Urban youth march to save swamps

Volunteers from more than 30 youth organizations are taking part in the march held on Saturday.

Volunteers from more than 30 youth organizations across the city took part in a “March for the Marshes” on Saturday as part of the Save Nemmeli Marshlands campaign, demanding an end to the destruction of the city’s wetlands.

A press release here said the organizations demanded that the state government stop the work to create the Mamallan reservoir and take steps to save other swamps.

Narayanan, a fisherman from Kovalam, said the march was to remind the public that the Nemmel marshes are living ecosystems, not empty land waiting to be developed. They hold back floodwater, buffer storm surges, support fisheries, maintain biodiversity and help cities adapt to climate change. Destroying them in the name of climate resilience was morally indefensible, he said.

One of the organizers, Benisha BM, said the proposed Mamallan reservoir was a defining test for the TVK government, which she said had neither stopped the project for independent scientific scrutiny nor addressed concerns raised by environmentalists, fishermen and coastal scientists. Instead, the work was only accelerated.

Prashanth J., a wetlands researcher, said, “It is the fishing communities, the Irulars, the Dalits and other marginalized groups who bear the environmental and economic costs while the benefits flow elsewhere.”

Kavya, a Class 12 student, said, “Successive governments have worked for corporations and elite interests while sacrificing the common goods that sustain ordinary people. We refuse to inherit a city devoid of wetlands, fisheries and resilience.”

Raju, an environmental activist, said that as long as governments force the poorest communities to give up their land, livelihood, health and future for projects that mainly benefit the powerful, people rightly call it modern casteism disguised as development.

Subashree, one of the marchers, said the current generation has inherited shrinking opportunities, worsening climate risks and disappearing commonalities. “The fight for Chennai’s swamps is a fight for a livable future.”

Published – 26 Jul 2026 0:32 IST