Pallikaranai marsh gets protective wall

CHENNAI: The Pallikaranai marsh, whose survival is important to the city, was being gradually choked to death by indiscrimiate dumping of garbage and blatant encroachments. Now, the intervention of the Madras high court has given a second lease of life to the ecologically sensitive water body.
First, following an order from the court, garbage burning on the marshland was stopped.Then, the authorities began the process of removing encroachments. Now, the forest department is putting up a see-through barrier to protect the remaining water spread area.
Work on a model barrier along a 30 metre stretch of the marsh on Velachery Main Road began a fortnight ago and is now complete, said Chief conservator of forests and Chennai circle conservator in-charge V Karunapriya. Soon, a 1.6-km-long barrier will surround the marsh, Karunapriya said.
Conservationists and environmental activists who for a long time had been calling for concerted action to protect the marsh, seem thrilled by the latest move of the forest department, but say the efforts should continue. Madras Naturalists Society president K V Sudhakar recalled how the marshland was swallowed during widening of Velachery Main Road a couple of years ago. The barrier will prevent any further takeover, he said.
A conservationist seeking anonymity said any effort by the department to protect the marsh was welcome.
Save Pallikaranai Marshland Forum member S Kumararaja said the department should also put up digital boards on southern and northern portions explaining the need to conserve the marsh.
The department should also restore the watch tower on Thorapakkam-Pallavaram Radial Road, damaged inthe 2015 flood and the subsequent cyclone, he added.
The marsh, a key drain for water from surrounding areas, once sprawled over 7,000 hectares, but is now limited to a fraction of that area.