Coimbatore Corporation will soon explore the possibility of establishing a lake and catchment management authority to manage the eight lakes.
This was proposed to the corporation on Monday at a meeting the officials had with the consultant, Oasis Designs Inc., engaged to develop and beautify the eight tanks it had taken up under the Smart Cities project. The consultant told the corporation that such an authority was necessary to regulate the flow of water among the tanks so as to maintain adequate water round the year.
It also told the corporation that while it had the control of only the tanks, the possession of the channels that fed water to them was also necessary as only then the authority would be function efficiently.
The corporation officials said they would explore the possibility of constituting the authority in consultation with the State Government, or at least try to workout a joint working group with the Public Works Department, which manages the channels.
The consultant told the corporation that it had conducted a water balance analysis of the eight tanks - Narasampathy, Krishnampathy, Kumarasamy, Selvampathy, Selvachinthamani, Periyakulam, Valangulam and Singanallur - and five of those had the potential to store 100% water throughout the year.
After showing varying water levels in the tanks in a year, the consultant said dry weather flow (sewage) was an important water source for the tanks. And to maintain the water level, the Corporation could look at diverting the treated sewage from the Ukkadam Sewage Treatment Plant to either Periyakulam or Valangulam.
It also said that it had collection rainfall data, percolation details and other relevant details to come up the suggestions that the bund level needed to be adjusted in a few tanks so as to ensure optimum full tank level.
And, considering rainfall during the monsoon, the sluices in the tanks needed to be upgraded and electronically managed by the lake and catchment management authority so that they could be operated with the touch of a button.
As for treating water and improving water quality in the tanks, the consultant told the corporation it had proposed boo-remediation methods to ecologically treat the sewage water. It would have screens to filter coarse and fine solid waste and wetland treatment that would add to the tanks’ beauty.
As part of the beautification project, the consultant said that it proposed to have pedestrian pathways and bicycling tracks along Periyakulam and Valangulam bunds. Corporation officials said they would have to work out the cost to PWD’s schedule of rates before floating the tender.
