Weir in Ukkadam lake demolished

Coimbatore: The city corporation has demolished a British-era weir of the Ukkadam lake, which functioned as a safety valve of the water body, discharging surplus water during the monsoon season.
The corporation, which took the lake on lease from the public works department, had not obtained clearance from PWD for demolishing the weir. They were kept in the dark about the decision, PWD officials told TOI. “The weir was an integral part of the lake and cannot be demolished,” an official said.
However, corporation commissioner Sravan Kumar Jatavath defended the move and said that it was a well-thought-out decision. “We scientifically studied the lake and there was no need for the surplus weir,” he told TOI. “In the last few years, water had not rose even upto the bund. It will not affect the storage capacity.”
While the corporation said that the structure was demolished to beautify the lake and to make a 25ft wide pathway on the bund, environmentalists expressed shock over the development. In the absence of a weir or another mechanism to discharge surplus water, there will be overflowing of water on all side during the monsoon, they said.
Workers of a private company, which is implementing the lake rejuvenation and restoration project under the smart city mission, had removed the weir using an earthmover. Local residents and activists stopped them from damaging it further.
“Demolition of the weir would result in reduction in storage of water,” said district president of Tamilaga Makkal Jananayaka Katchi A Sekh Moideen, who had prevented the workers from breaking it down completely.
The civic body had taken eight lakes, including the Ukkadam lake, for 99 years lease, a senior PWD official said. “We had insisted that the sluice gates and surplus weir should not be disturbed. We had also asked them not to reduce the area and storage capacity.”
Sluice gate and surplus weir are two important components of the lake, a retired PWD official said. “While the sluice gate is used to discharge the excess water to the next lake, surplus water would be automatically discharged into the Noyyal river whenever the lake is filled. There cannot be a lake without these two things,” he said. “The weir was scientifically constructed about 300 years ago. It is considered as one of the strongest weirs. Nobody should be allowed to demolish it just to beautify the lake.”