Chennai's OMR lost 40 water bodies to rampant urban jungle

Over 30 years, due to urbanisation and unchecked encroachment, water bodies across Chennai have vanished.
Restoration at Tharamani Keni Lake, OMR by Environmentalists Foundation of India.
Restoration at Tharamani Keni Lake, OMR by Environmentalists Foundation of India.

CHENNAI: Over 30 years, due to urbanisation and unchecked encroachment, water bodies across the city have vanished. And the OMR stretch was no exception. Experts said that if ponds, lakes, temple tanks and small water bodies were preserved from the 1970s by the state government, Chennai would have been alien to water scarcity.Of the 15 water bodies that have been identified along with the Corporation’s help, in three to four water bodies there are encroachments which need to be cleared, said an official from the revenue department.

“Pallikaranai Periya Eri in Velachery and Thamaraithangal in Shollinganallur are two such lakes. In fact, a government building was built 20 years back on the Thamaithangal lake bed which is an encroachment,” shared the official.

Officials said that prior to the 2007 Madras High Court ruling about construction on water bodies, many housing board tenements were constructed on wetlands and lakes. “In the early 1980s, a TNSCB tenement was constructed on an Eri in Ullagaram-Madipakkam area. When the Eri was dry, the land was converted into Poramboke land and was taken up by the government for its projects. Similar cases can be found in Villivakkam and Mogappair. Soon, a survey will be carried out with the PWD to identify more such water bodies in Sholinganallur,” said the official.

Experts and activists on water management also agreed that water scarcity in this thickly commercialised part of the city could have been easily mitigated if water bodies were kept alive.“At least 50 small- and medium-water bodies were shrunk enormously due to encroachment by government agencies. For the purpose of building roads, bridges, railway stations, housing board buildings, industrial estate (Sipcot), etc, water bodies vanished completely,” said S Janakarajan, president of South Asia Consortium of Interdisciplinary Water Studies.

Though the groundwater quality is poor due to the geological nature of OMR, academicians said that over time, quality would have improved if the groundwater table was replenished by preserving water bodies. “The rocks beneath the surface are made up of marine sediments. Due to this groundwater is a bit salty in nature along OMR,” said Elango L, a professor part of Anna University’s Geology department.

Building on lakes 

Though no official survey has been carried out, officials said that 15 water bodies have been identified for safe-keeping from construction in Shollinganallur. 

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