Archive · 10 Sep 2026
Citizen Groups Urge Basin-Wide Plan To Save Chennai Wetlands
Citizen groups say Chennai’s Pallikaranai watershed should be managed as one connected water system.
It includes many lakes, ponds, canals and wetlands.
Water from these areas eventually drains toward the Pallikaranai marshland.
The groups say building projects and encroachments have damaged parts of this system.
They want government departments to work together instead of handling each lake separately.
They also want wetlands and floodplains to be clearly marked and protected.
Sewage, garbage and construction debris should be kept out of the waterways.
The groups say better drainage and lake restoration could help reduce flooding and water stress.
They have proposed a charter listing problems and actions for government agencies and communities.
The Chennai Wetlands Action Collective and Oorvani Foundation released a Citizen’s Charter for the Pallikaranai watershed.
The watershed includes 65 major lakes and hundreds of ponds draining toward the protected Pallikaranai Ramsar wetland.
Citizen groups want an independent inter-departmental committee to coordinate planning, assign responsibilities and set implementation timelines.
The charter calls for wetland and floodplain protection, action against encroachments, sewage and dumping, and improved drainage infrastructure.
Groups also seek scientific lake restoration, canal clearance, an end to further Perungudi dumping and dedicated flood-mitigation plans for vulnerable areas.
- Who
- The Chennai Wetlands Action Collective, Oorvani Foundation, resident associations, conservation groups, activists and experts formed the initiative.
- What
- They issued a Citizen’s Charter seeking integrated, basin-level protection and management of the Pallikaranai watershed.
- When
- The article does not specify a date; the charter followed a consultation at Indian Institute of Technology Madras Research Park.
- Where
- The Pallikaranai watershed in Chennai, including areas such as Nanmangalam, Velachery, Navalur, Sholinganallur, Semmenchery and Perumbakkam.
- Why
- Citizen groups say unregulated urban expansion, encroachments, sewage, dumping and blocked waterways are damaging wetlands and worsening flood and water-stress risks.
- Watershed system
- The Pallikaranai watershed contains 65 major lakes and hundreds of ponds draining toward the Pallikaranai marshland.
- Wider basin
- The watershed is part of the Kovalam water basin.
- Protected wetland
- The Pallikaranai marshland is a protected Ramsar wetland.
- Proposed coordination
- The groups seek an independent, specialised and inter-departmental committee including experts and people’s representatives.
- Legal protection sought
- The charter calls for wetland and floodplain demarcation under the Wetland (Conservation and Management) Rules, 2017, implementation of 2020 guidelines and a Flood Plain Zoning Act in Tamil Nadu.
- Canal action
- The groups have called for desilting the entire 13-kilometre Buckingham Canal and clearing construction debris near Sholinganallur-Akkarai Road and the Muttukadu estuary.
- Wastewater measures
- The charter seeks decentralised catchment-based sewage treatment plants, underground drainage and strict action against untreated sewage discharge.