Civic body fudged lake map to dig wells, say Madambakkam public

Under the new scheme, the town panchayat had planned to draw 18 lakh litres of water every day by digging five wells on the lake bed to be supplied to Chitlapakkam and Madambakkam through an underground pipeline system, panchayat officials said.

As per PWD records, the Madambakkam lake was spread over 250 acres and it helped in maintaining the groundwater level. However, the town panchayat had submitted a map showing the total area of the lake as a mere 80 acres. 

While sanctioning the project, the PWD permitted the panchayat to dig five wells 25 metres away from the lakebed. But, locals charged that the wells were dug on the lake bed instead of the sanctioned site.

This came to light through an RTI application filed by residents. It revealed that the boundary of the lake was redrawn to dig wells on the lake bed. Subsequently, the residents filed a PIL at the Madras High Court and scuttled the efforts of the town panchayat. The HC has presently stayed the project.

“We are worried that the rampant extraction of water from the lake bed cannot be accurately accounted. The scheme will completely drain the ground water in Madambakkam and nearby areas. But digging wells away from lake will ensure monitoring,” said G Mohan, a resident of Yeshwanth Nagar.

A senior engineer at the Madambakkam Town Panchayat said, “We have complied will all the rules and regulations laid out by the government. A proper survey was conducted before marking the wells as per the norms.”

When contacted, a PWD official in-charge of the Palar River Basin said, “We will check if the water is extracted from the lake bed and take up necessary measures to maintain the groundwater levels in the locality.” 

Residents of Chitalapakkam, who are also beneficiaries of this project, said that if the lake in their neighbourhood was well maintained,there would be no need to extract water from Madambakkam lake.

“The Chitlapakkam lake was contaminated after the rampant disposal of waste and release of sewage. Authorities should take action to stop that too,” Srimathi Narsimhan, a resident said.