CHENNAI: Health Minister Ma Subramanian on Saturday inspected the Porur lake in Chennai, where heaps of biomedical waste related to COVID-19 treatment were dumped last week. This is the first time in the past four years that a minister is visiting a spot where biomedical waste was dumped. He said that the police will take action against whoever dumped the waste and the private healthcare facility too will be booked.
Several media reports, including in The New Indian Express, highlighted how waste was dumped along the lake, causing a biohazard. Following that, the minister inspected the lake along with Health Secretary Dr J Radhakrishnan and vowed to protect the waterbody.
Addressing reporters after the inspection, Subramanian said the lake was not maintained by the AIADMK government during the past 10 years. “They took no measures to preserve the lake and also were silent when miscreants attempted to grab the lake land by filling it up with sand,” he said.
Subramanian added that even though the lake is spread over 252 acres, the catchment area is only 50 acres while the remaining 200 acres is filled with garbage and water hyacinth. “Through the public works department, we will send a proposal to renovate the lake. Work to block access to the lake for vehicles is now on so that biomedical waste is not dumped again here,” he added.