Ennore Creek is a backwater located in Ennore, Chennai along the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal. It is located in the zone comprising lagoons with salt marshes and backwaters, submerged under water during high tide and forming an arm of the sea with the opening to the Bay of Bengal at the creek.
This creek is part of a lagoon ecosystem that plays a vital role in balancing the coastal ecosystem in the area. The ecologically sensitive ecosystem was home to large swamps of mangroves that not only ensured a sustainable regeneration of fish resources, but also help mitigate flooding in times of strong rainfall, high tides and cyclones.
Ennore Creek nurtures a healthy aquatic ecosystem which was once famous for its rich biodiversity. The fishing villages located in and around Ennore have for many years depended on the creek as a source of livelihood and sustenance.
The creek used to be a fishing ground for several commercially valuable fish – including tiger prawn, mud crab, striped crab, sand whiting, silver biddy, cat fish, mackerel, grey eel catfish, croaker and white prawn.
Owing to the excessive industrial takeover in the region for many years now the number of fish in the creek has declined significantly due to the leakage of toxic waste water from factories and the dumping of toxic fly ash from the nearby thermal power station.
A study by the Aquaculture Foundation of India and three major institutions, found high concentrations of heavy metals in the water and marine organisms in and around Ennore creek due to pollution from industries and domestic sources. This study found high levels of heavy metals such as mercury, cadmium and chromium.
The creek also acts as a drain for the seasonal rivers but due to the drastic reduction in the wetland area, and the depth of what remained has reduced the creek's ability to evacuate floodwaters from the rivers during cyclonic storms and monsoons. As the encroachment and industrialisation continues, storm surges will send seawater deep into the hinterland through the rivers, streams and channels and inundate areas that have never before experienced flooding due to tidal surges.
Humans and nature are at a constant fight over this lagoon ecosystem that plays a vital role in balancing the coastal ecosystem in the area. Several protests and awareness campaigns are being staged by activists and people from the locality to constantly remind the industries to mend their actions to restore its glory and save the creek from further deterioration.
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Until then the local fisher folk and the marine wealth have to coexist and battle for their future.
