The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Chitlapakkam residents seek underground drainage network

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, May 15, 2005

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Chitlapakkam residents seek underground drainage network

Staff Reporter

Discharge of sewage into lakes is affecting water quality in wells, complain residents

UNCHECKED FLOW: Sewage entering the Chitlapakkam Lake through a stormwater drain.

TAMBARAM: With a view to protecting two waterbodies in their locality, residents of Chitlapakkam have urged the State Government to immediately provide underground drainage facility.

They said the continuous discharge of domestic sewage and industrial waste into the Sembakkam and Chitlapakkam lakes was threatening the waterbodies and affecting the water quality in wells.

The Chitlapakkam Residents Associations Coordination Committee sent a petition to the Chief Minister as early as February this year seeking the execution of the project.

According to the residents, they were using water drawn from wells for cooking as well as drinking purposes till 1995.

However, there was unchecked flow of sewage into the lake, which affected the quality of the well water.

Threat to environment

Contamination of rainwater collected in the lakes not only posed a threat to the environment but was also against the Government's rules and guidelines.

In the absence of a proper underground drainage network, the existing stormwater drains had become nothing more than conduits of sewage and discharging them into the lakes.

The petition pointed out that the Tambaram and Pallavaram Municipalities had initiated moves to implement the underground drainage network.

As Chitlapakkam was sandwiched between these two municipalities, an integrated sewage disposal system could be considered. It would not only reduce the cost of the project but also speed up the implementation, it said.

The Chitlapakkam Lake was a shining example of the public-Government partnership to protect and preserve a waterbody.

And the underground drainage network would help preserve the environment, said the petition signed by P. Viswanathan, convener of the committee.

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