Source : The Times of India Date : 15.06.2009
Nanmangalam Farmers Hit As Water Begins To Turn Unfit For Irrigation
D Madhavan | TNN
Chennai: Since last year, R Selvakumar has stopped taking water from the Nanmangalam lake and has been irrigating his farm with well water. Reason: the water in the lake has become unfit for use, thanks to the indiscriminate discharge of waste from a nearby complex of 300 independent houses.
The complex, which came up three years ago in Jayendra Nagar of Sembakkam, has a sewage treatment plant where waste water from all the houses is collected. While the treated water is used for gardening, the untreated portion is let out into the lake. Ironically, a signboard in front of the lake (facing the complex) warns that action would be initiated under the Lakes Protection and Removal of Encroachments Enforcement Act 2007 against the dumping of garbage and discharge of contaminated water and other effluents into the lake.
Nanmangalam, one of the important panchayats in the southern suburbs where farming is still the main occupation, has more than 700 active farmers with 500 acres of farmland. These people, most of them marginal farmers, now either depend on farmwells or wait till the monsoon sets in.
Over the past few years, the yield per acre on farms, irrigated with water from the lake, has fallen by almost half — crops have become less resistant to pests. “The normal yield is 30 bags per acre (one bag weighs 75 kg of paddy); last year it fell to 15 kg in my land. I used water from the lake for irrigation,” said farmer K Purushothaman.
The polluted water in the lake has also led to a decline in fishing — an alternative source of livelihood for farmers during the lean season. “Since the discharge of waste water from the apartment complex began, fishing has gradually declined. Hundreds of fish have died in the past few years,” said B Sudhakar, a resident.One of the main reasons for the failure of the local body in acting against the residential complex is that though a major portion of the lake is within the Nanmangalam panchayat limits, a part of it and the apartment complex come under the Sembakkam town panchayat (the distance between the complex and the lake is less than 50 metres).
“We are not discharging any waste water into the lake. We have a treatment plant where we treat sewage generated in the complex,” said K M Chiti Babu of the residents’ welfare association. But sources in the Nanmangallam village panchayat said, “Whenever there are reports in the media about the discharge of waste water into the lake, the residents stop it for a few days only to resume later. Being a complicated issue of jurisdiction between two local bodies, it woud be better if the Kancheepuram district administration intervenes and ends the problem.”
CHOKING IT SLOWLY
Nanmangalam lake is located 25km south of Chennai and is considered to be one of the biggest waterbodies among nearly 300 waterbodies in the southern suburbs of the city
Primarly, the lake is used to irrigate most of the 500 acres of farmlands in Nanmangalam village panchayat
Varieties of fish species including cat fish are found in the lake. Large number of crabs are also caught and sold for consumption
