The southern bench of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has directed a joint committee to inspect the Kadapperi Lake in West Tambaram and the Tambaram Municipality to take necessary steps to maintain it so that the water storage capacity of the lake can be increased before monsoon.
The bench of Justice K. Ramakrishnan and expert member Saibal Dasgupta took suo motu notice of a report about the lake being polluted.
Encroachment
The bench noted that the lake, also known as Potheri Lake, originally spanned 65 acres but was reduced to 40 acres due to encroachment. The bench, quoting the report, said the water in the lake has turned green due to the mixing of sewage and plastic waste. With PWD turning a blind eye towards the lake’s restoration, permission was granted to repair it, the bench noted.
A proposal submitted by the Tambaram Municipality for desilting the lake at a cost of ₹3.50 crore is pending. The bench further said that based on the report that sewage from the Tambaram Municipal area, Tambaram Railway Colony and MTC Workshop gets mixed into the lake, it led to foul and pungent smell resembling the Cooum.
Based on this, the bench appointed a joint committee to inspect the lake and if any violation was found, including unauthorised trespassing, untreated sewage being discharged into the lake as per the report, trace the violators and take steps to prevent such discharge.
“The committee is also directed to assess the environmental compensation for the damage caused on account of any such illegal activities and fix the responsibility on the persons responsible for the same,” the bench said, adding that the committee should prepare an action-plan for short and long term to protect the water body.”