Pallikaranai is a well known birding spot for Chennai birders but for the rest of the Chennaites it is in news only when the flood comes. So when the name Pallikaranai was seen in the news we were curious as to what was happening there. The news was about an eco park setup in Pallikaranai which had cost around 20 crores. The headlines were like “Boon for Chennai bird watchers” , “Fantastic vacation spot” and the base news was the budget for the eco park was 20 Crores.
As any nature lover with a little bit of common sense knows , the Stilts, Sandpipers, Storks, Harriers and Ducks don’t need a pathway , gazebo or a bridge for their livelihood but such gimmicks are needed for urban people disconnected from nature to suggest them to even have a look at the natural world. So the real nature lovers know that the eco parks are always showoff projects by the Government administrators.
We decided to pay a visit to the much publicized location to see how a marshland can be turned into an eco park. It had rained early in the morning and with the sun breaking through we reached the eco park after a tough ride on the rugged , muddy , slurry , slippery Chennai Corporation roads. As usual we reached there very early in the morning and it was the second day since the park was officially opened by Tamil nadu Chief Minister Dr. M.K.Stalin. To our surprise , there were many joggers, walkers and photographers inside the park already. The entrance looked like it was the entrance to a big auditorium. One could start to see where the 20 crore went.
The name board was brand new and glistening but in a last minute spate of greenwashing , they had planted some crotons which were covering half the name board. Considering that these plants grow into small bushes , I was wondering why it was done in the first place. But again and again I kept telling myself , 20 crores, 20 crores, 20 crores.
Once inside we were greeted by a water fountain which like many in our country was not functioning. Maybe they are still work in progress like the tiles on the end of the pavement. What perplexed me more was that it had lights for display. Since the Pallikaranai marshland eco park opening hours were 6.30am to 6.00 pm , I wondered when they would switch on the lights?
Further inside , there was a straight pathway of Korean grass leading directly into the marsh. I have been to several marshlands before and some of the marshlands are stunning in appearance but don’t expect anything here. This marshland had already been turned into a neglected wasteland of chennai, way before this project was conceived. The view that you will get is that of the perungudi dumpyard. The dumpyard fills the eye rather than the marshland.
This did not stop the birders from taking images of Cormorants and Black-winged stilts. At distance, there were few Grey-headed lapwings , Little Stints , Marsh Sandpipers and Wood Sandpipers. They were going on with their day to day life. The invasive Water hyacinth and African Giant snails were also continuing their expansion of territory. For the 20 crores spent on tiled pathways, pvc bridges, hedges and native trees that have no role on a marshland , they could have spent a few crores to remove the invasive water hyacinth from all the water bodies around Chennai.
Green washing is the name of the game.
The word “eco” is currently a great trending, green washing term. So when people hear the word eco associated with any stuff they relate it to the environment. But the parks are meant for human recreation , so the main intention of the eco parks is to entertain human beings. That’s the problem with these kinds of parks. Few of the bird sanctuaries we had visited in India like Vedanthangal , Keolodeo , Thol , Kichadiya were mainly created to give nesting space for birds. I won’t say they are the best but at least you can see a decent number of birds in these sanctuaries. Now these eco parks don’t come in that concept.
These parks are for joggers and walkers. I can rather say this as a jogger park but will any health conscious person jog breathing in the “heavenly” smell of the perungudi dumpyard?
One more key argument for these so-called eco parks is that they play a role in educating the public. With this aspect in mind there were boards and depictions of butterflies, fishes, reptiles, birds etc. But just when you force yourself to see any common sense in anything there comes the sculpture of the African giant snail. This invasive snail was everywhere in the park and to cap the show a sculpture was erected for it as well. I am complaining about this only because it is an invasive species causing much destruction to the ecosystem but then the government turns a blind eye and erects a sculpture for it. What was really funny is that , already the horn of Giant African Snail was broken!
Why are we missing the whole big concept of leaving nature as it is ! Thousands of acres of this marshland has now shrunk to few hundreds and even in the remaining place a garbage dumpyard is expanding. Not to mention the land grabbing by real estate developers for the “eco friendly” tech giants. So every small piece of marshland which holds numerous life forms is really precious. Did the Government take great interest in the last remaining patch or was it really to protect the real estate on the other side of the road? We all know the answer deep in our heart , the answer is real estate. All these are done only to keep the marshland inside a wall , so that water is contained within boundaries. Afterall on the other side of the road is one the most precious real estate in all of India.
Pallikaranai marshland was living and breathing for millions of years even before human civilization. Bird life and all other lifeforms were thriving in the marshland. So it is not like because humans created a park , the birds will come and land on that park. It was amusing to see how people who won’t even give a side glance to this natural wonder throng the place for selfies , when a park is built . Few people were doing Drone photography which to my knowledge is banned by the government in forest areas. All these commotions are for the first few months to get more views / followers in Youtube / Instagram.
People always say something is better than nothing, So some may ask why am I whining about this small eco park when the Government is at least taking some steps on the wetlands. In the case of nature, it is always when the human involvement is zero the habitat looks well. So “Nothing” is always better when it comes to Nature.
Who will really enjoy this Pallikaranai marshland eco park ?
Will the joggers and walkers enjoy this park ? With those slippery tiles, I am not sure how many fitness enthusiasts will use this park regularly. Also I really doubt whether these people would enjoy the sight of a dumpyard and garbage smell everyday !
In India usually parks are used by lovers but here there are no hiding places, so I doubt whether they will use this eco park !
Families with kids may visit once to show them the sculptures and take a selfie. It may be a stop before visiting the Phoenix mall.
The birdwatchers I know won’t be interested in visiting this eco park as we all are happy to do birding on the roadsides as long as the birds are thriving in their habitat.
But I cannot vouch for the bird photographers , maybe they will love this place if a Marsh Harrier gives a nice pose sitting on those tree stumps placed in water.
In the end , another 20 Crore rupees went to the dump in the name of green washing !
Incase you still want to check out the park , open timings for the park are from 6.30 am to 6.00 pm.