Chennai lakes fight for full flow as officials neglect water bodies
CHENNAI: Four days ago, the Public Works Department (PWD) announced the rejuvenation of Adambakkam, Vengaivasal and Perumbakkam lakes. Located not very far from these are Selaiyur, Madambakkam and Sembakkam lakes — major waterbodies in South Chennai that remain in a neglected state, bereft of basic restoration works.
Each lake is plagued by a pressing problem. In the case of Selaiyur and Sembakkam lakes, discharge of raw sewage has been polluting the lakes for almost a decade.
As the underground sewage network is yet to become functional in Tambaram Municipality, sewage generated by the entire locality is disposed of to these two lakes. Madambakkam lake, on the other hand, is losing its original storage capacity without desilting. The groundwater level around the lake is also depleting rapidly with Chitlapakkam and Madambakkam panchayats drawing close to 20 lakh litres of water for supply.
Fight for revival
Resident associations and activists, who have been fighting for the revival of these waterbodies, said that they were disappointed with PWD’s recent announcement as bigger lakes with a range of problems were not considered for restoration.
“Spread across 250 acres, Madambakkam lake is a massive waterbody. Its storage capacity has drastically come down due to lack of desilting. Sembakkam lake is now being revived by NGOs, but this is hardly enough and the government has to intervene,” said CR Balaji, a civic activist who recently raised a complaint with the CM Cell about this issue.
Though Selaiyur lake is a primary source for Kovalam basin, it is filled with sewage and garbage now. According to official data, this lake is spread across 150 acres. With a storage capacity of 16 Mcft, the lake has helped in the irrigation of around 340 acres in the past decade.
In Selaiyur and Sembakkam lakes, sewage carried through stormwater drains in and around Tambaram are the culprits, said residents. "As this is the first lake located along the Kovalam Basin, contaminated water from here pollutes other lakes like Chitlapakkam, Sembakkam and Nanmangalam tanks located downstream. It has a catchment area of 3.6 sq km; if deepened, it can become Tambaram’s primary water source," said Dayanand Krishnan, a resident of Chitlapakkam.
Meanwhile, the five wells dug by the panchayat on the lake bed are now submerged after recent rains filled it up. Because of this, residents said that withdrawal of water has been stopped recently.
"Instead of desilting the lake and strengthening its bunds, the panchayat dug wells right on the lake bed. Now, these have been rendered useless. There is vegetation all over the lake too. Authorities could have easily desilted the lake during the summer but they have failed to do so till now,” said Rajendran G, a resident of Madambakkam.
Responding to the issue, a senior PWD official said that these three lakes will be soon restored under the Rs 3,000-crore flood mitigation project.
"We are awaiting Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank’s official word for funding the project. We had initially requested the World Bank for funds but we haven’t heard from them. So, the project is getting delayed. Once funds are allotted, the three lakes will be developed into eco-parks," said the official.