Brazen encroachments raise hackles

The handing over of 54 acres of the Ambattur lake by the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) to the Tamil Nadu Small Industries Development Corporation (SIDCO) has caused a furore among the public. The Ambattur Waterbodies Protection Movement is considering a public interest litigation (PIL) in case the government does not respond to their plea to stop the move.

The Ambattur lake is the main catchment area for the bigger Puzhal lake, one of the main water sources of Chennai.

As encroachments on catchment areas of big waterbodies increase, environment enthusiasts worry that not much care is being accorded to protecting waterbodies, leave alone creating new ones even as the population of Chennai grows.

Earlier this year, a PIL was filed in the Madras High Court against such encroachments, citing them as the main reason for Chennai’s drought this summer, as most of the lakes in and around the city went bone dry.

In response to the court’s demand for an explanation, the Public Works Department (PWD) said that there were 6,186 encroachments on the Cooum, Buckingham and Kosasthalai rivers and promised in June that steps would be taken to evict all the encroachers. Instead, in August, the CMDA announced that it would reclassify 53.97 acres of land on Ambattur lake to create a women entrepreneurs’ zone through SIDCO.

“It is great injustice,” said David Manohar of Arappor Iyakkam, which has raised a strong objection to this move. “It will have a great impact on Chennai. CMDA releases a small advertisement in this regard and asks for any objection from the public within 21 days. Then, they on their own justify that no objections have been received,” he said.

“In fact, six NGOs and an individual have recorded their objections, which information I got through RTI. Then, CMDA agreed to it. Even before the announcement, SIDCO has begun its preliminary works. Thisreclassification advertisement was just a formality. Most of the waterbodies in the State face a similar fate,” David added.

“The Madras High Court, in a ruling in 2016, has said that the government has no rights to use the catchment areas on waterbodies for other purposes. Already, the effluents from nearby industrial units are being let into the lake. The government has not taken any steps to curb that. Instead, it has taken this move to bring in more industries on waterbodies which would result in contaminated drinking water for the people. We have written to the Chief Minister, Edappadi K Palaniswami, to stop this move. If the government does not respond, we may have to file a PIL,” said S P Nedumaran, coordinator, Ambattur Waterbodies Protection Movement.

A point to note is that the Chief Minister declared such projects under Rule 110 in the Assembly to get clearance without a discussion. For example, the Chief Minister on June 5 announced in the State Assembly that the Chitlapakkam lake would be reclassifiedwith Rs 25 crores.

“The Sholinganallur Thamaraikeni lake has shrunk to 25 acres from 152 acres. The State government itself has encroached upon half an acre of land for construction of a police station. In the same way, against strong opposition from the people, Blue Nine Properties has applied to CMDA consecutively in 2004, 2009, 2019 to occupy six acres of land on the Adyar riverbed in Alandur taluk, Nandambakkam village,” said Harris Sultan ofArappor Iyakkam.

Already, over 2,200 acres of Chembarambakkam lake have been encroached upon. Effluents of a glass industry is being let into the lake. At present, people are opposing the expansion works of the industrial estate in Thirumazhisai, which isnear the lake. PWD sources say waterbodies in Chennai are encroached upon to give way to huge building constructions. According to 1906 records, the total catchment area of Chennai was 12.6 sq km, which has shrunk to 3.2 sq km, according to a survey taken 10 years ago. PWD has asked for a boundary survey from the Revenue department.

When asked, CMDA said that they have granted only areas, which are not in use, for the benefit of industries, and that the area had been wrongly classified as awaterbody. All rules and government guidelines are properly followed,they said. But social enthusiasts suspect political pressure behind such a move, violating even court orders.

When the place was ruled by kings, waterbodies were considered sacred and people protected them. There was no compromise when it came to protecting waterbodies. Even the British protected them and left them without any encroachments. Waterbodies, the lifeline of a society, were encroached upon and all violations have happened only during the last 50 years.

Every year, Chennai reels under drinking water crisis and the government reacts in knee-jerk fashion to tackle the problem. Failing to protect the natural infrastructure and helping those encroach waterbodies is like shooting oneself on the foot.