Metrowater draws from ‘polluted’ Retteri lake

According to the WRO website, the water in Retteri lake (aka Madhavaram lake) is highly polluted. Presently, the water managers draw around 10 million litres per day (MLD) to supply to the city residents.

According to the website, the proposal to augment Retteri water to supply drinking water to Chennai was dropped due to the high pollution level. Apart from Retteri lake, proposals were also made for taking water from Ambattur and Korattur lakes, but they were also dropped. “Sewage water is entering the lake unchecked. But the Metrowater is drawing water from the lakewithout stopping sewage,” a Korattur resident alleged.

He also pointed out that the Metrowater had prepared a proposal to set up a sewage treatment plant at Retteri lake. “The project is yet to be implemented.” A Metrowaterengineer, however, brushed aside the allegation and claimed that water drawn from the lake is being treated at a plant in Kilpauk before supplying it to the residents.

“It is true that sewage water enters the lake. Sewage is being let into lakes such as Poondi, Red Hills and others, too. We take water from those lakes and treat them before distributing. We supply clean and treated water to the residents,” the engineer said.

When asked about the pending sewage treatment plant project for Retteri, the engineer said that the process is ongoing, and the plant would be set up as planned. The plan is totreat the sewage water collected from the nearby areas and let treated water into the lake so that groundwater would be recharged.

Meanwhile, the residents are opposing the Metrowater’s move to draw water from the lake citing that it would affect groundwater level. “Porur lake had never gone dry for several years. But, two years after the Metrowater started to draw water from the lake, it is now completely dry,” M Aravind, a resident said.