NGT demands revenue records of Villivakkam Lake

The lake, which was earlier 214 acres in 1972, has now diminished to a mere 39 acres. The petition, filed by Jayaram Venkatesan of Arappor Iyakkam, who had earlier moved the Madras High Court, seeking the restoration of the remaining areas of the lake. 

The case, after the initial hearing, was transferred to the NGT. Jayaram said that the first success is that the authorities conceded to restore the lake. 

“The Greater Chennai Corporation and Municipal Administration and Water Supply (MAWS) officials had agreed to restore the 27.5 acres of the lake, based on our representation. 

CMWSSB wanted to retain the remaining areas for the construction of a relay pumping station inside the lake. But, we have argued for the restoration of all the 39 acres,” said the social activist. 

The government counsel, however, countered that an area of 11.5 acres was allocated to CMWSSB for setting up the sewage treatment plant. A relay pumping station has been constructed in 0.5 acres of the land, which is used to transfer the sewage to Kodungaiyur treatment plant. 

“However, since there is no generator, during power cuts, the sewage is being discharged directly into the lake. In addition, the Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL) had dumped excavated mud in 20 acres of the waterbody. 

We are asking accountability to be fixed. CMWSSB wanted to hold on the rest of the 11 acres for future construction, but this cannot be allowed, since water bodies shouldn’t be built upon. This makes the existing relay pumping station a violation too,” added Jayaram. 

During the hearing, Justice P Jyothimani and expert member P S Rao pulled up the government, for setting a bad precedent to the public by encroaching upon a water body. 

“How can the government encroach upon water bodies, when the state is witnessing water scarcity. How can you solve this problem?” questioned the bench. 

The tribunal had granted the government three weeks to produce the revenue records of the water body. This was due to a confusion on the area of the lake. While the Corporation pegged the Villivakkam Lake to be 25 acres, the CMWSSB revealed that it was 27.3 acres. The next hearing is on September 11.