Saving Cooum: a citizen’s ambition

As far as ambition goes, Okay. Mugundhan, an ITES skilled, is reaching for the celebrities. Not for private or skilled achievement, however to wash the Cooum. Mugundhan’s purpose is to save lots of the unpolluted stretches of the river because it meanders by means of Tiruvallur district earlier than coming into Chennai and flowing into its most polluted stretch.

He shares a particular bond with the river that flows behind his home at Anaikattucherry, a village close to Pattabiram, the place he performed and caught fish in his childhood. But his worries began with the sluggish destruction of the river due to sand mining and air pollution.

Mr. Mugundhan’s first try to guard the river began 5 years in the past when a neighborhood physique in Thirumazhisai determined to put a pipeline to let handled sewage into the clear portion. “This part of the river is healthy, and several families depend on the Cooum for drinking water and agriculture. We fought to divert the pipeline to the polluted stretch downstream near Thiruverkadu,” he mentioned.

But his struggle continues as a number of people proceed to litter the Cooum and attempt to launch sewage. He began the Unpolluted Cooum River Protection Committee and campaigned by means of social media to ‘Save unpolluted part of Cooum’, and extra just lately ‘Let’s drink from Cooum’ to create consciousness amongst folks in different elements of the town. “A walk along the river bank for me is like returning to my grandmother’s unconditional love. Our ties with waterbodies have been cut off. I wanted to pass on this joy to children and help them build a healthy relationship with the river,” he mentioned. In 2017, he, together with different villagers, began ‘Vetriyalar Pattarai’ to invoke curiosity amongst youngsters within the conservation of waterbodies and different life expertise by means of discipline journeys. During weekends and on holidays, youngsters get to benefit from the daybreak by the scenic waterway, catch fish within the crystal-clear waters, plant saplings alongside the banks and be taught in regards to the threats to the river.

The discussion board now has 150 youngsters attending vocational lessons at a concessional charge. Children would quickly be engaged in planting of 500 saplings alongside the banks. “Our village got its name from storage structures or channels that were created earlier to divert water from the Cooum to fill 20 lakes. Many lakes are yet to fill up as these channels have been silted. We hold meetings in the village every month on the means of protecting waterbodies. I believe that we’ll be able to bring about a change together,” he mentioned.