Chennai: What is the most common thing that happens when a group of youngsters meet during weekend? Party? Trips? Watch videos? Chill? When this is the scenario in most of the cases, a group of teenagers from Mugalivakkam have taken up the ‘weekend challenge’ to clean Porur lake.
Anbin Kural, an NGO run by 18-year-old Naveen Kumar, comprises hundreds of volunteers who are driven with the motto of reviving Porur lake, which is one of the important water sources in Chennai. In an interview with News Today, Naveen says their aim is to live in a neat and happy locality. He speaks about how the NGO began, its volunteers, and the group’s future plan.
“This group was started with only a handful of youngsters who are concerned about the betterment of the environment. Porur lake is a vast resource of water. But sadly, it is in a bad state. The plight of the lake came into focus only after the city started facing severe water scarcity this year. So, we created social media groups
and gathered like-minded volunteers to clean the lake,” narrates Naveen.
Explaining the cleaning process, he says, “Careless residents dump garbage, plastics and non-degradable waste into the lake. In the initial weeks, we collected tonnes of waste, and it refl ects how people are ignorant about our environment. Time and again, NGOs come forward and clean the water body, but people keep polluting it.” “In another two weeks, we would hopefully clear all the waste. After that, we are planning to plant tree saplings around the lake. Actor Vivek has promised to help us in this mission,” he beams.
“However, there are challenges in fund-raising and bringing in more volunteers. We are approaching several private companies for funding our project. During last week’s cleaning process, more than 500 volunteers came forward, and we provided them with breakfast and lunch. Currently, we are in need of more volunteers,” the teenager goes on to add.
“We are also planning to approach NSS groups of colleges and schools in the city. All said and done, the lake can be saved only if the locals take care of it. Once it is revived, the locals should co-operate in maintaining it. They should also continue to water the saplings that we plant. We will also engage schools and college students for this purpose,”
says Naveen.
To join Anbin Kural, contact Naveen at 79048 03375.