It’s official: sewage flowing into Ninnakarai Lake
K. Manikandan
No other option: authorities; gross violation of norms, say residents
— PHOTO: A. Muralitharan
POLLUTION: Untreated sewage from the oxidation pond being directly let into the Ninnakkarai Lake in Maraimalai Nagar.
TAMBARAM: Ninnakarai Lake in Maraimalai Nagar is facing a grave threat in the form of discharge of raw, untreated sewage generated from the township into it.
For the past few days, sewage has been gushing into the lake from the oxidation pond of the underground drainage project. The pond serves as the collection centre for sewage from all over the township. Officials of the Department of Municipal Administration and Water Supply said they had no other option as the project lacked a full-fledged sewage treatment plant.
The sewage had to be released as the Oxidation Pond had to be cleaned and desilted apart from removing the sludge.
Residents of the township, about 30 years old, were shocked after noticing streams of sewage flowing directly into the lake. Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage (TWAD) Board implemented the sewer project in the late 1970’s and handed over the same to the local body in 1986.
There are four sub-pumping stations as part of the project and the entire sewage is collected at the Oxidation Pond near the Municipality’s office.
There are about 4,000 individual connections and about 16 lakh litres of sewage was generated everyday in this Municipality that has a population of about 50,000. Usually, the water is allowed to evaporate after the sediments settle down in this pond and the sludge is disposed of elsewhere.
Officials said that as it has been a long time since the Oxidation Pond was cleaned, they decided to release the sewage.
Residents said releasing raw and untreated sewage directly into a waterbody was a clear violation of norms and wondered if this move had the sanction of other government agencies like the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board or the Public Works Department. Officials said a Rs. 3.75 crore proposal to carry out improvement works in the project were forwarded to TWAD Board and technical sanction for the same was awaited.
Installing a treatment plant and extending the sewer project to uncovered areas were some of the key components of the proposal, TWAD Board engineers said.
Activists regretted that despite enjoying the status of a satellite township, Maraimalai Nagar lacked proper infrastructure facilities, including basic amenities.
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