Rettai Eri, locally known as Retteri, is a lake in the
Kolathur area of
Chennai
Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...
,
India
India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
which is visible from the 100 ft road. Redhills road Junction is also named as Retteri Junction. The Government has planned to construct a flyover at this junction.
Makeover
The Grand Northern Trunk (GNT) Road cuts across the Rettai Eri. The lake covering 5.42-million sq. metre is being converted into an eco-tourism spot. The lake, which was once a drinking water source for the neighbourhood, now has water for most part of the year and is a haven for birds. According to Care Earth Trust, a city-based biodiversity research organisation, about 40 different species of birds have been sighted in the lake along with the Ambattur and Korattur lakes. Among them are the common tailorbird, the purple-rumped sunbird and the Asian openbill stork, a migratory bird.
The lake, which was in a state of neglect for several decades, gets inflows from Red Hills reservoir and Korattur lake. The Water Resources Department (WRD) has decided to improve Rettai Eri along with waterbodies in Ambattur and Korattur at a cost of 850 million
Indian rupees
The Indian rupee (Currency symbol, symbol: Indian rupee sign, ₹; ISO 4217, code: INR) is the official currency of India. The rupee is subdivided into 100 ''Indian paisa, paise'' (Hindi plural; singular: ''paisa''). The issuance of the currenc ...
. The improvement works include removing vegetation, desilting, introducing boating, and developing a park along the 3-km bund. Other works include planting various species of medicinal and flowering saplings to attract butterflies and birds, creating a walkers' path and a mud flat in the middle of the lake.
See also
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Water management in Chennai
The coastal city of Chennai has a metropolitan population of 10.6 million as per 2019 census. As the city lacks a perennial water source, catering the water requirements of the population has remained an arduous task. On 18 June 2019, the city's r ...
References
{{Hydrography of Chennai
Lakes of Chennai
Lakes of Tamil Nadu