Three more Chennai lakes to be rejuvenated
Posted on: 28/Jan/2020 9:36:49 AM
By March, the Water Resources Department or WRD would be involved in the eco-restoration of Vengaivasal Periyaeri, Perumbakkam Lake and Adambakkam Lake. An amount of Rs 12 crores would be spent for this eco-restoration.
It must not be forgotten that voluntary efforts were taken by the residents to spruce up Vengaivasal Periyaeri near Medavakkam last year. It is now said that this has become a government-funded eco-restoration project. The above mentioned 3 water bodies would be rejuvenated just similar to Paruthipattu Lake located near Avadi.
Under the Environment Protection and Renewable Energy Development Fund of Environment and Forest Development, government order sanctioned recently is known. Crowdfunding was used by the residents belonging to Vengaivasal and they constructed a recharge well to overcome water scarcity last summer.
Nearly 3 to 4 litres of water is got from the well in the lake. The residents appreciated the move by WRD to rejuvenate the water bodies and said it would improve the storage capacity of the lake. Crowdfunded amount of Rs 30 lakhs were used to build recharge well and Chitteri Lake was also de-silted with the money. The trash from the lake is being collected by the residents. This was later revealed by a resident belonging to Santhosapuram of Vengaivasal.
He explained how the project would play an important role in recharging the groundwater table and would reduce the water shortage in the locality. From places like Madambakkam sewage has been released into Chitteri Lake. This has angered many residents and they now want the department to take action to avoid sewage getting released into the Chitteri Lake through inlet channels.
Construction of a sewage treatment plant is the need of the hour and it must be constructed as promised earlier by the officials. To prevent the threat of plummeting water table depletion of groundwater, the residents want the district administration to regulate the timing of the groundwater extraction from the agricultural wells in Vengaivasal.
An amount of Rs 4.8 crores would be used to rejuvenate the Perumbakkam Lake and this lake is already being developed as a drinking water source by the MWD.
