Friends of Adyar Poonga

I attended a Friends of Adyar Poonga meeting this afternoon - so I think I qualify as "friend". (Nowadays, have you noticed, this "friend" is a very important concept. So I am friends with so-and-so in Facebook, I could be a friend of the Chennai Museum, or part of the elite Friends of Dakshinchitra.)

Anyways, for those of you wondering what Adyar Poonga is in the first place, its about 58 acres of wasteland, which the government has decide to restore back to nature. No, no that does not mean that all male citizens of our great metro can go and use it to answer their calls of nature, nor does it mean that we can throw our natural (and unnatural) rubbish there. No, it means that the TN government has finally seen the light and ordered that the Adyar Estuary, creek and wetlands around it need to be improved from the sewage pond and garbage dump they are currently, into some sort of eco park.

Thankfully, they got in some outsiders - Pitchandikulam Forest Consultants, all the way from Auroville, who have worked doggedly, enthusiastically and cooperatively.

This is the current status, as was shared with us at the meeting -

• Finally, they have been able to get the officials to cooperate and block the sewage entering the marshland and the stormwater drains in the neighbourhood
• The colonies around are now not throwing their waste and garbage into the 58 acres!
• A freshwater pond has been excavated, and has already benefitted from the rains, and has water.
• Tree planting - only native species for the most part - has begun.
• Educational boards and wildlife exhibitions are being hosted
• There is a semi-permanent display on the plans for the area.  (Do go and take a look, a lot of thought and planning has gone into it.)
• There are talks on with the large corporates and commercial buildings around to provide treated grey water for the development of the greenery.

So, what did I do?  Just listened actually, for the most part, and fed off some of the enthusiasm and optimism that was in the air regarding the future of the project.  Oh yes, I made an important "contribution" - I suggested that since they were not giving us a ration card or a voter's id, details like Father's Name could be dropped from the enrolling form!!

Next meeting on Oct 26th.  I hope to attend if I am in town.

PS:  Kailash of MNS pointed out some Large pied wagtails which was my first time seeing this wagtail! Thanks Kailash!