Setting the ball rolling for the construction of training walls for the Pulicat lake’s estuary, the Fisheries Department has obtained coastal regulation zone clearance from the district-level committee. The walls will help prevent the silting up of the lake, which is the second largest brackish water lake in India, and help save it and the rich biodiversity. The next step would be to obtain State-level and national- level clearances for the ?27 crore project, explained sources in the Fisheries Department that has taken the initiative to construct the walls on either side of the estuary to prevent it from closing up. The proposal was developed based on a study by the Department of Ocean Engineering of IIT Madras. The walls would keep the mouth open and silt-free so that fishermen can ply their boats throughout the year. The direction and height of the wave and the orientation of the shoreline were studied to fix the alignment of the training walls. Fishermen have been complaining that the lake is fast silting up and they were unable to ply boats in many spots. Ancient waterbody Ecologist P.J. Sanjeeva Raj of Madras Christian College, who has researched the lake for 50 years, said the water body was an ancient one and urgent steps have to be taken to save it. The heavy siltation is a cause for worry. If the mouth closes, the growth of sea food and fauna will get reduced drastically. The speed of inflow of seawater and quantum of water has been reduced, leading to the silt remaining in the lake itself. If it continues, it will ultimately become a cricket field. When a 365 sq. km lake is drying up, nobody bothers, he lamented. Aarde Foundation’s Xavier Benedict, who has been working at Pulicat for the past 10 years, said that during a recent study, it was found that there are spots in the lake where the depth is just 72 cm. There are points where the depth was 9 metres but now, it has come down to 3 metres. The salinity level is also bad. During Dutch rule, Pulicat saw some 4,500 ships anchoring since it was a natural harbour. Pulicat was a major centre for textile exports, particularly muslin, he said.