Deccan Chronicle 22.02.2010

Feb. 21: The Adyar Poonga ecological restoration project will be completedin one year by when the whole Adyar area will become a model for other city locations in implementing eco-friendly models and maintaining natural water paths, says Mr Joss Brooks, the project-in-charge of Adyar Poonga.

“The whole project area will be completely free from plastic and it will be the best model for maintaining city drains and preserving the eco-system effectively,” said Mr Brooks, who calls himself a gardener of south India.

According to him, the city has to urgently take up strict environmental guidelines to prevent the decaying of its bio-diversity and eco-system.

“About 40 per cent of the stormwater drains have completely collapsed and in many locations, mixing up of stormwater-sewage drains is polluting the water sources. Creek ecology restoration will be one of the major initiatives in the Adyar Poonga project,” Mr Brooks told Deccan Chronicle.

When asked about the regulatory measures taken to prevent pollution, he pointed to the initiatives of states like Sikkim and Uttar Pradesh, which have succeeded in stopping plastic usage.

The restoration works of Adyar Poonga, home of 62 species of plants, different varieties of amphibians, fishes, reptiles and about 34 species of birds, is a Rs 100 crore project initiated by the TN government.

“Even midway, the project has been successful with a recent study bringing out the fact that the carbon footprint is minimum in the area, compared to the previous years,” said the renowned ecological restoration specialist of Auroville.