Indian Columbus

Perumbakkam Lake spreads over 200 acres. It is the water source for the farmers of Perumbakkam and the adjoining villages. Thanks to urbanization, those villages are getting quickly converted into the city. Before one decade, the situation was pretty good. Although no effort appears to have been taken up by the authorities to maintain it, the lake remained beautiful and untouched. Due to the mushroom growth of real estate in this area, there are encroachments. Also, dumping of garbage into the lake and water hyacinth are slowly killing the lake. Only a few know that the hills on the other side of the lake have some historical significance. The Great Trigonometrical Survey of India started in Madras. Major William Lambton began this project on 10th April 1802 He had selected the flat plains with St. Thomas Mount at the northern end, which is well known and much talked about. He had set Perumbakkam hill at the southern end, a lesser-known fact. Happy travelling. Note:  As...

Perumbakkam Wetland - this is the home for about 130 species of birds, and on average, 40,000 birds flock to this site every month. It feels great, right? Hold on! Not even 10 percent of the birds visited the site regularly a few decades ago. Perumbakkam Wetland, which is often referred to as Sholinganallur Wetland, was originally part of Pallikkaranai Marshland. The urbanization, poor town planning, and the greed of real estate sharks have separated both these wetlands miles apart now. What we see today is not a wetland but a remnant of the lost glory. Thousands of houses, one famous hospital, a college, a girls' hostel, a few hotels, and many IT companies have made this site their own long back. It's a kind of encroachment that was done legally. Happy travelling. Note:  As per a report, there were about 650+ waterbodies in the Chennai region till the 1980s. Today, only a fraction of them exist. And most of those surviving waterbodies hardly have water, and eve...

IIT Campus in Chennai is a small town within the city with a lot of greenery. Some of the city's oldest and biggest trees are on this campus. It is unimaginable to find such a vast area with so many avenues in the heart of this congested city. One of the best things about this beautiful site is the lake. This lake which occupies an area of around 8 acres, is the temporary home for many migratory birds. The site which has the slightest human disturbance obviously attracts the birds. The waterbody is surrounded by thick forests on both sides. It also has a canal as an extension. It is definitely one of the best lakes in the city. However, it has its share of a sad old story. The lake initially extended up to 130 acres. When IIT was formed in 1959, it shrunk to its current size. More than 90% of the lake had been lost. Happy travelling. Note:  As per a report, there were about 650+ waterbodies in the Chennai region till the 1980s. Today, only a fraction of them exist. And most o...

On Sunnambu Kulathur High Road in Kovilambakkam, the village tank is located. It is still used by the villagers for bathing and washing. It occupies an area of around 0.2 acres. The surrounding areas are urbanized, but this tank with the trees in the backdrop gives us a typical village feel. Though it is not maintained by the Government properly, the tank is comparatively neat. However, the path that leads to this pond is full of garbage. Happy travelling. Note:  As per a report, there were about 650+ waterbodies in the Chennai region till the 1980s. Today, only a fraction of them exist. And most of those surviving waterbodies hardly have water, and even some of them that have water have been poorly shrunk. In Chennai, there are tank roads without tanks nearby and lake-view roads without lakes. There is a high possibility that even the few waterbodies we have today might vanish soon. I decided to visit the currently surviving waterbodies of Chennai and its suburbs and write ...

This was perhaps one of the biggest lakes in the suburbs of Chennai. It might have occupied an area of around 160-180 acres originally. Now, it is hardly one-fourth of its size, thanks to the mindless construction, encroachments, and illegal water extraction by the water-tanker lorries. Most of the lake area was converted into a temple, church, and hundreds of houses. What remains is a dry lake. The lake is almost dead now. Happy travelling. Note:  As per a report, there were about 650+ waterbodies in the Chennai region till the 1980s. Today, only a fraction of them exist. And most of those surviving waterbodies hardly have water, and even some of them that have water have been poorly shrunk. In Chennai, there are tank roads without tanks nearby and lake-view roads without lakes. There is a high possibility that even the few waterbodies we have today might vanish soon. I decided to visit the currently surviving waterbodies of Chennai and its suburbs and write about them in ...

1.5 acres - that is the area occupied by this huge tank once. It was such a vast waterbody once. This was originally a village tank of Kovilambakkam. After the Shiva Vishnu temple's construction on its bank a few years ago, this is referred to as the temple tank. Though boundary walls were built around the tank a few years ago, the maintenance is not that great. The tank has already shrunk to half of its original size. Happy travelling. Note:  As per a report, there were about 650+ waterbodies in the Chennai region till the 1980s. Today, only a fraction of them exist. And most of those surviving waterbodies hardly have water, and even some of them that have water have been poorly shrunk. In Chennai, there are tank roads without tanks nearby and lake-view roads without lakes. There is a high possibility that even the few waterbodies we have today might vanish soon. I decided to visit the currently surviving waterbodies of Chennai and its suburbs and write about them in my bl...

This pond is located in Ganapati Nagar, a little behind one of the busiest roads of Chennai, Tambaram-Velachery Road in Pallikkaranai. Although it is a vast pond occupying an area of around 1 acre, it remains lesser known. It appears that the Government has taken steps once to preserve this beautiful circular-shaped pond. Steps to get down to the pond are found in all directions, and the pond's banks are well protected by the concrete walls. Fortunately, the area is not turned into a dump yard and has no encroachment. Happy travelling. Note:  As per a report, there were about 650+ waterbodies in the Chennai region till the 1980s. Today, only a fraction of them exist. And most of those surviving waterbodies hardly have water, and even some of them that have water have been poorly shrunk. In Chennai, there are tank roads without tanks nearby and lake-view roads without lakes. There is a high possibility that even the few waterbodies we have today might vanish soon. I decid...