CHENNAI: Dead fish, plastic waste, and sewage are the only things one can find in the reeking waters of the Chitlapakkam lake. With groundwater levels hitting rock bottom, the residents feel desilting the lake during this summer only will help recharge the aquifers and provide them water.
But their repeated requests to desilt the lake and clear surrounding garbage have fallen on deaf ears as the PWD has ignored their concern.‘
‘Two days ago, we wrote to the PWD but haven’t got a response,’’ said V Anantalakshmi, a resident.
Currently, there is no water in Chitlapakkam and the residents pay Rs 1,400 every three days for 8,000 litres. The lack of a permanent water source has put their day-to-day life in quandary.‘
‘Private water tankers do not come regularly. They delay water supply by three hours and sometimes even by one day,’’ she said.
‘‘There is plastic which is four to five feet deep in the lake. Neighbouring people (in Periyar street behind the lake) also continue to unmindfully throw garbage in their backyard which is carried by air and eventually falls in the lake,’’ she added.
Apart from this sewage inflow from the nearby wards continues to pollute the lake on a daily basis, leaving no space for revival. For the Tamil Nadu government, Wilbur Smith Associates, an infrastructure consulting firm, studied the stormwater drains for the Tambaram Municipality in 2007.
In its report, the firm said that stormwater drains from Ward 11, 12, 13, 14, 18 and 19 connect to the Chitlapakkam Lake. ‘‘Currently, these stormwater drains carry heavy influx of sewage from many wards of Tambaram,’’ said Anantalaksmi.
Every Sunday morning, about 230 residents clear the garbage in the lake by themselves. ‘‘If they desilt the lake during summer, it will naturally dry and again fresh water will fill during the monsoon,’’ said K Govindaraj who fought for the preservation of the lake in various levels.
‘‘I have been fighting for the past five years. I have requested the Tambaram Municipality several times to stop sewage discharge into the Chitlappakkam Lake but they still continue to let in,’’ he said.
When Express contacted the PWD authorities regarding the desilting of the lake, the authorities pushed the issue to various departments among themselves. They neither acknowledged the situation nor commented on the future course.
The Chitlapakkam lake is the only source of water for the 12,500 houses and 38,000 residents in the area.