When ‘Neerottam’ took place in Chennai recently, thousands came together to accomplish one goal, they wanted to make a statement that waterbodies need to be protected.
And that they did it with aplomb as more than 2,500 people participated in the run for water.
The run started at Ambattur from Old Baroda Bank Road and ended at Korattur lake for a short distance of 6.5 km on 27 January. The event was jointly organised by Ambattur Waterbodies Protection Movement (AWPM) and Korattur Lake Protection People Movement.
Co-ordinator of AWPM, S P Nedumaran, said, “This is one of very few runs that are done with focus on saving waterbodies. Top officials came and joined us with the event. Residents, members of residents welfare associations, students, NGOs all came together to make this a grand event.”
Nedumaran also said, this run would bring much needed attention to restoring waterbodies.
“Officials will now get pressurised as people got to know about the state of our waterbodies. We hope that people will start to take notice of work that takes place at waterbodies. It is important that we save such lakes and ponds and rivers for our future generation to thrive,” he added.
The run had attracted so much attention that even a few foreigners from USA and Singapore took part in it, we were told.
The event coordinators also gave special mention to the police who gave protection throughout the event and helped things move smoothly.
For more details about the run, contact – 98412 36017.