In a bid aimed at creating awareness among children on the need to conserve Kanagan Eri, a waterbody located in the middle of the town, a painting competition was organised by the French Institute of Pondicherry (IFP), Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (Intach) and PondyCan on the banks of the waterbody on Sunday.
The objective was to create widespread awareness among students and sensitise them towards protection of water resources, its augmentation, conservation and reuse.
More participation
As many as 47 children from schools located near Kanagan Eri participated in the event organised as part of the Pondicherry Heritage Festival. Frederic Landy, Director of the French Institute of Pondicherry, said that all lakes and tanks in South India were created for bringing surface water to the farmers.
Now the farmers neither use groundwater or surface water and there is no agriculture. Kanagan Eri is now a fully urban tank without any agricultural field and this posed a big danger.
The idea is to make people more aware of the use of Kanagan Eri. Cities need green spaces and must preserve the natural habitat in order to attract tourists and investments. Keeping such lakes alive is necessary in the whole of Puducherry, he said.
Action plan
Stressing the need for a long-term action plan to rejuvenate the Kanagan Eri, Mr. Landy said that a similar cleaning exercise was taken up last year. Though the water hyacinth was removed it has now reappeared.
This lake is a unique heritage and it should be maintained, he added. A concerted long-term action plan involving the territorial administration, companies and local associations was necessary to rejuvenate the tank, he said.
