Achari Kunta Lake Rejuvenation Project

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The Achari Kunta Lake Rejuvenation Project was about to start in May 2020, due to pandemic and delay in permissions from the administrative the project was halted. In the span of time on 16 June 2020, a biodiversity survey was conducted by Mr Gopal Bharti. The recorded species from the survey are as follows: 2 species of butterfly, 4 species of trees and 30 wildflowers. The recorded species will be further used for signage development.

 This quarter was the most difficult time for the project as all the works carried out in the past 6 months got washed away in the cyclonic rains. Plantation activities, a good deal of civil works, and community activities, that were initiated all came back to the square to one. Hence there was a need to restart the project once all hurdles are resolved. In the meantime, a biodiversity survey was conducted on 22 Sep 2020 to study the existing flora and fauna around the lake. 12 species of insects, 7  species of birds, 3 species of reptiles and 1 mammal were recorded. 

 In the span of ten months, a substantial time was lost owing to Pandemic, Permissions and Cyclonic Rains. This delayed our main activity of plantation. Works were suspended in September 2020 as municipal corporation was carrying out various repair works at the lake. During the period  of inactivity, a biodiversity survey, regular lake and peripheral clean-up activity were conducted. The nursery was established and raised over 1093 saplings. During the time the local municipal  corporation repaired the drain line, laid new lines, increased bund height and initiated boundary  fencing work. Further activities were resumed in the last week of March 2021 by initiating the pathway development work. A biodiversity survey conducted by V. Shubhalaxmi recorded about 4 species of insects, 19 species of bird and 1 arachnid.

 The project was scheduled to commence in April 2020 and conclude by Sep 2021. However due to various factors, the project activities were impacted (ex:COVID-19 Pandemic), causing a delay in further implementation works. The government works initiated priorly were completed, so with legal permission and access to the site the project plan was restarted. The civil jobs began with pathway development and ground preparation works. This was followed with plantation works. We completed plantation of 5000 saplings with help of labourers, DCB employees and community volunteers. Altogether around 133 volunteers joined in a clean-up drive and plantation activities. We planted 210 trees, 2105 shrubs and 2685 herbs. We also installed drip irrigation system for irrigation purpose. In the previous records 26 species of birds and 19 species of butterflies were recorded but, with our Lake rejuvenation activities it now increased to 43 species of Birds, 30 species of Butterflies, 5 Reptiles, 2 Amphibians and 1 Mammal were recorded. A project video is being developed through professional videographer.