Residents stage protest seeking measures to prevent pollution of Korattur Lake

Members of Korattur Aeri Pathukappu Makkal Iyakkam (KAPMI), a citizens’ movement voicing for the restoration of Korattur Lake, staged a protest near the Chennai Metrowater office in Mogappair on Friday seeking action against sewage pollution of the waterbody.

The Korattur Lake, which is one of the major waterbodies in the western parts of the city, remains vulnerable to sewage pollution and encroachments despite the several measures taken up by various government agencies.

The protesting members held placards and raised slogans seeking measures to protect the waterbody from pollution and implement the directive of the National Green Tribunal, Southern Bench, to plug sewage outfalls.

The protesters were detained in a private hall and released later in the evening.

Residents said there were seven sewage pumping stations near the lake, including Menambedu and Karukku, which needed proper maintenance. Otherwise, sewage would reach the waterbody through the Ambattur surplus course and the Pattaravakkam channel.

They also demanded that sewer connections must not be given to encroaching structures in places such as Vinayaga Nagar and Krishna Nagar.

KAPMI’s secretary S. Sekaran said areas such as TNHB Colony in Korattur were inundated with sewage-laced floodwater during the heavy rain last month. Alleging that bribe was sought to provide sewer connections in Korattur, he said the process to provide sewer connections in the added areas must be simplified. The work to provide underground drainage network in wards 85 and 86 must be expedited to prevent the pollution of the waterbody.

Though the Greater Chennai Corporation has cleared water hyacinth near the lake’s regulator, a portion of it continues to reel under aquatic weed invasion, he said.

Pointing out that the Ambattur Industrial Estate Manufacturers’ Association had already built a sewage treatment plant near the lake, S. Sujatha, KAPMI’s treasurer, suggested that the water agency must construct a sewage treatment plant (STP) with a capacity to treat 30 million litres of sewage a day.

Published - November 16, 2024 12:45 am IST