Chennai: Cognizant, one of the world’s leading professional services companies, and Grundfos, global leader in advanced pump solutions and water technology, have announced funding support for restoration of the Sembakkam lake in Chennai.
Cognizant will contribute more than Rs 2.7 crore and Grundfos Rs 1.7 crore and up to Rs 7.5 lakh in kind for civil works, wastewater treatment and landscaping to rejuvenate the 100 acre lake that flows into the Pallikaranai wetland, one of south India’s last remaining natural marshlands.
The two companies will collaborate with the India chapter of the Nature Conservancy, one of the world’s largest conservation organisations, Indian Institute of Technology Madras and the Chennai-based Care Earth Trust, a NGO that works in the area of biodiversity conservation, a release said.
Expected to be completed in 2021, the work will involve cleaning the inlets and outlets, improving the lake’s connectivity with upstream and downstream water bodies, building an eco-friendly wastewater treatment system and constructing walkways and green buffer zones along the lake.
The project will help clear the lake of solid wastes, silt and invasive plant species, improve the lake’s storage capacity by 50 per cent, enhance groundwater recharge and improve water quality.
It will benefit over 10,000 households living around the lake and conserve the local biodiversity consisting of around 180 plant species (including 11 aquatic species) and more than 65 bird species.
“One of the goals of the project is to provide a natural recreational space to the local community and involve them in the maintenance of the water body”, the release said.