Areas around Red Hills Lake are planted with saplings to prevent garbage dumping

To prevent garbage dumping around Red Hills Lake, the Water Resources Department and the Tiruvallur district administration have initiated planting saplings in the empty areas around the water body.

As per an official, sprawling over around 50,000 sq. ft., the empty site along the reservoir near the Alamaram bus stand had become easy prey for garbage dumping in the absence of a committed dump yard in neighbouring local bodies.

Now, around 100 saplings of native species, including neem, mahogany, magizham, ilupai and poovarasam, are planted with the support of the Red Hills Lake Restoration Group and Saranalayam Trust. Tiruvallur collector Maheswari Ravikumar was part of the inaugural event.

Currently, the lake has storage of 2,680 million cubic feet (mcft) against its capacity of 3,300 mcft.

The restoration group and other voluntary organisations in the neighbourhood will maintain the location where saplings are planted. An official of the Red Hills Restoration Group stated that the team had been engaged in clearing garbage in canals bringing water to the lake, and creating awareness about the importance of the water body. They intend to build a park on the site and recommend enhancing the lake's green cover.

Saranalayam Trust has proposed to offer saplings to be planted near the circumference of the lake extending to 30 km. With the local bodies now allocating a committed dump yard in Kummanur, sources noted that the problem of garbage dumping near the lake might decrease.