CHENNAI: The Public Works Department broke the bund of the Nanmangalam lake on the Nemilicherry side this week to reduce water levels before the next spell of rains. However, locals allege that this move was to protect encroachments on the other side from flooding.
Residents noticed a group of workers breaking the bund with crowbars on Monday last. Since the workers couldn’t provide any identification and proof that they had indeed been employed by the PWD, the residents called the police.
“We took their tools away and called the police. Both the Chitlapakkam and Kovilambakkam Sub Inspectors visited the site,” said S Sarvesh, who runs a tea-stall adjacent to the bund.
After police intervention, it was found that the workers had actually been engaged by the PWD. However, in the wake of opposition from the residents, the work was discontinued.
“The bund was created in a way to allow only excess water to flow into the canal which will eventually drain into the Pallikaranai marshland,” said K Ravi, one of the residents who had fought for a proper bund. “There is water scarcity in these areas during the summer. Why should so much water be allowed to go waste?”
When Express visited the lake on Saturday, it was found that the lake had not been de-silted in the recent past. Ravi claimed that it had been 15 years since the lake was deepened and de-silted. A walk around the lake revealed numerous encroachments from thatched-roof mud huts to apartments. “Water retention of the lake has come down and the need to break the bund during the start of the monsoon shows how bad it is,”
Ravi told Express
“We started breaking the bund to prevent any flooding this monsoon,”said a senior official in the PWD. The official, however, admitted that the department would come under fire for letting out water from the lake in case it doesn’t rain much.