DMK MP Kanimozhi on Friday launched a project to restore the watershed pockets along the course of the Thamirabarani in Thoothukudi district.
“Over 50 waterbodies (lakes) getting water from the Thamirabarani will be restored. The goal is to increase the water retaining capacity of these lakes,” said Ms. Kanimozhi, who represents the Thoothukudi Lok Sabha constituency.
The project was taken up with the help of the Public Works Department and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) funds. “We are working together with the Environmentalist Foundation of India, a wildlife conservation and habitat restoration organisation,” she explained. The project was launched in Authoor.
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Ms. Kanimozhi said the work would include the removal of garbage and water hyacinth from the water holding areas of the lakes and invasive plants like Prosopis juliflora from the lake bed and bunds.
“The depth of the waterbodies will be increased wherever necessary to hike storage capacity and strengthen the bunds into a dual embankment with the excavated silt,” she said.
Ms. Kanimozhi said it was a holistic ecological conservation programme aimed at increasing the groundwater table and restoring the habitat for all life forms. “Every native tree in the lake area will be retained and an additional 950 saplings of palm, neem and pongamia will be planted. The inflow and outflow systems of the lake will be regulated,” she said.
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