Aavin Milk Colony Pond (AavinKulam)
Aavin Milk Colony Pond is located in the Greater Chennai Corporation jurisdiction of Madhavaram. Since the pond was in a colony locality, the activities of encroachment and pollution were considerably less. Now the pond is fully restored under the Chennai Smart City project funds.
AREA: 1011.715 Sq.mtrs ZONE: 2 DIVISION: 17
This pond is located in Division 17 of Zone 2 and is on the Andarkuppam - Redhills Road. It is located to the West of the road. The Sakthiamman Temple is located nearby the pond. The pond is located at North Latitude 1311'3.05" and East Longitude 8013'18.07.
The pond is irregular in shape. There is no water in the pond during the time of survey. There is no revetment or steps available in the pond. No structural component such as inlet or surplus weir could be located.
At present, there is no specific catchment to the pond but for its own in-situ catchment. But there is scope for road water diversion into the pond. The area around the pond is urbanized. There is an industry in the southern side of the pond with its compound wall forming the southern boundary of the pond. The pond in the northern side is partly encroached by a commercial establishment. The bund and water spread area of the pond is fully covered with dense bushes. There is no inlet or outlet to the pond provided. Based on the interaction with the local community, it is inferred that there will be water in the for about 5-6 months in the past; at present the pond is dumped with solid waste; also sullage is diverted from the nearby commercial establishment.
There is no storm water drain available nearby. The surface run off follows the general slope and does not get diverted into the pond. In order to assess the present extent of the pond, depth and the length of the bund, Total Station Survey (TSS) was conducted in the pond. Based on the Total Station Survey output, it is inferred that the total area of the pond is 1,049.122 sq.m and the total length of the bund is 140m. The average depth of the pond is about 2m.
The imagery extracted from google earth on 21.03.2016 and 31.08.2001 is presented below shows urbanization happening all around the pond with possible encroachment happening in the north eastern side of the bund and water spread area.
Google Image of the pond as on 31.08.2001 (LEFT) and 21.03.2016 (RIGHT)
The actual volume stored in the tank during 1987 a normal rainfall year - after losses due to evaporation and recharge is given in the following graph.
The total storage of the tank in its present condition is estimated at 5574.3 cu.m Based on this estimate, there will be water available in the pond for almost 199 days in a year. At no point of time, the pond overflows in a normal rainfall year. The total inflow to the tank in a normal rainfall year is estimated at 4401.57 cu.m; the total groundwater recharge will be 3093.85 cu.m. The net inflow estimated for an excess rainfall year is presented below :
Based on this estimate, there will be water available in the pond for 268 days. The pond in its present volume does not over flows even in an excess rainfall period for the assumed catchment. The total inflow to the tank in an excess normal rainfall year is estimated at 6,048.50 cu.m; the total groundwater recharge is 2080.3 cu.m.
Based on the field observations and inferences, followed by the data analysis, following were the list of activities proposed for renovating the Pond.
- To start with, the pond can be desilted and deepened.
- The bund need to be formed and strengthened;
- Revetment need to be provided with toe wall and binding wall along with steps.
- Bush clearance all around the pond and provision of a pathway all around the pond to a width of 1.8m and properly fenced.
- A recharge well of 1.2m in diameter to a depth of 3m can be provided in the pond to facilitate groundwater recharge.