CCMC to increase capacity of lakes

COIMBATORE: Following the red flags raised by city-based organisations citing the water-holding area of lakes, the Coimbatore City Municipal Corporation (CCMC) planning to increase the capacity.

The corporation is currently beautifying the lake bunds under the Smart City Mission which has been bringing down the lake's volume, residents claimed.

Speaking to TNIE, CCMC Commissioner Raja Gopal Sunkara said they are planning whatever is possible to increase the water body's capacity.

He noted, "Several city-based organisations raised concerns over reduction of water-holding area of the lakes where the Smart City works are underway. Their objections shall be considered to increase the water holding area of the city lakes."

This move, he said, was taken after the recent visit of Shiv Das Meena, secretary of the Municipal Administration and Water Supply (MAWS) department of Coimbatore.

Stating that the Gurugram-based architect had already designed the structures covering the lake bunds, Raja Gopal said some designs shall be sliced to maintain the ecology of the water body.

"Desilting and removing some designs shall be done in the lakes where the smart city works are still under progress. The encroachments on the west side of Valankulam lake shall soon be removed," he added.

Last year, a group of city-based NGOs including Siruthuli, Kovai Kulangal Padhugappu Amaippu, RAAC, C4TN, represented Chief Minister MK Stalin and other higher authorities to restore the ecology in lakes in Coimbatore citing the ongoing smart city works. The petition also included satellite images of lakes showing the water holding capacity of some lakes between 2018 and 2021.

Earlier, the president of the Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry-Coimbatore (ICCI-C) C Balasubramanian said, "Though the beautification projects planned in the lake bund are for public use, the bund is extended inside the water body resulting in shrinkage of the catchment area. The water bodies must be left as it is without creating any artificial structure along the bunds."

Meanwhile, the secretary of Coimbatore Consumer Cause (CCC) K Kathirmathiyon recalled a Madras High Court order to his PIL in 2016 directing the district administration to remove the encroachments in the lakes. The court further granted a permanent stay that those lands should not be used for any other purpose even if approvals were accorded and kept vacant, he noted.