The Palavansathu lake, a water source that has been catering to the needs of residents of the area for the last 70 years, has become a dumping yard, thanks to indiscriminate dumping by residents living adjacent to the lake.
People of the area, who used to depend on the lake for drinking water, stopped using the water as it had become contaminated. Residents of the Palavansanthukuppam area, in ward 42, blamed those living on a street that runs adjacent to the lake for the contamination of the water body.
“The people have a callous attitude and throw plastic wastes into the water body. On several occasions, we requested them not to do so, but they continue to litter the lake,” lament the residents.
The lake receives water from the Otteri and Gundusoor hills and it flows through Virupatchipuram and Avvai Nagar. Drainage lines from Virupatchipuram and Avvai Nagar are connected to the water channel that enters the lake and the sewage gets mixed with the water. This is creating a lot of health issues to the people as they use this water to bathe and wash clothes, said a local resident.
“The lake has now turned into a breeding place for mosquitos,” said Muthukrishnan, a resident of Palavansanthukuppam.
He charged that the local bodies are not making any effort to stop the people from polluting the lake. Muthukrishnan pointed out that there are not enough dustbins in the area to dump garbage, so people dump waste into the lake. He requested the officials concerned to look into the issue and provide adequate dustbins.
Councillor of ward 42, G Anbu said he had raised the issue at the council meetings. He noted that the Corporation, in last year’s budget, had announced desilting of lakes in its limits, including the Palavansathu lake.
However, nothing materialised so far. He said, “Desilting of seven lakes was also announced in the budget for the financial year 2013-2014. But, the big question is when is the desilting work going to begin?” When contacted, Anaicut MLA M Kalaiarasu said he had inspected the lake twice.
“During the visits, officials of the civic body also accompanied me and they assured that they would address the problem,” he said.