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Tamil Nadu-Chennai
By Saptarshi Bhattacharya
The decade-long struggle by the local residents finally bore fruit in the form of the project, to be implemented by Chitlapakkam Lake Preservation and Development Committee, a body of residents, political heads of local bodies and officials. The scheme, Kancheepuram Collector, R.Venkatesan said would be carried out on the lines of `Namakku Naame' scheme in which the Government would contribute three times the amount collected by the Committee. Already, the residents had contributed Rs.1 lakh taking the corpus amount to Rs.4 lakhs. In addition, during the project launch on Saturday, the committee received donations from individuals, residents' groups and philanthropists to the tune of Rs. 1.05 lakhs. The initial work of draining out the dirty water has begun and first phase of cleaning up the sprawling 46.88 acres lake of polluted water and deepening the bed, which is likely to cost Rs.10 lakhs, would begin soon, said P.Viswanathan, Convenor of the Chitlapakkam Residents' Associations Coordination Committee. The Agriculture department has been invited to carry out the work. The bunds would then be strengthened to prevent further encroachments along the lake, which originally was spread over 86.86 acres, the residents said. At a later stage, the catchment areas would be identified and steps taken to ensure steady inflow of pure rainwater into the lake during monsoon. The third phase would include beautification of the lake and its surrounding areas. The total project cost has been estimated to be Rs.40 lakhs. Besides being a feeder lake for the areas all around Chitlapakkam and the Sembakkam lake, Chitlapakkam lake also has immense ecological value. A happy abode to a number of migratory birds during seasons, the lake is now reduced to a dry bed with scanty water stagnating in pockets. Even on Saturday, a few egrets were sighted on the lakebed, braving the threat posed by a group of children using the dry bed as a playground. The residents said that a week ago, two Australian Pelicans were sighted too. The lake was polluted by and large due to indiscriminate garbage dumping by the Chitlapakkam town panchayat and letting sewer into the lake from all the adjoining areas. Following a series of demonstrations and rallies, the sewer lines were re-routed. Garbage dumping by the town panchayat also stopped after the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board served a notice on them. Saturday's meeting was attended by the Rajya Sabha MP, V.Maithreyan, who assured the residents financial help towards the project. The Chairman, St. Thomas Mount panchayat union, C.Rajendran, who also heads the Chitlapakkam Lake Preservation and Development Committee, and Chairperson, Chitlapakkam town panchayat, N.C.K. Rajeswari spoke.
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