The water bodies at the Guindy national park are full even during the summer.
Story so far: In the past, particularly during the summers of 2018 and 2019, the failure of the monsoons meant officials had to take drastic measures to ensure some water supply. Now, there’s enough water for the wildlife and the visitors to the children’s park and snake park.
- The water bodies being full is odd but is probably due to rains that began last July during the southwest monsoon. It continued from October to December through the northeast monsoon.
- The ponds are a source of recharging the groundwater table. There are two open wells and borewells.
Preparing for more rain: The northeast monsoon is a couple of months away and accounts for more than 60% of Chennai’s annual rain. The forest department has already de-silted the ponds and cleaned the channels to reduce water runoff.
(Image credits: Sivahari, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)
