The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Lake sluices breached to protect encroachments

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jun 20, 2007
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Lake sluices breached to protect encroachments

K. Manikandan

Water drained from Nemilichery lake; municipality in the dark

— Photo : A. Muralitharan

CONTAMINATION: Rainwater mixed with sewage pose problems for residents of Bhavani Nagar in Nemillichery.

TAMBARAM: Residents of Bhavani Nagar in Nemilichery near Chromepet woke up to a surprise on Sunday morning, when they noticed their wells were filled to the brim. But soon they realised that the sudden increase in water level was due to inundation by rain water mixed with sewage.

If till Saturday the water level was nearly rock bottom, on Sunday morning it touched ground level.

According to them, water was drained out illegally through the nearby Nemilichery lake’s sluices (‘madhagu’) on Saturday evening without the knowledge of either the Pallavaram Municipality or the Revenue Department. The water got mixed with raw sewage let out into newly constructed storm water drains.

As the drains were incomplete, the rain water and sewage entered the locality, leaving wells in about 50 houses contaminated. Officials of Pallavaram Municipality said the storm water drains were being constructed to drain excess water from Nemilichery lake into the Nanmangalam lake near Sembakkam.

They denied it was left incomplete, and added that work on the remaining part of the drain from Bhavani Nagar till Nanmangalam lake would start soon.

The unexpected rain resulted in the locality getting inundated. They said they were unaware of water being released from the sluice gates as the lake was being maintained by the Public Works Department.

Residents of Bhavani Nagar said the Nemilichery lake was originally spread over more than 200 acres, but had shrunk to its present size of about 100 acres owing to encroachments.

The sluice on the lake bund on the eastern side was built in 1914.

Water released from this sluice would normally flow eastward before draining into tanks and ponds in other parts of Nemilichery and nearby Raayapettai.

However, the natural water course was blocked at Postal Nagar and diverted through the new drains to flow south.

While welcoming the decision of the Pallavaram Municipality to channel water from one lake to another in order to prevent flooding and stagnation, residents said water from the sluice gate should not have been released until the completion of the storm water drain project.

In yet another incident of the kind in the last few days in the area, some miscreants had breached the sluice gates to prevent encroachments from getting inundated, they said.

Municipal authorities said they would probe the incident and take appropriate action against the offenders.

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