Cognizant, Grundfos join hands to restore Chennai lake

Cognizant and Grundfos announced funding support for the restoration of the Sembakkam Lake in Chennai. 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 Chennai-based NGO Care Earth Trust.

Cognizant will contribute more than Rs 2.7 crores and Grundfos will contribute Rs 1.7 crores and up to Rs 7.5 lakhs 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.

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%, enhance groundwater recharge and improve water quality,” an official statement said. “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.”