Senior forest officials inspect Pallikaranai marshland, Muttukadu river mouth; report to be submitted to government

Chennai: A day after Deccan Chronicle carried a news report on how the PWD without adhering to ecological norms drained Pallikaranai marshland, senior officials of the forest department, including conservator of forests Yogesh Singh and district forest officials inspected Muttukadu river mouth and the marshland.

With Kancheepuram district collector R. Gajalakshmi also passing orders to the district administration to look into the issue, PWD and forest department have begun discussions.

In fact, the foresters were shocked to see that even Muttukadu backwaters had lost its fresh water due to excess dredging of river mouth and clearing of sand dunes by PWD.

“To prevent drying of Chennai’s only sprawling marshland, options like opening of Narayanapuram lake is also under consideration,” a forest official who accompanied the team told DC.

A letter had also been sent to PWD. “We are preparing a detailed report to be submitted to the state so that a policy can be evolved to strike an ecological balance,” the official added.

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