The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Officials inspect damaged lake bund

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Nov 22, 2006
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Officials inspect damaged lake bund

Staff Reporter

Police complaint filed, saboteurs warned of stern action

NO WATER: The damaged bund of Vannaanthaangal lake in Tambaram. The lake has been completely drained, lament residents. — Photo: A. Muralitharan

TAMBARAM : Officials of the Department of Municipal Administration and Water Supply inspected the `Vannaanthaangal' Lake in Tambaram on Tuesday morning following reports of sabotage of a bund the previous evening.

The lake was nearly dry by the time the team visited the spot.

Senior officials instructed their colleagues in Tambaram Municipality to take stern action against the offenders. Following this, a complaint was lodged at the Tambaram police station.

Residents of West Tambaram are furious with the Municipality, its elected representatives and other arms of the State government for failing to take quick action.

Officials said that by the time they arrived at the spot, most of the rain water stored in it had drained and it was difficult to plug the breach late in the night on Monday. Residents said the lake was an important source to recharge ground water as Palar water supply was inadequate in this region.

They squarely blamed the Tambaram Municipality for the incident and also alleged that the sabotage had the blessings of a section of its elected representatives. Even officials of the Department of Municipal Administration and Water Supply told reporters that a section of the elected representatives tried to convince them that the breach was caused due to heavy rains and there was no foul play.

However, officials went ahead with their police complaint stating it was a clear act of sabotage by the miscreants. Residents said the government agencies and its officials should do more than carry out mere inspections after all the damage was done. Soon after the bitter lessons of 2005 where localities were flooded due to overflow of excess water from lakes and incidents of miscreants damaging lake bunds, the government should have woken up and taken precautionary measures, said P. Selvam, a resident staying near the lake.

Highly placed sources said an alert had been sounded in Kancheepuram and Tiruvallur revenue districts about the probability of miscreants resorting to sabotage. An alert has been issued to both Revenue and Police departments to heighten vigil, sources said.

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