The Destruction of Ousteri Lake

Motor launch on Ousteri Lake

The boat ride was idyllic - the new motor quiet, the winds calm, the lake beautiful. It would have been a perfect day, unless you knew what I now know.

Ousteri (or Oussudu) Lake is the largest lake in Pondicherry, located approximately 12 miles west of the town. For over a decade, environmentalists have tried to get the lake protected as a sanctuary, to no avail. The Bombay Natural History Society, a member of Birdlife International, has designated Ousteri an Important Bird Area (IBA) of India - over 20,000 birds belonging to over 40 species used to reside or winter at Ousteri. The Asian Wetland Bureau declared Ousteri one of 93 significant wetlands in Asia; and many of the birds recorded at Ousteri, including Spot-billed pelicans, Eurasian Spoonbills, Darters, Painted Storks, and Black-headed (or White) Ibis, are on the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species. This lake was one of the largest breeding sites for the Common Coot in South India, and many of the resident birds, such as the Purple Moorhen and Little Grebe, nested amidst floating vegetation present in the lake.

Paddle boat on Ousteri Lake

When boating was first contemplated by the Pondicherry Tourism Development Corporation (PTDC - a Government undertaking) about 10 years ago, professors and students at the Salim Ali School of Ecology and Environmental Sciences, NGOs and concerned citizens protested - nesting birds would be disturbed and may not breed. At that time, the Tourism Department compromised to allow only paddle and row boats in a specified area, cordoned off by buoys. At some point, the buoys were taken out, allowing paddle and row boaters complete access to the lake. And a couple of weeks ago, PTDC began its motorized launch and boat service. For Rs. 50 (approximately US$1.28), you could ride either the launch, which seats 35 passengers and a crew of 5 comfortably, or an eight passenger boat.

The launch takes picnicking passengers (who more often than not, throw their plastic and other wastes into the water) around a small island and skirts the opposite shore for 45 minutes before coming back to dock. Sadly, there were very few birds in sight. A few egrets, a handful of individuals of a couple of species of ducks and some pond herons - all of which scattered at the approach of the launch. Certainly not the thousands of ducks that people who have been coming to the lake for 30 years remember. One resident of the lake, who participates in the two annual surveys of birds (the Salim Ali Bird Count held in November and the waterfowl count for Wetlands International in January), reports that 2 species of waterfowl no longer nest in Ousteri. Large birds are poached, and illegal gill nets cause the deaths of diving birds (particularly Little Grebe or Dabchicks) captured in the nets.

Then there is the pollution: raw sewage runs into the lake, untreated; household and industrial wastes are dumped either near the lake or in the dry lake bed in summer. (Local villagers living near the lake have not used the water in the lake for over a year and a half - they say it is not clean.) And the illegal soil and pebble mining: canyons of red soil have been illegally taken out of the area surrounding the lake to feed the construction of institutions, industries and residential colonies springing up in what was recently agricultural land surrounding the town of Pondicherry.

One of the “weed scrapers”

On top of all this, the lake is shrinking due to siltation, being choked with weeds, and losing its feeder channels due to industrial development in the catchment area. (The launch employs two men to scrape the aquatic weeds off the motor with large sticks, and every once in a while, the boat slowed and motor struggled as weeds overpowered the blades.)

Bird watching tower at Ousteri

Two lone towers that were built for bird watching before the change in tourism policy stand unused on the shore. And the huge sign board that listed the types of birds seen at Ousteri has been taken down.

Post Credit: Yoomilee

Achariya Institution of Teacher Training 8th Annual Day Function

The Acharya Group of Institutions which runs schools, colleges and B.Ed. Colleges in Villianur is well know for its good educational standard and expensive fees structure. . Despite the high work load, most of the students choose Ahariya teacher training college as the first option among all other private B.Ed colleges.

Achariya Institution of Teacher Training celebrated its 8^th annual day function headed by Mr. Aravindan (Director) on June 7, 2008. In the Annual Day function, Manonmaniam Sundaranar University Vice-Chancellor Mr. R. Sabapathi Mohan appeared as a special guest and released a book written by Mr. Rajendran of Achrya College. Prizes were distributed to the students who scored top ranks, won in games and other competitions.

Candyman’s Great Bombay Circus ends on June 16

Puducherrians are exposed to a new kind of entertainment by Great Bombay Circus since March 21, 2008. Instead of strolling beside beach and Goubert street, grown ups and little kids gather with great joy in the ticket counter of the circus.

Great Bombay circus, which has 61 years of experience, is staged at AFT ground, Puducherry. This circus troop comprises of 300 circus artists including 30 men and 60 women. Artists from various countries like Russia, China, and other states of India have mesmerized the audience with their outstanding breath taking performances. Especially Chinese candle dance is a treat to eyes apart from a group of animals thrilling kids.

You can watch the performance in 3 shows: Afternoon 1.00 p.m, evening 4.00 p.m and 7.00 p.m. Ticket rating ascend like this Rs. 20, Rs. 50 and Rs. 75. You can also book the tickets by contacting 0413-6501686. If you aren’t been to Candyman Great Bombay Circus until now then you need to rush up with your friends, family members, and kids before June 16, 2008 (last day).

Historical Name behind Ousteri, a Brief Factual Dairy

Ossudu is a village and its importance may be attributed to the lake which is known as Ousteri. As a revenue village its jurisdiction extends up to Poraiyur and Sendanattam.

According to the inscription seen at the Chandramouleeswarar temple at Thiruvakarai, this lake is assigned to the period of Koperunjnga. It is also cited that the king has built the sluices and a canal to bring water to the lake. In the earlier days, the lake was known as “Paraiyan-eri” and “Ozukarai-eri”. In the historic book called as “Karnataka rajakal saritham” it is spelled as “Oosutheri. But according to the diary of Anandaranga pillai it was also called as Soosaretteri, Oosutteri, Pughasoodu-eri and Ushteri.

The Ousteri (or Oussudu or Usteri) lake is situated 11kms west of Pondicherry and now it is becoming the delighted summer resort. The winding water frontage is endowed with the scenic beauty adding color and charm to the entire backdrop of the lake. Ousteri Lake is one of the biggest lake and major supplier of drinking water in those days. Now it is opened for the tourists for boat ride and to watch the birds. During the season, this lake acts as dwelling place for many migrating birds.

Way Back to the History of Mudaliarpettai : Metamorphosis of Puducherry

Our sweet home town, Pondicherry, is the best as it has all the comforts and the best infrastructure. Do you people know about its metamorphosis? Time has never failed to lay its hand on Puducherry too and changes are always unavoidable. Different administration changes that merged various villages to town have turned out to be Puducherry. Let us travel back to the 1960’s…

The 1961 census counted 388 villages, spread over in all four regions of the territory, apart from the four towns of Pondy, Karaikal, Mahe and Yanam. However, for the purpose of revenue administration the division into 96 villages took place.

In the course of ten years starting from 1961 to 1971 almost the entire rural complex of Mudaliarpettai commune covering 18 villages except Kuppam and Pappanchavadi had developed urban characteristics so that the whole commune came to be treated as a town.

Similarly 16 out of 49 villages in ozukarai commune had developed urban characteristics to give shape to the new town of Ozukarai. Thus the new towns of ozukarai and Mudaliarpettai (also known Mudaliarpet) emerged only after the 1971 census.

During the same period, all the 20 villages of Pondicherry commune had developed urban characteristics to merge with the Pondicherry town and correspondingly the number of census villages in the territory declined from 388 to 334.

In another important development, the whole of Mudaliarpettai commune was merged with Pondicherry commune for the purposes of municipal administration. Hence, the demarcated towns were merged for the purposes of municipal administration. Thus, the changes make our home town more beautiful and comfortable.

7,000 houses in the coastal villages of Puducherry prone to disaster

Puducherry has never ever witnessed the rage of Tsunami than that happened in 2006. The natural calamity has been an alarm for the government to safeguard the public against such disasters in future.

Recently in a survey conducted by the Revenue Department of Puducherry it is stated that approximately 7000 houses in the coastal villages of Puducherry and karaikal region are prone to any damage by sea surge.

Since there is a lack of space in the Union Territory, it is tough to rehabilitate majority of the houses in the coastal villages. Vulnerable areas are identifies based on the past incidents and damages caused to the civil locality.

One of the leading news daily The Hindu reported, “The survey conducted in the Union Territory as part of the disaster management programme revealed that around 7,000 houses in 15 coastal villages of Puducherry came within 500-meter-high tide area and were “extremely vulnerable to the vagaries of weather.”

Officials in the Revenue Department said the dwelling units in the coastal villages of Karaikal region were located in a safe distance with a majority of the houses being relocated above 500 meters from the shore as part of the Tsunami Rehabilitation Programme.”
The government has planned for a new rehabilitation programme named “Reconstruction In-situ” which will provide disaster resistant houses in the existing places, early warning system and safe escape routes for villages.

The Secretary-cum-Collector G. Thevaneethidhas said to the press that the government had approached the World Bank for an assistance of Rs 240 crore to implement the programme. We planned to involve the beneficiaries in the entire programme even from the design of the houses to its execution. The government would only provide the technical assistance.