After years of neglect and human contamination, help is at hand for three lakes in the fringes of the city.

A
few days ago, preliminary work on improving the lakes in Porur,
Ayanambakkam near Thiruverkadu and Nemam near Chembarambakkam began.
Though a government order was issued over a year ago to undertake work
to increase the storage capacity of the lakes, the Rs. 130-crore project
faced several obstacles such as delay in tendering process.

The project aims to strengthen the bund, desilt and deepen the water bodies by 2 metres and rejuvenate surplus channels.

Misuse of water body

Residents
of Porur said the lake was often used as a makeshift dumping yard and
cesspool to release sewage. Though encroachments have been removed, the
water body continues to face the threat of fresh encroachments.

The other two water bodies in Ayanambakkam and Nemam have been exploited by private water suppliers and illegal sand miners.

For
residents of Ayanambakkam, the water body is the main source of
groundwater recharge. They want the WRD to expedite work as the weak
lake bund often gets breached during rains. Residents of Dinesh Nagar
said, when the roads got submerged after downpour, they used makeshift
thermocol boats to commute.

The Water Resources
Department (WRD) had proposed to increase the storage capacity of four
water bodies, including Cholavaram reservoir, by nearly 600 million
cubic feet (mcft), envisaging the drinking water needs of expanded
Chennai in the future. At present, about 1,000 mcft is drawn from the
three major reservoirs in Chembarambakkam and Red Hills to supply 810
million litres of water every day.

While work on
augmenting storage at Cholavaram reservoir was completed last year, it
took many months for the project to kick off in the other water bodies.

Preliminary work in progress

Officials
of WRD said preliminary work on laying inspection track along the bund
and stationing of equipment was in progress at all the water bodies. The
first step was to fence the lakes to protect them from further abuse
and encroachments.

The department proposes to fence
off the lake along a radius of seven km. Thanthikal channel, which links
the water bodies in Porur and Chembarambakkam, will also be improved.

“We
have started demarcating the lakes’ boundaries with the help of the
revenue department. We are co-ordinating with the local bodies and the
Chennai Corporation to plug illegal sewage outfalls in the lakes,” said
an official. The project is expected to be completed in 18 months.