Chennai: The Madras High Court has asked the Kancheepuram Collector, the Public Works Department Executive Engineer, Tambaram Municipality Commissioner and the Inspector General of Registration to respond on a public interest litigation petition filed by Arappor Iyakkam in recovering the Chitlapakkam Lake and establishing connectivity between the lake and water sources from Pachaimalai hills, Selaiyur and Sembakkam lakes.
Hearing the petition on 10 April, Chief Justice Kamalesh Tahilramani and Justice M Duraiswamy issued the notice to top officials.
Suresh kumar, the petitioner, pleaded the court to stop letting out sewage in lake, recover the 119 acres of the lake’s extent within Chitlapakkam and Selaiyur revenue village and desilt the lake.
“Neglected by PWD and letting Panchayat use the lake as a dumpyard and letting sewage overflows has been the root cause for the groundwater depletion in town. Its high time, officials realises this and take responsibility to recover lake to its full extent,” Suresh had mentioned in the petition.
A resident said, “We are hopeful the lake will get prioritised and its importance acknowledged by the authorities. Fixing the lake will benefit the town of 60,000 residents.”
“Panchayat does not supply us with water. The dependency on tankers and the heavy price we pay, is making our lives difficult in the town,” another resident opined.