The iconic Ooty Lake continues to be increasingly polluted, as untreated sewage water is directly diverted into the lake, despite a sewage treatment plant being in existence.
Though the treatment plant, built at a cost of more than Rs. 1.2 crore, was designed to purify the water from the Kodappamund Channel before it is introduced to the lake, much of the machinery remains idle. Moreover, a bottleneck has formed at the point where the water enters the treatment plant, as thousands of plastic bottles, washed down from further upstream, have dammed up the entry point of the facility.
Activists say that the lake has become an ideal breeding ground for mosquitoes, and that the increasingly levels of pollution are a cause for concern, especially as it is a prime tourist location.
“We have been urging the municipality to clean up the lake and take up measures that would ensure that there is a holistic approach to keeping the water body clean.
With new technologies, sewage water can be purified and introduced to big lakes with almost no impact on the environment,” said S Jayachandran, Joint Secretary of the Tamil Nadu Green Movement.
Sources at the Ooty Boat House said that officials had already raised the issue with the municipality and had asked them to treat the water before releasing it into the lake.
“There is also a complaint that the treatment plant was being run only sporadically,” the source who requested anonymity said.
However, municipality officials claimed that the sewage was indeed being treated before being let into the lake. V Prabhakaran, Health Officer and Commissioner (in-charge), Udhagamandalam Municipality, disputed claims that the water was not being treated. He, however, said that the municipality will look into the issue once again.
