Sarojini dislikes about the lake is that one of the migratory birds pooped on her head.
There are some people who help the lake without any obligation.
Meet Mr.M.Subramanian.
He is the security guard at the central park south who likes everything about the lake and has prevented young men from throwing plastic in to the lake.
There are also some people who leave the work to others like every other resident who does not do anything to help the lake.
Just imagine, a calm bird sanctuary where people can come to have a look at the birds and have a picnic.
This can be possible if we have a few extra hands and a little more help to make the lake a better place!
