There are a lot of violations, accept officials

CHENNAI: The boat

house

and eco-tourism

project

proposed to come up at the

Paruthipet

lake in Avadi municipality at a cost of Rs 28 cr, which is coming up at a fast pace, will get stuck if the Avadi municipality doesn’t find a solution for its

sewage

woes.


Currently, more than 40MLD of sewage from the entire city enters the

lake

every day, ruining its ecology and bio-diversity. Recently,

turtles

were found dead in the lake and the number of birds visiting the lake has come down, said environmentalists. “The park area and other open reserve spaces are also encroached upon,” said A Dharanidharan, a resident.

The government proposes to set up a boat jetty, walkways and parks around the lake.

Babu Ganesh, a resident of the area, said the project might be completed soon. “The work is going on at a fast pace. But there is no solution in sight for the sewage issues in the municipality. If the lake is declared an

eco-tourism

spot, how can they let in sewage into it? It will pose a huge sanitation and health risk to those who visit the lake,” said Babu.

Officials said that most of the sewage was pumped from households into lorries and sent to the sewage treatment plant in Koyambedu. “We agree there are a lot of violations. But we cannot impose penalties unless we provide a solution to the problem,” said an official.

The commissioner of Avadi municipality, C Mathivanan was unavailable for comment.


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