My uncle Prakash who has lived most of his life in Singapore had just two words ‘wonder la’, when I told him that we retrieved 10acres of encroached land and returned it to be a lake here at Kattur. A nearly 24 acres lake had 10 acres occupied illegally for decades. The Chengalpet district administration with a committed District Collect Tmt. Sneha IAS and her strong field team supported EFI in drawing legal boundaries to retrieve lost land and reestablish the lake. Kattur thangal’s restoration has brought back 40 crores worth land back to government kitty and 55,123 KL more water stored in the lake for the villagers.

Prevention is better than cure, restoration is easier-effective and impactful when mindfully done before most damages become irreparable. Kattur thangal’s restoration reminds us that suburban water bodies when protected at the right time with committed intervention shall give more than desired results.

Volunteer for Chengalpet and her Environment with E.F.I