Friday, September 22, 2006

Auroville conservationists

Rs. 100-cr. project to develop Adyar creek R.K. Radhakrishnan The Hindu Friday, Sep 22, 2006 CHENNAI: Stink is an inescapable feature of the Adyar creek as a drive on San Thome High Road and Durgabhai Deshmukh Road reveals.
But that is all set to change. The Chennai Corporation has scaled up a Rs.50-crore project to develop the area, the three islands, the old Adyar Bridge and the lagoon. Now at double the earlier cost, Rs.100 crore, it will take up ecological restoration of the creek with inputs from conservationists based in Auroville near Pondicherry.
Focus will be on keeping the mouth of always-silted river open and creation of a world-class aquarium, a park and a host of additional facilities. There will be boating facilities too.
The Corporation will form a trust to execute the project. It carried out the spadework for the project in 2004 when it constructed a compound wall and iron fence around the creek area at a cost of Rs 1.24 crore to secure the land.
Then, a group of ecologists took up a detailed study and ways to restore the tropical dry green forest there. Once the trust is formed, an `Adyar Creek Eco-Park Limited' company will be formed to implement and manage the project.

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