CHENNAI: The searing heat is already reaching its peak, making Chennai sweat and leaving its residents thirsty. This, coupled with a failed monsoon may have diverted the city’s attention to bone-dry reservoirs, but this may be the right time for the state government to desilt parched waterbodies to save every drop of rainwater in the future.
Residents living in southern and western parts of Chennai - which have the maximum number of waterbodies — lament about the deteriorating conditions of lakes near their houses. Apart from sewage inflow, garbage dumping and encroachments being the three main threats to any waterbody in the city, forgoing basic steps of desilting and protecting linkages between lakes will result in their certain deaths, emphasised experts.
Lack of desilting attracts construction
Last week, Express reported how eight lakes spread across 150-200 acres in south Chennai are lying in a state of neglect, misused by locals and left unprotected by the government. Now, let’s take a look at how major waterbodies in inner city limits like Mudichur, Vandalur, Avadi, Pattabiram and along the city’s periphery like Sriperumbudur, Maraimalai Nagar, and Nemili are being exploited.
As most lakes have no water in them and haven’t been desilted, construction is happening even inside the lake bed. Vilinjiyambakkam Lake near Pattabiram railway station, Mudichur Seekana Eri near Perungalathur and Sriperumbudur Lake are few such examples.
As Vilinjiyambakkam Lake had dried up long ago, religious structures were built inside the lake bed and over a period of 30 years, catchment areas around the lake have been encroached fully with buildings. Being close to railway tracks, dumping of garbage has become the norm. As most of Avadi Municipality is not provided with underground sewage connections, untreated sewage from houses are directed into this lake.
“Both Thandurai and Vilinjiyambakkam Lakes in Pattabiram, spread across 100 acres each, have no water in them now. Instead, copious amounts of sewage is let into them. Canals connecting the two lakes no longer exist, so there is no source of fresh water other than rainwater for these lakes. Instead of cleaning dirty waterbodies, the government must protect clean ones first,” said Mugundhan K, a local activist and resident of Anaicutcheri village near Pattabiram.
After the construction of Chennai Outer Ring Road, Mudichur Eri, which is spread across 110 acres, was split into two parts. The Eri’s other half, 15-20-acre Mudichur Seekana Eri, has now been heavily encroached by residential complexes and polluted on a daily basis due to its proximity to the highway. “It is almost impossible to remove the six buildings built on the lake’s original boundary because they are backed by political parties. Due to this, we had to abandon our restoration efforts in 2016,” said Arun Krishnamurthy, founder of EFI.
Jaikrishnan S, a resident of Varadarajapuram in Mudichur said groundwater levels also have dropped from 15 ft to 35 ft in the last 10 years as both lakes were never desilted. “Before, water from both Eris were used for farming in Mudichur. Hence, farmers made sure these waterbodies were always protected. But now, even if residents clean the lake with the help of NGOs, it is impossible to protect it,” he said.
Chennai’s Periphery
Three lakes in and around Sriperumbudur, spread across 500-1,000 acres, face similar danger. As the current water crisis is far worse than the previous droughts experienced in Chennai, entire water content in all three lakes of mammoth proportions have dried up completely. Experts in the field ascertained that if such waterbodies are desilted now, these will act as micro reservoirs in the time of rains.
Thirukkachur Lake, Sriperumbudur Lake and Pennalur Lake are classic examples of waterbodies that can be turned into such micro reservoirs if desilted now. Also, all three are vulnerable to encroachment due to absence of water. The dried-up parts of Sriperumbudur Lake are being converted into plots and sold for constructing residential buildings, said locals. “Sewage tankers dump waste water into the lake. Plastic and food waste, and adult diapers from surrounding restaurants and spas are also dumped here. Also, a piggery located on the lake bund disposes meat waste into the lake,” said a resident.
Make micro reservoirs
The entire water content in all three lakes of mammoth proportions in Chennai’s periphery have dried up completely. Experts in the field ascertained that if such waterbodies are desilted now, these will act as micro reservoirs in the time of rains. Thirukkachur Lake, Sriperumbudur Lake and Pennalur Lake are classic examples of waterbodies that can be turned into such micro reservoirs if desilted now. Also, all three are vulnerable to encroachment due to absence of water.
Abused lakes
500-1,000 acres
Three lakes in and around Sriperumbudur face danger of encroachment
150-200 acres
Eight lakes of this capacity in south Chennai are in a state of utter neglect