Medical waste chokes Thenneri lake

CHENNAI: As a matter of policy, the pillars of democracy comprising legislative, executive and the judiciary campaign for the protection of lakes and restoration of water bodies. But it remains in words only as wetlands continue to choke with solid and hazardous waste.

The latest in the list of polluted waterbodies in the State is the Thenneri lake in Sriperumbudur, which has been a dumping ground for medical and chemical waste for the past few months.

Located in Walajabad near Sriperumbudur, this waterbody is one of the biggest lakes in the district. The lake has a spread of about 5,588 acres and is the main water source for more than 20 villages including Varanasi, Kattavakkam, Imenchery, and Manjamedu Agaram.

Villagers claimed that for the past few months, some unidentified people from nearby factories have been dumping medical and chemical wastes like plastic and chemicals on the lake bed regularly. “Sometimes they even burn the waste on the lake bed and it affects all the surrounding areas completely,” added a resident.

They lament over their cattle and other animals falling sick often, as they graze on the lake bed often.

Moorthy from the Varanasi village, said, “A few weeks ago, our cattle got sick suddenly. Later, we found that it had consumed the chemical waste on the lake. We had to spend more money to treat them and bring them back to form.”

“We’ve filed several complaints with the Walajabad Panchayat Union but nobody from the in the district administration took any meaningful action,” said another villager. “Even the PWD officials did not give a proper response to our petitions.”

They’re also concerned with the waterbody getting polluted beyond recovery. “Since the lake is the main water source for more than 20 villages, if the lake gets polluted, the water will be unusable. This would adversely affect all the fields in those villages. There would be huge water scarcity,” they pointed out.

Ramanathan, a villager, lamented “Our cows graze on the lake-bed. If our cows get infected and fall sick due to these chemicals, the milk would also be contaminated. How do we sell it to others?”

When contacted, an official from the Walajabad Water Resources Department said that he would look into the issue. “The help of the local police will be sought to take action against the people who dump waste on the lake,” assured the official.