Sewage into lake: NGT ultimatum to Tambaram corporation

CHENNAI: The southern bench of National Green Tribunal (NGT) has warned the Tambaram Municipal Corporation of heavy penalty if the civic body fails to stop sewage entering Madambakkam Lake.

Hearing a suo motu case pertaining to the issue a few days ago, a bench of judicial member Justice Pushpa Satyanarayana and expert member Satyagopal Korlapati noted that the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) had issued a show-cause notice to the civic body in July but the Commissioner has not responded to it.

There has been no response from the Commissioner – Tambaram City Municipal Corporation though. They have neither given a plan of action pursuant to the directives of Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) nor have responded to the TNPCB, the bench observed.

The bench added that if the action plan and the progress of the plan are not furnished before the next date of hearing (December 20), the Tambaram Corporation should pay a fine of Rs 10,000.

“If no action is taken, the same will also be viewed very seriously, and the Tambaram City Municipal Corporation will have to pay a heavy penalty,” the bench said.

Earlier, the CPCB, during an inspection, found that sewage generated from nearby housing colonies drained into the lake through five channels. The CPCB also ruled out any industrial activity in the area concerned thereby ruling out any discharge of industrial waste into the lake.

Meanwhile, the results of a water sample analysis submitted by the TNPCB has revealed alarmingly high (ranging up to 2000) presence of total dissolved solids; other parameters also exceed acceptable limits, as per the results.

Following the inspection, the CPCB suggested the Tambaram Corporation to delineate the lake area, provide sewage collection and treatment system for Madambakkam town panchayat, periodical maintenance of stormwater drains, and removing water weeds, among other remedial measures.