Chennai: Residents of Chitlapakkam have a reason to rejoice. Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami announced in the ongoing Assembly session, Rs 25 crore for the restoration of Chitlapakkam lake.
He made the announcement under Rule 110 and said the amount will be used to strengthen the bund, remove encroachments, prevent sewage from entering the water body, save excess water and divert flood waters.
Dayanand of Pradeep and Karthik Avenue said they are overwhelmed by the announcement and said it was a happy moment of a lifetime to celebrate.
NGO Chitlapakkam Rising thanked the Chief Minister, Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam, former MP Chitlapakkam C Rajendran, Collector P Ponniah and PWD officials for the initiative.
“We want to make it a model lake with eco-balanced approach. It would also be better if a banner is kept at the lake with the contractual details and break-up of the Rs 25 crore project, so we can all monitor and ensure every rupee is spent for lake revival and malpractices are not allowed,” the NGO had posted on its Facebook page.
The desilting of Chitlapakkam lake, which is one of the long-pending demands of the residents of the locality, became a reality when Chitlapakkam Rising received clearance from the Water Resources Department (WRD) recently.
The clean-up drive kickstarted 2 June and the WRD has said the work should be completed by 15 September 2019.
About 500 residents and volunteers took part in the inaugural function. Parents of martyr Major Mukund Varadarajan were the chief guests of the event. The clean-up has been happening every day in which residents have been taking part in large numbers.
Sunil Jayaraman from Chitlapakkam Rising said they are getting a sample for soil test. After several requests by the residents, the Tambaram Municipality has taken steps to stop dumping waste in the lake and restricted the flow of sewage into the waterbody. Desilting of the lake has been taken up by PWD officials recently. The cleaning takes place every day at 6 am.
For details about the clean-up, contact 90947 83445/99520 61020/ 95001 22151.