DT Impact: Sand bags to arrest sewage flow into Chitlapakkam lake

CHENNAI: After DT Next carried a story with the title ‘Sewage flows into Chitlapakkam lake; residents demand action’, on July 19, officials from Water Resource Department (WRD) on Wednesday took immediate steps in arresting the sewage flow into the lake.

The department placed sand bags as a temporary measure to arrest sewage at the lake inlet.

Commenting on this, a resident said, “We appreciate WRD, Tambaram Corporation and Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board officials for swiftly responding to the complaint and for acting on the issue. However, the steps taken now is only temporary, hence we urge WRD and Environment department to fix the inlet sluice gates at the earliest.”

Meanwhile, WRD also stated that they are at present waiting for funds from Environment Department to work on inlet sluice gates and other pending works such as pathway, lights, compound gates and entry exit ramps along Chitlapakkam lake.

For more than a year, sewage has been flowing into Chitlapakkam lake and residents claim that due to this, the water storage capacity of the lake has reached its full limit. Local activists claimed that downstream Sembakkam lake will be affected due to diversion if the sluice gates are not fixed.