The Perungudi Lake Festival has three editions to its credit, a figure far lower than what it promised when it burst on the scene in 2016. The Perungudi lake festival might have skipped a few, but still remains inimitable.
A member of Perungudi Lake Area and Neighbourhood Environmental Transformation (PLANET) — formed by residents to drive continual engagement with the lake and also organise the festival — wrote to The Hindu Downtown remarked how the lake evoked mixed feelings after the 2015 Chennai floods. Filled to its capacity, the lake was a sight for the gods. This situation however brought a festering problem to the surface. A variety of trash, predominantly plastic waste, was bobbing around in the waters.
PLANET being formed soon after, it marked an awakening among residents in terms of civic consciousness.
Sajeevan P, a core member of PLANET, illustrates it: “Earlier, Greater Chennai Corporation had its workers clean the lake. Urbaser Sumeet has come into the picture, its responsibility has been restricted to keeping the streets clean. We were planning to pool in volunteers to undertake a clean-up exercise when a series of messages on another WhatsApp group, Perungudi Forum, took me by surprise,” says Sajeevan.
A few members were talking about a section of the lake being littered and they did not stop with that. One took to Twitter highlight it. Another informed the zonal officer about it. “Here, residents have got so accustomed to seeing a clean lake that when they see litter they know action has to be taken,” says Sajeevan.
Active volunteers agree that the momentum of the initial years has dropped, and the pandemic can be blamed partially for that.
However, the group continues to make its presence felt.
In the early years, the focus was on planting trees inside the lake. Now, the exercise has moved beyond the lake. One can spot the “PLANET” tag and contact numbers on each tree guard.
“Every Saturday, we meet up for a tree planting exercise on the streets of Perungudi. Kamaraj Nagar, Telephone Nagar and Ramappa Nagar have been in focus,” says Sajeevan, adding that they hope more residents come forward to take ownership of these young saplings.
Will PLANET host another edition of the lake festival? Active volunteers say it would, provided the logistics and other factors are in their favour. Sajeevan says, “Continuing with an initiative that is aimed at creating awareness about our waterbody does make a big difference and we hope to gather a wider volunteer base.”
He adds, “I am going for the Chitlapakkam Lake Festival and hope to learn new things from them.”