A crucial decision on demolition of encroachments in important lakes such as Velachery and Adambakkam is expected to be taken after the first steering committee meeting for lakefront and waterfront development projects next week.
Even as the lakes have reduced in size in most parts of the city, the civic agencies and the State government have not been able to take decisions about the demolition of encroachments in the past few years.
Officials have started consultation with residents ahead of the launch of the projects. As the technical experts have pointed to the difficulties in removing a large number of encroachments in the 10 lakes, the government is exploring the feasibility of designing the lakefront development projects without clearing all the encroachments, officials said.
Velachery residents have demanded the desilting of the Velachery and Adambakkam lakes to improve flood preparedness. The Federation of Velachery Residents’ Welfare Associations vice-president, S. Kumararaja, said restoration of Velachery lake was very important because the overflow of water from the lake was the main cause of floods in the neighbourhood during monsoon.
“The civic agencies should deepen and desilt the lake and strengthen the bund. Sewage inflow must be stopped. We need treatment plants near the waterbodies. All encroachments should be removed. The Velachery lake was 265.8 acres originally, now it is 55 acres. The Tamil Nadu Housing Board, the Tamil Nadu Urban Habitat Development Board, and the Greater Chennai Corporation have all encroached on the lake, constructing buildings inside it. As many as 1,880 houses have been built inside the waterbody. The bund should be 10 ft high. We do not want a park inside the lake that will reduce the water spread area,” he said.
Residents stressed the need for removing encroachments in the Adambakkam, Kolathur, Retteri, Ayanambakkam, Puzhal, Mudichur, Perumbakkam, and Sembakkam lakes before implementing the lakefront development projects. According to the residents of the localities, the State government should take a decision on the removal of encroachments and increase the storage in the lakes, instead of reducing the storage capacity by designing artificial islands inside them.
N. Mathavan, who coordinated the work on disaster resilience index for the city, said the lakefront development project should incorporate aspects such as flood mitigation by increasing the storage capacity of the lakes.
