Residents seek STP to protect Vengaivasal lake from sewage

“The lake plays a vital role in the area by maintaining the groundwater level. But when the water in the lake gets polluted, it also affects the groundwater. The situation is becoming worse, as even solid waste is dumped into the lake,” lamented V Seetharaman, member of Rajakilpakkam Residents’ Welfare Association.

“We recently restored the Rajakilpakkam lake. But we are yet to get permission from the Municipality to clean and desilt this lake. We hope that either they grant us permission or the civic authorities themselves will take up the work soon,” he added. Though many complaints and petitions have been made to the Municipality, no action has been taken yet, complained residents here.

“The residents’ association has given petitions to the authorities. But till now, no steps have been taken to clean the lake. Instead, pollution is only increasing. We are ready to restore the lake, we wanted the officials to set up a treatment plant here to stop sewage from being let into the lake,” said Vinoth Kumar A, a resident of Medavakkam.

“Earlier, residents were dumping garbage into the lake. But after the stern warning from the officials, they have stopped throwing garbage. But now we found out that sewage from many households is being let into the lake. Only if that is stopped can the water in the lake be used for drinking and domestic purposes,” he added.

Local residents pointed out that polluting the waterbodies would not only affect the quality of the water in the lake, but also adversely impact the groundwater table in the whole neighbourhood.

When contacted, a senior official from the Medavakkam Municipality said the Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (Metro Water) was in process of setting up sewage treatment plants near waterbodies. “Soon, STP will be installed here, and steps will be taken to ensure that no sewage is discharged into the lake,” added the official.