Public Works Department restores one lake, pollutes another


Around 30 loads of soil laced with municipal waste from the Nemilichery lake has been dumped into the Naina lake which lies along the Chennai Bypass in Thiruneermalai.

In order to restore one lake, the Public Works Department (PWD) is polluting another lake in the vicinity. Around 30 loads of soil laced with municipal waste from the Nemilichery lake has been dumped into the Naina lake which lies along the Chennai Bypass in Thiruneermalai. The PWD, which took over the restoration of Nemilichery lake in July, had permission from the district collector to dump garbage-laced soil in two old stone quarries in Thiruneermalai. However, Naina lake has become a preferred dumping site. 

“Over the last ten days, lorries are dumping loads of soil filled with garbage in Naina lake. When we told the lorry drivers that they didn’t have permission to do so, they said PWD officials asked them to dump the soil in the lake,” said O Udayakumar, a local resident. When Express visited the old stone quarries which have been designated for dumping soil, on Tuesday, it found only a few loads of soil dumped there. Contrary to claims by lorry drivers, there was ample space to dump garbage-laced soil there. 

Naina Lake, which lies on survey number 203, was used as a dumping site by Chennai Metro in 2013. After Udayakumar filed a writ petition, the construction debris was cleared by 2015. While locals claimed PWD officials have agreed to rectify the mistake after threats of going to court again for a remedy, Udayakumar said he would not settle for anything less than a complete restoration of the lake.  “Why should the public pay for PWD’s mistake?”  he argued.PWD officials were not available for comment.

 
 Source web page: New indian express
 

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