Chennai: For more than two decades now, Lake Velachery has not been cleaned.
The Department of Public Works (PWD) has not climbed it or cleanses garbage or eliminates encroachment.
Hyacinth Air covers most of the surface of the 55acre lake.
S Kumararaja from the Green Velachhery team told TII that the lake was spread in 250 hectares before several government institutions including the Tamil Nadu housing board, a slum cleaning board and private builders catapulted it.
The bypass road is increasingly destroying it, he said.
“The monsoon is only a few months away, but the PWD and Civic’s body have not taken steps to stop the waste into the lake or remove the hyacinth.
Civil bodies have been verbally asking for PWD several times to hand over the lake to them, but no correspondence in Upon, “Kumararaja said.
The lake has been used for irrigation such as 45 other tanks under the control of PWD in the city.
The department cannot find funds to beautify the body of the water but only to increase drainage capacity and other needs that are now redundant.
“It has become an urban lake.
It was not used for irrigation again.
We have been looking for Rs 25 Crore to increase the lake, but we usually don’t get funds.
GCC can take the lake for repairs and submit it back to us again.
But this is a decision taken At a higher level, “said a PWD official.
Velachery residents have written to GCC and PWD to increase the lake.
The National Green Tribunal also attracts PWD for the large content of coliform and TDS bacteria that are high from lake water because of waste currents.
PWD told the court that Metrowater had taken steps to identify the entry point of waste and pairs and make sure that only the water treated entered the lake.
The lake usually gets water from neighboring areas through stormwater waterways and the main part of inflows is from the campus of Raj Bhavan and IIT-M.
This water then flows into the surplus channel and enters Marshland Palikarani.
“We also seek enumeration of more than 1,100 encroachment and will soon erase it.
Only after that lake restoration can be taken,” said an official.