The state government had approved NMC’s proposal to rejuvenate two city
lakes – Ambazari and Futala – under National Lakes Conservation Plan
(NLCP) almost a one-and-a-half years ago. Spread over 180 acres,
Ambazari is the city’s biggest lake.

Confirming this, Mohammed
Israil, officer-in-charge of lakes and rivers at NMC, told TOI that the
detailed project report (DPR) for the rejuvenation of Ambazari and
Futala lakes was submitted more than a year ago. The proposal also had
got approval from the environment department and government’s steering
committee.

As per the report, the civic body had sought Rs 11
crore for Ambazari Lake and Rs 10 crore for Futala. NMC was to bear 30%
of the total sanctioned amount and the remaining was to be requisitioned
from the central government. The state had already sent the DPR to the
central government. However, the centre is yet to okay the report.

The delay in the project will not only push up the cost of
rejuvenation, but also the level of pollution of the lake will go up,
said VNIT ward corporator, Ashwini Jichkar.

Endorsing Jichkar,
corporator Parinay Fuke blamed the corporation for turning a blind eye
towards curbing pollution of the lakes.

Due to this and the
lack of underground drainage network in this part of the city, Fuke said
that sewage has started seeping into the lake. “The water body, which
was once used for drinking, has been reduced to a sullage pit as sewage
from MIDC and Dabha is being released into it through storm water
drains,” Fuke said.

Corporator Varsha Thakre, a resident of
Ambazari layout, said, “We have been fighting to conserve the lake since
several years now. The NMC officials have done nothing to stop sewage
and waste being released into the lake. This has adversely affected the
groundwater quality, rendering unusable. But, if the project remains
incomplete, it will only lead to further degradation of the water body.”

Though it was a welcome initiative by the NMC to allocate funds to
improve the lake, residents say that the civic body must ensure that the
project is expeditiously executed.

As the drainage pipeline
laid to divert sewage from the lake is of inadequate capacity, the
sewage gets choked and is seeping into the lake.

Residents said
that manpower shortage and delay in floating tenders are being cited as
the reasons behind set back in execution of the work. Smita Abde, a
resident of Corporation Colony, said that the lake lacks outlets to
carry surplus water and the area faces threat of inundation during
monsoon.