CHENNAI: With summer almost upon us, the citizens are hoping against a repeat of last year’s drought. But what is worrisome is that most waterbodies in the city continue to suffer from sewage inflow and encroachments, among other things. The story of Mathur lake, the main source of water for residents of Manali in North Chennai, is no different.The erstwhile 70-acre lake, colloquially called ‘Periyathoppu Eri’, is now just 30 acres. Weed growth and encroachers have occupied most of it and sewage inflow also continues.“As the lake was dry for most of the time, it could have been desilted , but nothing has been done,’’ said Selaiammal, a local resident. She added that a large amount of garbage has also been dumped in the lake.
Though bunds of the lake are intact, residents allege that those laid recently legitimise encroachments since the size of the lake used to be bigger. ‘’Many houses in the vicinity of the lake came up only a few decades ago. Without reclaiming the vast size of the lake, how can bunds be laid to demarcate the area?’’ questioned Ravi R, another resident of Mathur. TANUVAS (Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University), that owns the lake, in 2015, held a meeting to find a solution to the issues. In 2018, a notice was issued to remove encroachments and build a flood retention wall. However, the corporation built a five-foot wall at a cost of `80 lakh without doing the former.
Express reported in 2018 that this wall, rather serving as flood barrier, ended up protecting the encroachments. Residents claim that non-removal of encroachments has not just put on hold any desilting work but has also put nearby houses at risk. ‘’In 2015, this area faced the worst flooding and almost everyone had to vacate,’’ recalled Ravi. When contacted, an official from the TANUVAS said they would look into proposals for restoring the lake. “The lake has no encroachments. If the Corporation approaches us to restore it, we may think about giving them an NOC,’’ said the official.