‘Chitlapakkam lake deepening work leaves room for improvement’

Had the Chitlapakkam lake been de-silted and deepened completely, the waterbody could have stored more rainwater. According to Sunil Jayaram, a volunteer with Chitlapakkam Rising, a citizens group, only 65 per cent of the lake was desilted by the Water Resources Department.

“The Water Resources Department has constructed a regulator on the eastern side of the lake, near Thirumurugan Nagar in Chitlpakkam. The excess water from the lake flows through the regulator and through the cut-and-cover drain to Sembakkam lake and Nanmangalam lake. The excess water from the lakes drains into the Bay of Bengal, through Buckingham Canal. If the lake had beencompletely desilted and deepend, more rainwater could have been saved ,”says Sunil Jayaram.