Members of Kilambakkam Eri Neerininaipayanpaduthuvoor Sangam have requested the Water Resources Department (WRD) to reconstruct the broken weir at the lake. The Kilambakkam lake has two weirs — ‘Tharai Kalangal’ and ‘Pradhana Kalangal’. During the 2015 floods, the Pradhana Kalangal was damaged by a few residents who had encroached upon the lake area and built their houses there. They had broken the weir to prevent flooding of their settlements. The 40-feet-long masonry dam had been damaged up to a length of 12 feet.
M. Mohanan, president, Kilambakkam Eri Neerininaipayanpaduthuvoor Sangam, says, “When the weir was damaged by the encroachers, I informed the assistant engineer, WRD, the district collector, the revenue divisional officer and the tashildar, Kancheepuram district. The next day, the PWD staff placed sandbags at the broken weir to arrest the flow of water. However, the sand-bags were destroyed or stolen by miscreants. As a result, the rainwater does not get stored in the lake, but flows into vacant lands nearby. Therefore, a concrete weir has to be constructed before the onset of the north east monsoon. Until the time a concrete weir comes up, sandbags can be kept at the broken weir.” A WRD official says a representation in this regard has been made to the State government.