Hundreds of fish found dead in Ambattur lake

“Due to heavy rainfall in the past few days, the water level has increased, and making it dangerous has been the sewage mixing from the residential areas. This has caused the fishes to die in large numbers. Earlier, garbage also used to be dumped into the lake, but thanks to the Corporation, it has stopped. However, the sewage inlets has been a grave issue for the past one year. Though we have filed numerous complaints, nothing has changed,” said Vishwanathan V, a resident of Ambattur.

Locals said that the pollution of the waterbody will not only affect the organisms in the lake, but will also impact the groundwater in the locality. It was pointed that the Thamaraikulam lake in Ambattur, which has fishes, had not witnessed such mass deaths when it went partially dry.

“This is the first time that the fishes have shown up dead in the Ambattur lake. We have filed for setting up of a Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) but authorities have claimed that it is bound to take time,” said S P Nedumaran, member of the Ambattur Waterbodies Protection Movement. When contacted on the issue, a Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board official said, “We are setting up STPs in residential areas and nearby lakes in the city. We have been monitoring the Ambattur lake frequently and will bring the issue to an end soon.”