Chennai: Braving the heat, thousands of people thronged to the newly inaugurated eco park around the Chetpet lake to experience boat rides, sport fishing and taste sea-food delicacies, all free of cost on the opening day on Saturday.
The footfall gradually increased as the day progressed with youngsters, elderly and couples arriving for a stroll along the 16-acre park that is under the aegis of the state fisheries department.
“It is a great relief for us that a water-body and a park are being developed in the midst of these large concrete buildings,” said Hari Kumar, a second year graduate at Nandanam Arts and Science College, after he and his friends took a paddle boat ride.
The 9.1 acres of the eco-park is divided into ‘angling pond’ and ‘boating pond’, the former consisting of three angling decks where fishing enthusiasts could involve in sport fishing and the latter for boating with 11 boats currently available.
“We are now feeding certain exotic breeds of fishes on an experimental basis and need to examine how they are going to adapt in the pond.
Also we have a waste water treatment plant to clean the water,” said A. Kannan, assistant executive engineer, eco park.
A 1.5-kilometer walkers’ path that consist of a pollination park, rooftop restaurant, two children’s park and herbal plants planted along the sloppy bund surrounds the entire pond.
Senior officials in fisheries department said maintenance of the pond in the days to come will be a big challenge and appealed to the public to utilize waste bins installed at different points inside the park.
